Photo by Jeffrey Behr

6mmBR.com SPONSORS

Background
Chuck tells us: "Now retired, I turned 70 in November and have been living in Tucson for the last two years. I started shooting as a kid in Southern California and have enjoyed shooting off and on throughout my life, mostly plinking, hunting and casual target shooting. I was looking for an activity when I moved to Tucson in early 2005. I bought some Glocks, an AR15, and a competition shotgun, all the go-fast gear, and started shooting in weekly pistol and 3-Gun matches. It was lots of fun but I found I was too old and slow to win at these rapid-fire games.

In January of 2006 I picked up an old, used Savage Model 10 .308 Tactical Rifle with a plastic stock and a cheap scope. I shot a 3/4 MOA 100-yard group with it my first trip to the range and suddenly became interested in precision shooting. I thought, 'Heck, this is something even an old guy can do!'

Since then I’ve gotten more involved in precision long-range shooting. I decided to concentrate on Savage rifles because they seemed easy to work on and upgrade. So far I’ve set up five Savages for long-range work, the Striker featured here, plus four rifles: a 300 WSM, a .308 for F/TR class, a 6.5-284 and a 6mmBR. I work on them myself, and have learned how to change barrels, replace and adjust triggers, bed and paint stocks, mount scopes and make other small repairs. Learning these skills has been liberating. I no longer need to wait months for a gunsmith to turn a few screws. Though I'm still a novice when it comes to long-range competition, I've learned quite a bit about accurizing Savages over the past couple of years, and I'll try to share some of that knowledge in this article."

The Striker Project -- Pursuit of Precision
by Chuck G.
I didn’t even know Savage Strikers existed until I saw one for sale on Gunbroker.com. I snagged it with a $400 bid. My idea was to build an accurate, long-range pistol on a pauper's budget. As purchased, the Striker had a .308 barrel with an unknown round count, the standard center-grip, black synthetic stock, an odd two-piece custom brake, and an old Burris 4X pistol scope in a Conetrol 2-piece ring set. The trigger was very heavy, 6-8 lbs I'd estimate, with a lot of take-up and over-travel.

Initial Disappointments -- Too Much Recoil, Poor Accuracy
My initial attempts to get the Striker to shoot well at even 100 yards were disappointing. I was never able to get better than a 3", 5-shot group at 100. Not what I was looking for. Being used to benchrest triggers, the pull on this one was hard for me to manage. The gun would roll around on any type of front rest I had, and from a cement bench on a bipod it would jump about 18 inches up and sideways with every round. Not being used to this type of gun, I found the recoil and muzzle blast to be unsettling. It was hard not to flinch. I started off using my 1K .308 rifle load, 175 SMKs over 44 grains of Varget. That probably would have knocked the hell out of a deer, but it wasn’t much fun to shoot from the bench.

New Caliber, New Barrel
I decided to rebuild the Striker in a caliber that would be more fun to shoot. 6mmBR was an obvious choice for all the usual reasons--good brass, wide choice of match bullets, easy to load, low recoil, very accurate, and relatively cheap to shoot. As part of a group buy through the SavageShooters.com Forum, I ordered a 15", SS match grade, 3-groove, heavy varmint contour, 10-twist barrel from Pac-Nor. To set the freebore, I provided Pac-Nor with a dummy case with an 88gr LD Berger bullet seated to use as a guide. Total delivered price was $340 chambered and threaded for a muzzle brake. (I planned to add a $100 brake from JP Rifles).

When I bought it, the Striker, with factory .308 barrel, shot 3" groups at 100. Now, with a Pac-Nor 6BR Match barrel, 3" fore-arm plate, upgraded trigger, 24X scope, and match bullets, the gun consistently groups 1/2" or better at 100 yards. What a transformation!"

Stock Modifications
While waiting for the barrel I started working on the stock. As virtually no aftermarket stocks were readily available for the center-grip Striker, I decided to rebuild the standard black synthetic stock. The grip fit my hand poorly so I worked it over with a Dremel tool and sandpaper, built up the grip with Bondo, filled in some holes and bedded the action using Devcon Plastic Steel. This was my very first attempt at these tasks so progress was slow. Once I had re-shaped the stock, I sprayed five coats of "John Deere" green topped by several coats of auto clear. It came out surprisingly well considering I had never painted a stock before. I had originally planned to build up the fore-end to 3" wide using Bondo but later decided to just use a Sinclair Benchrest Adapter that I had on hand.

Chuck notes: "I'm really pleased with the C & J one-piece Rest. It's solid, heavy, and well-designed. There is no real need for a windage top; small adjustments are easily made by slightly shifting the pistol butt. Elevation adjustments are positive and once the pistol is set up on this rest NOTHING moves."

Trigger Job--Learning the Hard Way
At this point, still waiting for the barrel, I decided to address the trigger problem. I had hoped to fit an aftermarket trigger, maybe a Rifle Basix, but I discovered that was not an option for Strikers. To use a Rifle Basix trigger, I would have had to change the configuration to a rear grip and have a stock made. That would be too expensive for this project.

I first tried to adjust the trigger myself but my efforts just seemed to make it worse. The adjustments were different than any I had seen. In desperation, I shipped the Striker off to an out-of-state gunsmith. He had been working on another project for me that had dragged on for many months and I guess, out of contrition, he agreed to do the Striker trigger job at no charge. (Don't expect quality with a "free" offer I later learned.)

When I got the Striker back the trigger was light all right. So light that when I closed the bolt it would slam fire, the safety no longer worked and when I tightened down the rear action screw, the sear would not hold at all on the trigger bar. Not good! So, I attacked the trigger myself again and after many hours finally got it adjusted down to slightly over a pound and crisp. In doing this I learned a lot more about Savage triggers than I ever wanted to know, but now it works.

Load Development and Accuracy Tuning
Once the pistol upgrades were completed, I headed to the range to break in the barrel with some 80gr Bergers I had loaded up over H4895. After 25 rounds of the break-in process, I shot a 5-shot, 200-yard group that measured 1.246". Not too bad, I thought, for a break-in load with new brass. I knew I was going to like this rig.

Later trips to the 200-yard range with different loads regularly produced sub-MOA groups. I decided to move it out to 600 and thought perhaps Berger 95gr VLDs over Varget would work pretty well in the 1:10" twist. (I usually shoot 105 JLKs in my 8-twist 6BR rifle.) You may be surprised, but the 95s seem to stabilize fine in my 10-twist Pac-Nor.

[Editor's Note: Berger Bullets recommends a 9-twist for the Berger 95gr VLD. That said, some folks, including Chuck, have had success shooting the 95s in 10-twist barrels. It's notable that Chuck is getting adequate stabilization in a 15" barrel that's over 250 fps slower than his 27" 6BR rifle barrel with the same load. Some self-declared "experts" have said that it's "impossible" for the 95s to stabilize in a 10-twist barrel. But by all indications the 95s DO stabilize in Chuck's 10-twist Pac-Nor, even at relatively "mild" velocities. So, if you have a 10-twist barrel, don't automatically assume the 95s won't work. You may be pleasantly surprised, despite what the "experts" say.]

Field Test VIDEO -- Rams Go Down at 500m
The next step for my Striker was to try it out on silhouettes at 200, 300, 400 and 500 meters. I loaded up some of the Berger 95s to see if they had enough "oomph" to knock down the rams at 500m. As you can see from the video below, the 95s did the job.

Striker Project -- Mission Accomplished
With further load development and bench practice, the gun is showing even more accuracy potential. (See "Benchrest Solutions" section below). Using a 24X target scope, the Striker has delivered 5-shot groups in the 3s and 4s during recent range visits. All in all, I’m very satisfied with the project. I ended up with an accurate, fun-to-shoot gun for under $1,000 including scope, paint, and bedding materials. I had little prior experience with this kind of work but now have no reservations about attacking any Savage accurizing project that does not require a lathe. The nice thing about Savages is that you can change the barrel yourself with few tools in less than half an hour. Pre-threaded and chambered aftermarket barrels are excellent and reasonable in price. These "pre-fit" barrels can save you both time and money.

Photo by Jeffrey Behr

Benchrest Solutions -- Some Surprising Experiments To test loads for this article, I swapped the Burris pistol scope out for an older Sightron SII 24X in Burris Signature Zee Rings and installed an Evolution Arms Picatinny rail mount. After analyzing my targets, I noticed that most of the spread was vertical. When your Editor viewed videos of me shooting the Striker he noticed that the muzzle was hopping pretty radically. He suggested that the vertical spreads might shrink if I could tame the Striker's muzzle hop. With that in mind, I've experimented with using bungee cord to keep the fore-end from jumping in the bag. The bungee simulates more weight in the front. The cord is wrapped around the rear of the sled and then runs forward at an angle to the two front legs. This provides both down force and some resistance to recoil. I was skeptical at first, but the darn thing actually works. I found that using the bungee helped cut my average group size in half. And the spread went from scattered or mostly vertical to almost all horizontal (from wind effects). Interesting, eh? Here's a 100-yard target shot with the bungee system: Compare that to this previous target, shot during ladder testing with NO bungee system in place. The difference is quite noticeable. [Editor's note: The use of a bungee tie-down would be illegal in most benchrest competitions and varmint silhouette matches. But for fun shooting and prairie dog blasting, where you're not bound by arbitrary rules, the system is worth trying. It definitely tames the motion of the gun on recoil. The bungee lessens muzzle rise off the front bag dramatically, and may also dampen vibration somewhat. Experts will say "Nope, it can't work--the bullet will already be out the barrel before the bungee comes into play." Well, Chuck has clearly seen the benefits on his targets, and he has video demonstrating that the Striker definitely hops and torques more without the bungee cinched in place. You may want to do you own experiment before you dismiss this idea. Seeing is believing.] Even without the 24X scope and the bungee tie-down the pistol was able to easily knock down silhouettes at 200, 300 400 and 500 meters with 95gr Bergers as we show on the video clip. With the 24X scope and bungee system the pistol produced 5-shot, 100-yard groups in the 3s and 4s with Berger 80-90 gr bullets, 200-yard groups in the 8s with Berger 95 VLDs and Sierra 95 SMKs. On December 4, I revisited the 1000-yard range. Using the 24X scope and bungee tie-down, the Stiker produced a 5-shot group of 8.4" at 1000 yards -- about the same as my very accurate 300 WSM rifle shot a half hour previously. I’m becoming more and more convinced that, in some respects, a long-range pistol is easier to shoot off a good rest than a rifle. I think that by not touching the weapon with your head or body there are fewer ways to screw up the shot. Now that testing is complete, I’m going to re-install the Burris scope, put the barreled action in another stock and shoot it for a while off a bipod at silhouettes. This summer I’ll widen the benchrest stock in the forearm to 3 inches with Bondo and add some lead tape for more weight.

Pistol vs. Rifle Shootout -- Velocity Comparison Test I was interested in seeing how much velocity the 15" Striker gives up compared to a 6BR rifle with a long barrel. Since I also own a Savage rifle chambered in 6BR with a 27" barrel, I decided to do a direct comparison. Lapua, through Adam Braverman, was kind enough to provide some excellent 90gr factory-loaded 6mmBR Lapua ammunition for our comparison test. This ammo is rated at 2950 fps from a 26" rifle barrel. As it turned out, my 6BR rifle came close to Lapua's velocity number, clocking at 2,891 fps. (Note: Chronographs can vary by 60 fps or more, and one barrel may be up to 100 fps faster/slower than another). By contrast, the 15" Striker delivered only 2,610 fps with the factory ammo. So, the 12" difference in barrel length cost the Striker about 23 fps per inch compared to the 27" 6BR rifle. Interestingly however, the Striker showed lower ES and SD than the rifle. (Note, in the photo below, the third column is NOT factory ammo.)

Reloading Procedures for Long-Range Pistols Novice Mistakes--Learning What NOT to Do Reloading seemed very complicated to me at first. I had never loaded a round in my life when I started last year and learned what I know now mostly by trial… and sometimes by error. I've made some errors and learned from the experience. I forgot to put powder in one case in an early batch and the primer stuck the .308 bullet so tightly in the barrel I had to take it to a gunsmith to get it removed. Another time I heard a phfffft in a match instead of a bang and found I’d seated a primer upside down. If I’ve learned nothing else, it is to ALWAYS take my time and be CAREFUL. And always inspect your ammo BEFORE you take it to the range. Developing a Good System I try to keep things as simple as possible and stick to one basic load for each rifle/specialty pistol. The loading procedure I follow is the same for all calibers. When starting a new batch of brass I uniform the primer pockets, size and chamfer the necks and, except for the 6.5 brass that has to be neck turned, just load and shoot a normal load to fire-form the cases. Before priming new cases I inspect them for defects, sort them by weight and put them into the loading block in a sequence according to weight. I keep the cases in this same sequence grouping during future reloads so I only have to weigh them once. I’ll put aside for foulers any cases that are more than ± 2.0% of the average weight of the batch. When reloading a batch I clean the necks of the fired cases as I remove them from the box with fine steel wool, arrange them in the same order in a block and lube them with a spray of One Shot. I deprime them and size the neck with a Redding Bushing Die, using a bushing that will give me about .002" neck tension. If necessary I bump the neck with a Redding die. I then trim all the cases to the length of the shortest (within reason), and, using the RCBS Trim Mate Prep Center, deburr and chamfer the necks and brush out the primer pockets. At this point I use a Lee Hand Priming tool to set primers and my Lyman 1200 DPSII electronic powder dispenser and scale to charge the cases. Using this device each charge is weighed to ± 0.10 grains. Occasionally I check a charge with a balance scale to verify the weight. I get the best results and save time overall by using the best quality bullets I can find. Originally I weighed and sorted all the bullets I loaded. I spent a lot of time doing this. However, I found with Berger, JLK and even recent batches of Sierra 142 SMKs, there is very little variation. I rarely sort bullets anymore. I mostly just load 'em and shoot 'em. I am very careful about seating depth. Before loading each batch I measure the seating depth to the lands with a Stoney Point OAL gauge and several bullets from the batch I’m going to load. Using the average of these measurements I seat to bullets to the depth I found best for that round. This is usually about .015" into the lands with Berger VLDs, JLK VLDs, and Sierra 6.5 142 SMKs. I seat about .010" off with Sierra .30-caliber 168s or 175s.