Project Savage 11G
Begin with factory box-stock model 11G chambered in .308Win. The goal is to convert this rifle to a target rifle meeting the Heavy Rifle class requirements of the Cast Bullet Association equipment rules.
I decided on (.308” bore - 1:10 twist) 7.62 x 39mm (heretofore called “Rat 30”) over all other cartridges, based on the following:
I have some good moulds for .308.
I have sizing dies for .308”-.311”
I have piles of gas-checks for the 30cal.
The brass is easy to find. –Good quality Lapua brass is plentiful.
Easy to obtain chambering reamer.
This caliber has low recoil.
The cartridge capacity is just about perfect for holding a 100% density charge and launching a cast lead bullet at just the right speed. (IMHO)
To buy:
Savage 11G rifle –I already had one, so no cost here. This rifle shoots pretty well for a deer rifle, but has never impressed me as a “target gun”. It has maybe 1200 rounds of a variety of loads through it.
Barrel: Shilen .308 w/ 1:10 Twist, profiled 1.3” to .75” tapered medium/heavy -153$ with shipping.
Bolt head (.223 Rem.) $15 w/ shipping (add another $65 for the right part)
Single shot floor plate for magazine (not needed, but wanted) 14$ w/shipping)
Can of brown spray paint $1.02 (because I don’t like how nasty a bedded action and barrel look and I want it all the same color.)
JB Weld 5$ -8$ for two containers.
Savage Barrel nut wrench -20$ on sale. Okay, this can be used again, but I didn’t have it, so it was an expense.
9/16” x 4” x 4” bar stock, grade 8 bolts 3/8”x 4”, and some pieces of White Ash. These are all pieces of a barrel and action wrench, which was built to hold the barrel in place while using the barrel nut wrench. –About 10$
total $220
To do:
Remove the bolt from the rifle.
This is done by pushing the lever on the right side top of the action and pulling the trigger.
Disassemble the rifle.
Remove the barreled action from the stock. Allen wrench out the two screws and a little pop, and it is done.
Remove the barrel from the action.
The barrel nut wrench was essential to this. There is no suitable substitute. I beat the hell out of the wrench with a brass hammer, while the barrel wrench slipped, before I finally cranked the snot out of the barrel nut wrench bolts (glad I went with the grade 8’s) and beat the barrel nut wrench with a 48oz sledge. Yes, I was turning it the right direction. No, it won’t be that tight when I put it back on. UPDATE – spray the wood blocks with Pull-More belt dressing, and they won’t slip as easily.
Convert the bolt to accept the Rat 30 cartridge.
Savage doesn’t make one, so we look to their product list and find that the .223Rem is the nearest size below. I bought a bolt head for about 15$ and we opened it up on the lathe to accept the Rat 30. There is a lot of steel here, so the removal of about 0.07” isn’t that frightening. This is especially true considering the appearance of the .308Win bolt head as offered by the factory. The rim support walls on this head are pretty thin. Time spent included making a “cup chuck” to ensure concentricity. The cost was about 15$ with some S&H and about 1.5hrs on the lathe. UPDATE The conversion didn’t work for me. The extractor was in the wrong spot, and I couldn’t make it be in the right spot. I bought a bolt head from Sharp Shooters Supply to fit the PPC line of cartridges. This was an easy install and works perfectly. If I hadn’t butchered the bolt head, I could’ve used the PPC special extractor for $16. Education costs money. This lesson was $65.
Open the stock to accept the larger Shilen Barrel.
Okay, so I butchered the crap out of this. I opened it up on a table saw and got a little wild with my cutting. Nobody was hurt, but a lot of wood that I’d prefer was there is now gone. How in the hell do you open a barrel channel that is tapered?! It matters not, as there will be synthetic bedding to some extent from the recoil lug forward as well.
Trigger Job.
This rifle didn’t come with a trigger, it came with a “tugger’. With a come-a-long it is possible to smoothly release this thing. There are some simple adjustment screws, which are pretty self-explanatory, along the right side of the action assembly. The long beam spring has a preload screw on it. Reduce the preload. This might be good enough for now. UPDATE – tests at 3#
Barrel work.
–New barrel- We spent a lot more time than was necessary on this, but finally got the tenon and threads cut for the barrel nut and action to fit. The bulk of the time was spent thinking and truing. We had a snug fit in the threads with very little slop as we threaded in the barrel to the action. An “aw crap” moment occurred after cutting this tenon and threads. I wanted to leave the most steel possible on the barrel, and so, after cutting the threads I fit the barrel to the receiver. Perfect fit, I thought. I screwed the nut down and closed the bolt on the go-gauge. I set the barrel to the correct headspace and finger tightened the nut. When I slid the barrel nut wrench on to tighten the nut to the proper torque, it stopped about 4 inches short because the barrel was too big for it to slide over.
I pulled the barrel off and chucked it into the lathe again. I turned off another .08” or so and check the wrench this time. It worked and I polished my newly cut profile and commenced to lock the barrel into place.
Bedding the action.
Upon removing the barreled action from the stock and viewing the bedding, I witnessed a victim of mass-production. The metal was bolted to the wood with as much regard as you’d expect from a mass-produced rifle. There was contact around the action screw holes and not much more. Some of this was worn a bit from the multitude of shots, but still didn’t constitute “good bedding”. There are a lot of products on the market to do this and, I suspect, every one of them that is marketed towards shooters, or the “accuracy” market, costs more strictly for that reason. I chose JB Weld for this project, and if it gives me grief, I’ll be the first to say it doesn’t work. Using a Dremel moto-tool, I hogged out wood in the contact areas. I filled these with the mixed hardener and steel epoxy from their respective JB Weld tubes. Prior to dropping this action in, I wrapped it all carefully in wax paper . I installed and tightened the action screws. After about an hour, I removed them, cleaned the epoxy off of them, coated them with anti-seize and reinstalled them. -Update -LOVE the JB!!! I’ll use this stuff on toast.
I did most of the barrel channel and all of the action area, including the recoil lug well. Sets like glass, hard as a rock, not brittle, minimal flex, no nasty resin smell, and priced right!
Remaining to do:
1. Stamp caliber designation on the barrel
2. Blue the barrel
3. Mount scope
4. Load some test rounds and fire.
5. Repeat #4
6. Report findings of #4 and # 5 as convenient.
