Savage 116 - .30-06

[ppreston]

Background: I had a really good friend of mine relocate to Whitefish, MT a little over a year ago, and he has started throwing around the idea of doing a guided Elk hunt in the Bob Marshall Wilderness (Fall 2016). Given that this would be my first Elk hunt, my thoughts are to utilize my Savage 116 SS that is chambered in .30-06. As it stands, the rifle fits me really well and has proven to be very accurate out of the box, but I'd like to look into a few upgrades (lightweight stock, better glass, etc).

The rifle was purchased new in 2006 and is a pre acoustock model with a blind magazine and staggered feed, but it does have the accutrigger. As far as stocks go, I've noticed that Bell & Carlson and McMillan tend to get the nod. In looking at the two, the Hunters Edge from McMillan really stands out to me a great lightweight option. Does Bell & Carlson offer something comparable weight wise?

With respects to scopes, the rifle currently wears a Leupold VX-II 3-9x40mm Duplex, which admittedly is a great setup for the money, but I'd like to explore upgrading to either a VX-III (2.5-8x36mm) or something else in the $500-$700 price range. Keeping in mind that 11-12oz is a very attractive figure to be working with on a lightweight setup.

I like the accutrigger. My guess is that there are a few aftermarket replacements, but does it make sense to spend the money or should I just put time into tuning the stock trigger?

This would be venturing into new territory for me, so I'm curious what other parts are worth looking into as far as weight reduction and accuracy improvement go?

Any help, guidance, feedback, or links to similar builds or literature that walks through the anatomy of a lightweight rifle would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and if there is any additional information that I can provide please do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks in advance!

Paul

 

[Shrek]

First off there is nothing wrong with your current setup. The McMillan Hunter Edge is a very nice stock and you can order most of their designs inleted to fit your Savage and have it made with Edge Technology which is carbon fiber and lighter fill. Manners also makes most of their designs inleted for Savage. Bell & Carlson does not make a lightweight stock for Savage as far as I know. There isn't much to be gained with a new trigger but they're made. The Accutrigger is a very nice trigger that can be adjusted down to a low and crisp pull weight that is very appropriate for hunting. Talley Lightweight scope mounts can cut a few ounces and PTG spiral fluted bolt could replace the current one. I'm not a huge Leopold guy so someone else needs to comment there if you are getting anything for the money as I'm into Swarovski these days. Beyond the things talked about you can also replace the barrel with a lighter one. Bottom line is you can probably cut a pound but it's ridiculously expensive. $650 for the stock and another $150 to have someone else bed it or you can do that yourself to save the bedding cost. Another four or five hundred in a scope and in the end it very likely won't shoot any better than it does right now in its plain ugly tupperwear stock. Your current stock almost certainly pillar bedded and your current scope is getting it done. I'd take the money you would have to spend and buy a Kimber Montana or other purpose built lightweight rifle.
Now if cutting a bunch of weight isn't the goal but making it a nicer looking and feeling rifle there are plenty of reasonably priced stock options and upgrades but they're not saving weight or adding a ton of accuracy. Accuracy comes from the barrel , bedding , and load development mostly. Savage generally has made good barrels and used pillar beds in their plastic stocks that is very effective. Add a little load development and you have a utilitarian shooter that you can drag through hell and not care about how it looks afterward. Personally I'd keep the Savage just the way it is and go buy a mountain rifle that will be truly lightweight.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I would agree with Shrek. If it is accurate now, go with it and that is a great setup. I would look into getting some glass that is in the 12 to 14 power range and you'll just add a few ounces if you go with Loopy. I'm not a huge loopy fan either but they work and if you aren't doing long range work, they'll be fine. You could go with a vari x 3 in a 4.5 to 14 with a B/C reticle and be a happy camper shooting out to 500 yards.

Randy

 

[HOT ROD]

I would have to agree with the others. I have the same rifle. Except in a 270wsm. The only thing I did was bed the recoil lug.

 

[ppreston]

First off there is nothing wrong with your current setup. The McMillan Hunter Edge is a very nice stock and you can order most of their designs inleted to fit your Savage and have it made with Edge Technology which is carbon fiber and lighter fill. Manners also makes most of their designs inleted for Savage. Bell & Carlson does not make a lightweight stock for Savage as far as I know. There isn't much to be gained with a new trigger but they're made. The Accutrigger is a very nice trigger that can be adjusted down to a low and crisp pull weight that is very appropriate for hunting. Talley Lightweight scope mounts can cut a few ounces and PTG spiral fluted bolt could replace the current one. I'm not a huge Leopold guy so someone else needs to comment there if you are getting anything for the money as I'm into Swarovski these days. Beyond the things talked about you can also replace the barrel with a lighter one. Bottom line is you can probably cut a pound but it's ridiculously expensive. $650 for the stock and another $150 to have someone else bed it or you can do that yourself to save the bedding cost. Another four or five hundred in a scope and in the end it very likely won't shoot any better than it does right now in its plain ugly tupperwear stock. Your current stock almost certainly pillar bedded and your current scope is getting it done. I'd take the money you would have to spend and buy a Kimber Montana or other purpose built lightweight rifle.
Now if cutting a bunch of weight isn't the goal but making it a nicer looking and feeling rifle there are plenty of reasonably priced stock options and upgrades but they're not saving weight or adding a ton of accuracy. Accuracy comes from the barrel , bedding , and load development mostly. Savage generally has made good barrels and used pillar beds in their plastic stocks that is very effective. Add a little load development and you have a utilitarian shooter that you can drag through hell and not care about how it looks afterward. Personally I'd keep the Savage just the way it is and go buy a mountain rifle that will be truly lightweight.

Shrek - Appreciate the words of wisdom and honest feedback.

You definitely bring up a good point in that if being lightweight is the ultimate goal, there are certainly better options that would accommodate a flatter shooting caliber and more long range potential if desired. A lightweight stock, Talley Scope Mounts, PTG bolt, and gunsmith fees will put me right at the heals of a Kimber Montana...and don't forget that I would still be pushing the same VX-II glass that comes with an extremely stiff dial for the magnification adjustment. Mounting a new scope would put me well above the price of a Kimber! Sounds like either upgrading the scope and mounts or going with a new lightweight rifle are the wiser options to be considering.

If I'm looking to stick to the $500-$700, do you have any recommendations for scopes? I'd like to continue using the rifle for Whitetail in MN, so I have to be mindful of the low range magnification.

Are any other rifle manufactures competing with Kimber with respects to pricing and quality, or is the Montana the "go to" for folks looking in the $1-$1.5K range?

Thanks again!

 

[ppreston]

I would agree with Shrek. If it is accurate now, go with it and that is a great setup. I would look into getting some glass that is in the 12 to 14 power range and you'll just add a few ounces if you go with Loopy. I'm not a huge loopy fan either but they work and if you aren't doing long range work, they'll be fine. You could go with a vari x 3 in a 4.5 to 14 with a B/C reticle and be a happy camper shooting out to 500 yards.

Randy

Randy - That makes two who look elsewhere for their scope needs. What manufactures do you typically go with? You will note if I stick to just upgrading the scope and mounts, I will definitely want to continue using the rifle in the heavily forested regions of MN for whitetail. Meaning 4.5 on the low range might be a bit too much power for the tight quarters.

Thanks!

Paul

 

[Browtinemt]

I know very little about rifles, but if you're going guided into the Bob you're most likely to be using horses and they don't care how heavy your current setup is. In years past The Bob was a HD that allowed rifle hunting during the rut, so I'm not sure you need a long range or light weight set up given the time of year and pack animals. I would upgrade your scope if you feel the need, Leupolds have been great scopes for me, but to each their own. The Bob Marshall is one of the most beautiful and unforgiving places I've ever seen, I would jump at the chance to hunt there if you have the means. If this is your first elk hunt and first trip west, you probably have a lot of other needs and gear to think about putting your money towards. Maybe settle on an outfitter and ask him lots of questions, as he's most likely to have the best input. Good luck and buy a good camera to post some pics for the rest of us.

 

[Shrek]

Check out the Minox ZA 5 HD 3.5-15×50 with the 600 bdc reticle. It's not particularly light but it has all the performance you need . 30mm main tube and side focus should help with light gathering and shooting a little farther. Call Cameralandny.com and see if they have an unlisted open box special to get the price down. Minox warranty is a no questions asked lifetime warranty and the one I owned was a very high quality scope and the German HG binoculars I own now are very high quality and high performance. The only reason I don't still own the scope is that I was running into a mounting issue that was going to require me to use high scope mounts and that was putting the scope too high for the stock I had on the rifle. I sold the scope to a friend who has killed a half dozen deer with it in the last two seasons.

 

[rileybassman]

I have the same rifle as yourself... great rifle! I put a B&C Medalist classic checkered stock on it and absolutely love it!
I was not after a super lightweight setup, so idk what you would consider a lightweight package, but I upgraded for the better feeling/tougher stock (also comes with a pacmeyer decelerator which is my favorite butt pad). I have a Monarch 2.5-10x42 that I have been quite pleased with as well. Has BDC reticles that are good enough for elk/deer in a pinch as well as covered turrets that can be adjusted and seem to track well for me for the longer/more time shots. All in all a great rifle. Very accurate when you do your part. Haven't with this rifle, but have killed elk with my other 06, you will be fine out to 4-600 yards with a good bullet and good shot - maybe longer if you are a long range guru.

I guess if i was you, I would look into a stock first and then a scope second as your scope is perfectly fine for hunting and I am not a huge fan of the savage stocks.

As it sits with the stock, scope, sling, and a shooting pad, I am just over 7.5 lbs.

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[ppreston]

I know very little about rifles, but if you're going guided into the Bob you're most likely to be using horses and they don't care how heavy your current setup is. In years past The Bob was a HD that allowed rifle hunting during the rut, so I'm not sure you need a long range or light weight set up given the time of year and pack animals. I would upgrade your scope if you feel the need, Leupolds have been great scopes for me, but to each their own. The Bob Marshall is one of the most beautiful and unforgiving places I've ever seen, I would jump at the chance to hunt there if you have the means. If this is your first elk hunt and first trip west, you probably have a lot of other needs and gear to think about putting your money towards. Maybe settle on an outfitter and ask him lots of questions, as he's most likely to have the best input. Good luck and buy a good camera to post some pics for the rest of us.

The outfitter that is under consideration has a very high level summary of "what to expect" on their website. A portion of this looks at the amount of travel by horse and foot a hunter can expect on a daily basis. They mention something along the lines of 4-5hrs of horse back and / or up to 10 miles of hiking on any given day. Though I feel these estimates are a bit extreme, I can't exactly argue with them either...given the lack of experience on my end. This is what has me thinking I might need to consider losing 1-2lbs on the rifle.

Oh and don't worry about the pics, they are one of the best ways to remember an experience of a lifetime.

 

[ppreston]

Check out the Minox ZA 5 HD 3.5-15×50 with the 600 bdc reticle. It's not particularly light but it has all the performance you need . 30mm main tube and side focus should help with light gathering and shooting a little farther. Call Cameralandny.com and see if they have an unlisted open box special to get the price down. Minox warranty is a no questions asked lifetime warranty and the one I owned was a very high quality scope and the German HG binoculars I own now are very high quality and high performance. The only reason I don't still own the scope is that I was running into a mounting issue that was going to require me to use high scope mounts and that was putting the scope too high for the stock I had on the rifle. I sold the scope to a friend who has killed a half dozen deer with it in the last two seasons.

Thanks for the heads up on cameralandny! I will give them a ring and see what they have to say on the Minox. Though at 20.8oz we are talking an additional 9oz over the Leupold. For clarification, did you mean 3-15x50 or do they actually make a 3.5-15?

 

[ppreston]

I have the same rifle as yourself... great rifle! I put a B&C Medalist classic checkered stock on it and absolutely love it!
I was not after a super lightweight setup, so idk what you would consider a lightweight package, but I upgraded for the better feeling/tougher stock (also comes with a pacmeyer decelerator which is my favorite butt pad). I have a Monarch 2.5-10x42 that I have been quite pleased with as well. Has BDC reticles that are good enough for elk/deer in a pinch as well as covered turrets that can be adjusted and seem to track well for me for the longer/more time shots. All in all a great rifle. Very accurate when you do your part. Haven't with this rifle, but have killed elk with my other 06, you will be fine out to 4-600 yards with a good bullet and good shot - maybe longer if you are a long range guru.

I guess if i was you, I would look into a stock first and then a scope second as your scope is perfectly fine for hunting and I am not a huge fan of the savage stocks.

As it sits with the stock, scope, sling, and a shooting pad, I am just over 7.5 lbs.

Good looking rifle, Riley. It definitely has a bit more character than the standard Savage classic stock! Did you go through B&C directly or a different retail / vendor ?

 

[rileybassman]

Good looking rifle, Riley. It definitely has a bit more character than the standard Savage classic stock! Did you go through B&C directly or a different retail / vendor ?

I got it from stocky stocks. Great to deal with.
It did require a little fitting, but wasn't very hard at all. If you are interested I can give you details. Will depend on your rifle model... Which for your year I believe it will have the bolt release on top, to would require less work if any.

I bedded the recoil lug and floated the barrel as well.

 

[ppreston]

I got it from stocky stocks. Great to deal with.
It did require a little fitting, but wasn't very hard at all. If you are interested I can give you details. Will depend on your rifle model... Which for your year I believe it will have the bolt release on top, to would require less work if any.

I bedded the recoil lug and floated the barrel as well.

That would be great. Feel free to post here or send as a PM, whichever you prefer.

Thanks!

 

[rileybassman]

No problem, I'll go ahead and post it here as it was forums like this that have helped me in the past

Tools I used:
Dremel, Drill, Metal file, sadpaper

First thing I had to do was inlay for the very back portion of the accutrigger... it was just barely touching at the rear above the trigger housing. Used a dremel sanding disk and metal file and gave it just enough clearance:

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Big tip is go SLOW you can always remove more

Once that part was done, the barreled action fit in the stock and I was able to assess the other things I needed to do...

Here is the accutrigger... you can see the back part is where I had to inlay (where the bolt to adjust trigger pull is)

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[rileybassman]

Next step that I did was I had to inlay for the trigger guard. This part I am thinking you may not have to do... I had to do it because my bolt release on the new 116s is on the front of the trigger guard and the guard itself is two stepped at the front to accommodate:

It comes with a straight slot and I had to flare it out a little at the front as well as drop it a quarter of an inch or so.

I also sealed the back coarse thread screw into the stock with jb weld (savage coarse screw doesn't have much real estate and doesn't need to be removed, so I felt better about making it permanent - incidentally, jb weld cures to match the grey texture perfect

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[rileybassman]

If you have the top bolt release or safety, this is the slot that you will have... it isn't doing anything on my rifle and I could fill it, but it isn't bugging me at the moment:

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[rileybassman]

After those two steps I worked on the magazine... you already have a blind mag so this will be easier for you... I went from the stock drop box mag, pulled the bottom plate off, and fitted it in the magazine well. I worked at this for awhile with shims etc, but in the end I believe none were needed. What I am using right now is kind of a thick plumbers vinyl tape wrapped around the magazine and then fitted. I initially planned (and still may) use an epoxy to hold it in, but I wanted to be able to remove if need be and actually, the tape is SUPER tight (have over 100 rounds that fed reliable and it hasn't moved) so I don't have a reason other then aesthetics to epoxy it. Still may tho for peace of mind someday. There is the metal L shaped clip that I ordered that are on the stock savage Blind Mags, but in the end, it was not needed and I did not want to inlay the aluminum bedding block.

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[rileybassman]

Next, I had to counter sink the stock bolt holes for the newer, shorter bolts... in hind site I would have probably tracked down an older, long front action screw, but this worked. Since the bolt diameter is not much bigger then the hole, I custom made a stainless washer to the exact hole diameter and put it in so the bolt would not sink in to the aluminum over time.
So far this has worked flawless and lets met get the action tight without fear.

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[rileybassman]

After that, I bedded the recoil lug with marine tex grey putty - would definitely recommend this with these stocks... there was about a quarter inch in slop when I mounted it without tightening the action screws.

I used this opportunity to float the barrel and clear the barrel channel a little... I ended up with a pretty large amount of float which I was hapy with (the B&C stock is quite rigid in the front end so no bipod worries)

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