Savage Model 112 fvss .300 win mag.
Alright folks here's my report on a new savage model 112 fvss in .300 win. mag. For those of you who aren't familiar with this gun it is a heavy barrel varmint style rifle all stainless with a fluted and crowned barrel and synthetic stock. It is also pillar bedded. Before I go any further, let me explain why I bought the gun in the first place. This is not a gun that i will be toting aroung in the woods, it will be used strictly from box stands. Did I really need this gun?, no not necessarily, but, I haven't bought a bolt gun since 1988 when I bought my ruger m77 in 7 mm mag. Second, where I deer hunt, we have several box stands where we can see a long long ways, and a 300 to 350 yard shot is a very real possibility, one stand on the pipeline, I can see almost 600 yds one way, and 450 the other way. By the way, I'm just stating how far I can see, not how far I would take a shot. Couldn't my 7mm handle that just fine?, Yeah it could, but as any of you varminters and bench rest shooters know, the heavier the gun, the easier it is to hold steady, and when you start talking 350 to 400 yds any edge you can get is a big plus. A third reason I got the gun is because I already have a 30-06 remington model 760, and I'm planning on getting a reloader next year. And I want to have all of my hunting guns to be in .30 caliber, with the exception of the ruger, because I never get rid of a gun unless there is something wrong with it. Alright, enough of my rambling, How does it shoot and what kind of scope did I put on it? I put a Leoupold 6.5-20X50 in matte finish on it with the fine duplex crosshair. The first box of shells I bought for it was 150 grain hornady sst's. I was cleaning in between the first 2 or 3 shots, then in between each five shots I think, heck I really don't remember the sequence now, I was following what sarge and one-shot had told me, Anyway this was in August, it was hot I was tired. I don't know if it was a combination of these factors, or if my gun just didn't like those bullets, but it never did shoot a group that I was satisfied with. It was probably me, because afterwards I bought me one of those neoprene stock sleeves that you slide pads under to get your eye up higher off the stock, like a monte carlo stock would do, and my shooting improved drastically! I now have the gun sighted in with federal premium in 150 grn. trophy bonded bearclaws, I didn't want to shoot the extra ammo required to shoot 3 shot groups, but in my final scope adjustments to get sighted in, I could tell that this gun is capable of some serious groups. I sighted in at 1.5 inches high at 100 yds. A quick note about the trigger, although it is a fully adjustable trigger, I will be replacing it next year. It still don't lighten up nearly enough to my liking. A note also about recoil, you would think that weighing in at around 11 pounds the recoil wouldn't be that bad. Well let me tell you, it is a heck of a lot worse than my 7mm. Another thing that I will be adding next year is a pachmayr or sims recoil pad. A note about the action, I find it to be a lot stronger made than a remington, and it is very smooth and cycles nicely. The trigger gaurd is made of stainless also, not some cheap plastic like you see on many of todays rifles. Overall satisfaction??... Yes, I am very satisfied with it, the only expectation that wasn't met, was the recoil. I didn't expect it to be that stiff, but that I can fix! About the only other thing, is that I kinda wish I had gotten a 40 mm scope instead of a 50. I sometimes wonder if their is enough gain in low light performance to offset the fact that the high rise mounts you have to use gets your eye higher up off the stock!