A 3" group from that rifle tells me something is moving during recoil.I agree, old friend. That's the first thing I thought about. Both action screws were tight and the scope bases and rings are tight. I'll admit I'm buffaloed.
I went over to the Savage Shooter's forum and the guys there recommended floating the tang. It seems that the Savage action bolts to the stock via two bolts. One behind the recoil lug and one in front of the trigger guard. Unlike Remington and other actions that have the rear action screw going into the tang.
The guys over at the forum tell me that if the tang isn't floated, that when you tighten that rear screw, the action flexes ever so slightly, the rear portion of the action never seats fully into the stock, and accuracy suffers. When the tang is floated, then you know that the rear portion of the action is sitting on the bedding surface of the stock. That sounds reasonable to me.
About fifteen minutes with a piece of 150 grit sandpaper and the tang is floated. I put a dab of linseed oil on it to seal it, then re-assembled the rifle. The action screws are tight and everything is put away.
I've got bullets ordered. When they come in I'll do some reloading and see how floating the tang affects the accuracy of the rifle.
Laughing!
ReplyDelete3" groups? When I get 3" groups, I kiss my rifle and post the target on the bulletin board.
Open sights, bi-focals and too much coffee.