Savage 11/16 lightweight hunter final weight

robtattoo

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Been playing with this one for a couple of years now. Chopping bits off, switching to lighter components as funds allowed etc...

It started out as a standard model 11lwh in .308. I switched out the stock to a mod 16 Tupperware. I've since lost an inch of the barrel, an inch off the butt & replaced the stock pad with a ½"Pachmeyer.
The rail is a cheap B-square with the front end chopped off & tapered for clearance.
Leupold Rifleman alloy rings are clamped around a VX2 ultralight 2-7x28 scope & it has a simple webbing sling.

All up & with 4 in the mag, it comes in under 6lb!
I don't have an exact cost, but I know I'm not at $800.

 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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Is the barrel chop and new stock all that you changed to get there?

Structurally, yes.
The stock switch saved 3oz over the wood, cutting to 19" shaved another 2, but the biggest surprise as whipping off the recoil pad. The original weighed 7oz (including the lump of stock itself)
The new replacement only weighs 3oz! I'll take 4oz for $27 any day!
The trade off is the felt recoil is a lot sharper. Not flinch inducing sharp, but it feels much worse, to me, than my Tikka '06
 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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I think the only other thing I could do would be to shorten the forend of the stock.
I'm guessing that there's 5-6 oz I could gain there by lopping off 6" but I think at that point: A, it'd look ridiculous & B, I'm just hacking off lumps for the sake of it.

Right now it's a great improvement over standard & a third the price of a Kimber. I'm at the point where to lose much more would make it too unpleasant to shoot often.
 

luke moffat

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Dang nice piece there for $800!! I have nearly triple that into my little ultralight with exact same scope.


Though I am not sure we're you are getting 1/3 the price of a Kimber.


Well done sir!!
 
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mtluckydan

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What grain bullet are you shooting? I have several 6lb +/- rifles in 308 that are plenty tame to shoot. You could probably save more ounces with Talley light-weight rings/bases. What is the finished barrel length?

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk
 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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What grain bullet are you shooting? I have several 6lb +/- rifles in 308 that are plenty tame to shoot. You could probably save more ounces with Talley light-weight rings/bases. What is the finished barrel length?

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk

165/168s is 90% of what I've put through it. It shot at it's best with 150GMX bullets pushed right around 2700, but that's not quite fast enough for me to feel 100% confident in using a monolithic. I've just worked up a load with 150 accubonds that I think is going to be the sweet spot.

Talley's don't ever seen to work, for me, on any Savage I've had them on. They all mount the scope to far forward, even the offsets. If you look closely, the forward mounting holes are directly under & slightly in front of, the ocular bell!
 
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robtattoo if you really want to make it shoot I would consider adding a small amount of weight and bedding the recoil lug and possibly the action as well. I did this myself to my savage model 11 trophy hunter in 260 and it took my groups from 0.75'0.5" but were inconsistent and would move around slightly to a solid 0.3-0.4" that is now consistent. I added an aluminum piece of channel to the stock in front of the recoil lug which when secured with epoxy added way too much weight but I feel the recoil lug bedding and possibly some betting around the action screws on the two support areas would make it really shoot and not add much weight. You could add a carbon fiber bolt handle and offset the weight gain. Nothing wrong with 1-1.5" though. I just didn't like the inconsistancy of mine shooting very well but moving around the point of aim day to day and even cold to warm to hot.
 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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I did skim bed the back & sides of the lug, however bedding the action on the Tupperware stock is almost impossible without adding a bunch of weight that I've been trying to lose.
I did consider a carbon bolt, but until someone makes a short, compact, non-tacticool job I'm going to leave it. I might mill a few holes in it though, but for the grams it'd shave, it hardly seems worth the expense.
I have a carbon knob on my Axis Swede & quite frankly, the damn thing is a pain. It's too long & makes the initial lift a bigger operation than it needs to be. It also catches on everything.
 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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Actually, if any gunsmiths are listening & fancy a business idea, how's about one of you starts banging out a full titanium replacement for the newer round back Savages. A-la Kimber.
Nobody that I'm aware of makes one!
 
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Anyone know if adl or bdl style can be swapped into this action.

Biggest Achilles heel is the mag IMHO. The floor plate plastic tabs brake easily if a full mag dropped onto hard surfaces.

Does wildcat composites make a stock for this action?
 
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Yeah, the plastic mag sucks. I would like to drop the mag altogether.....I don't have a need for one.

As far as the tacticool bolt knob goes......I'm with you. I'm in the same boat. Trying to decide if it is worth the $80 to save the weight, but look stupid and be slightly less functional.
 
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robtattoo

robtattoo

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As far as I'm aware, the only stock that would convert it to an ADL style would be the model 10 hog hunter. I'm pretty sure that all the other model 10 variants use a mag these days.
Savage don't make anything short action with a floor plate anymore.

That said, I see no reason why the mag couldn't be epoxied into the stock. It's possible to top load anyway & I know you can remove the action with the mag in place.
 
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Anyone know if adl or bdl style can be swapped into this action.

Biggest Achilles heel is the mag IMHO. The floor plate plastic tabs brake easily if a full mag dropped onto hard surfaces.

Does wildcat composites make a stock for this action?

I changed stocks on my 116 to a B&C Medalist... not the lightest... but converted to a blind mag.
 
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As far as I'm aware, the only stock that would convert it to an ADL style would be the model 10 hog hunter. I'm pretty sure that all the other model 10 variants use a mag these days.
Savage don't make anything short action with a floor plate anymore.

That said, I see no reason why the mag couldn't be epoxied into the stock. It's possible to top load anyway & I know you can remove the action with the mag in place.

In my blind mag conversion... I top load into a fixed mag that had the floor plate removed. Top loading is relatively easy in the savage centerfeed mags.
 
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I thought about going with a boyds. Cutting off half the forearm and really working it over to lighten it up. I don't use the front half anyways. I wonder if they offer a blind mag version?
 
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