ORIGINAL: skeeter 7MM
Herman and the others have given yougood advice and it appears you are well onyour way already.
I clean my 10II with regular CF techinque/solvents in regards to the bore. Shooters Choice MC#7 to remove fouling (especially plastic), via patch/jag and bore brush. Finish the bore witha thin coat of light gun oil for protection and wipe down the entire rifle with rag and some light gun oil (my preference is BC sheath or barricade as they call it now but anything with rem oil constistency will work). I attend to the breech/vent after most range sessions as i typically will shoot 20-30 per. I place the breech and vent in a bottle of hoppe's 9, etcto sit while cleaning the rest of the rifle.I use a 5/32 drill bit to remove the carbon fouling(chucked in a T handle & hand twist the breech plug), 17 cal bore brush to insure the threads are clean in the plug, thenspray brake cleaner through both plug and vent holes to ensure carbon is removed. I then finish by tumble by hand in a rag with some light gun oil to ensure they are protected. Prior to returning to the range i run a dry patch up& down the bore to remove an excess oil.Also ensure the breech and vent are also not coated in oil by a quick tumble in a dry rag, then install with teflon tape (pink for the breech and white for the ventliner). I have used savage, RW and PR bullets ventliners in all honesty I didn't see any great advantages so I use PR vents now as they are readily available and cheapest. I change my ventliner when the orfice mics + .035" depending on the powder, charge, etc mileage varies but always hunt on a new vent just in case and save those that mic less then .035" for the range. To measure i use torch tips and keep the .032 to .037 ones in my savage toolbox for quick referencing (I colour coded them for identification purposes). I also have done the servicing of the breech via a torque screwdriver and ez tool, they work equally but i like the ez tool for range/hunting reasons and IMO it is money well spent if not wanting a 3rd opillar or bolt release mod.I ama tadanal when it comes to my equipment, so this maybe all for not
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In responseto Randy's comments about 4759, he simply likes this powder the least but in my experience with a number of 10II's it is an excellent choice and the one we always start with and often end with as well. 4759 has been far more consistent then N110 IME - Randy's favorite savage "suggested' powder. I simply can't get N110 to out shoot 4759 in tin or plastic lot numbers and believe me at 80 dollars a jug I have tried too!!!![:@] I personally use 43.5 grs of 4759 with 250gr sst HPH24 sabot and 209w primers, the load avreage's sub moa producing 2300 fps MV and accounted for 4 deer from 50 to 219 yards. 3 dropped on the spot and the other made it a few yards on her nose. I experience excellent terminal performance on 3 shots- pass thrus and lungs in pieces. However 1 was a large bodied buck at just shy of 100 yards and allI had was a flush shoulder shot, the bullet seperated but managed enough to break the entire facing shoulder and send frags to the vitals and spinal cord producing a bang flop occurance. He twitched but by the time I reloaded and made my way to his position he was out. So with such a result I wouldn't suggest the 250sst for elk sized animals in the savage with smokeless velocities.
Ido know of 300 gr sst flung from savages that have produced 1 shot kills on elk and moose. I am right now working with 300gr sst for a deer to moose application. I have had success with the same 43.5 gr load of 4759 which produces an average MV in the 2100's, though H4198 has turned in some nice groups with 2300 flashing up on the chrony screen. Though recoil difference are noted
,but with apachmayr installed this offseason tolerable for me and my scope a Zeiss 3.5x10x44/Warne maxima rings and bases are also holding up just fine. I haven't gotten consistent results from any barnes bullets i have tried much like herman 100 to 200 yards was a stark difference, though my choices are limited up here in canada so take this with a grain of salt. XTP's with short MMP or trimmed HPH24's are my most used bullet but only used them for development for cost saving reasons alone. POI is different, especially at longer ranges but charge potential has shown itself. Having loggedalot of shotsthrough my savagedimes turn into dollars pretty quickly. I would have no problems using the 300 xtp for elk if my range was 200 and under. I have killed moose and black bear with it and subs with 1 shots and good results in other inlines. If looking for 1 load then I'd suggest something in 300 gr or barnes. I'd rather be overkill on deer then marginal on wapati!!
Congrats on your shooting,rifle and welcome to the smokeless addiction. It is a fun gun to shoot and learn, but anything but easy like many think
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Good Luck
I have put 50 rounds thru the rifle, so I need to look at the vent liner today. What are PR vents. I ordered some more ventliners from Savage on Friday, Redclub said to call them, I did and they were $3. RW are about $20 I recall, so I will stay with the cheaper ones for new. Also ordered a Savage Black sling, since it will go with the Black on SS setup I have. I read about the EZ tool, $42 seems like a lot to me for a tools so I will stick with the tighten the screw method. I intend to buy one of the foot and inch/lb screw drivers from Cabelas. I just re-read your April Post, which you said you used 35lbs on the front and 25 on the rear screw.I just used rusty duck to clean the breech plug, seemed to do an OK job.
I have used the white tape in my guns before and don't see much advantage to it. The thicker pink kind was too thick, wouldn't go in easy.
Yes I need to get some of that 4759, seems like a lot of folks use that because it has more power.
Agree with you on the 300g bullets they do a good. I like the XTPs, for shooting/practice, my son usesthem for hunting, I use Noslers.I tend to stay at 300g with all my bullets. I will go as low a 285g with the Barnes TMZ but I like the extra 50g of weight, they tend to punch thru big bodied deer. Little avg size doe, they make a mess of but your not huntin' them, you have to be prepared for Big Boy. Thanks for your wisdom Skeeter, I appreciate your willingness to share expecially your long range terminal performance experience and the cleaning of the plug/vent liner.
The Savages are anything but easy, I think you can "be easy" to just shoot factory recommendations, clean the rifle at end of season and put it away with the CF rifles in your collection. But there is tremendious complexity in every turn with this gun for those of us who want accuracy and killing power. I want accuracy and killing power to 200 yards.
Chap Gleason