A Scout Rifle Is Made... Savage 340

[Ranch Dog]

I decided to jump right in with the work necessary to make my Savage 340A into a scout rifle. My plan was to use a Wild West Win 94 Scout Mount that I've had on hand for a number of years. Some rough measurements indicated that that taper cut into the base of the mount for the Winchester was pretty close to the Savage so... it was time to give it a go. I was not going to drill & tap the barrel for the mount but epoxy it down on the barrel on just like the XS Clifton mounts are installed



I used levels to get the mount on top of the barrel and laser level & a laser bore sight to verify the alignment. With it in place I outlined the mount on the barrel.



With the mount area masked off, I mixed up a batch of JB Weld and worked it until it was getting on the thick side of setting. I applied it to the bottom of the mount and insured that the four screw holes in the mount were full as an additional anchor. This Savage replacement barrels came without any markings whatsoever and whoever stamped "30-30" really botched it! Thank God the mount is going to cover this mess and I can do an appropriate stamp myself.



The mount was secured with a velcro strap and the levels set back up to insure everything was square. I ran the temperature on my room up to 70° and left it overnight.



First thing this morning I setup the laser boresighter & laser level to see how parallel the upper surface of the mount was with the bore. The laser dot & lines are projected on the wall on the left side of the photo.



Here is the setup with the light off. The lasers are easier to see. In the 49" to the wall the difference in alignment was .4" or 5°. 5° doesn't sound like much but the difference with the crosshairs centered in the tube would be about 29" offset high at 100 yards! That is at the limit of most scope elevation adjustment but honestly, it was not as bad as I expected, and easily corrected with the Burris Signature Zee mounts with their offset inserts. This mounting system can compensate for up to 30° of error.



I will leave the mount alone from here until Thursday or Friday in order for the epoxy to completely cure. I will start on the stock though. The sling swivel studs need to be work on a bit. They are on the centerline of the stock but the thread insert used to install them in the stock need to be epoxied in place. Also, I'm going to install a better recoil pad, a grid to fit Pachmayr Decelerator. Still waiting for my parts package from Numrich. I'm replacing the bolt gas shield and its associated parts. The shield was slightly bowed.

[DaveInGA]

RD,

Looking good so far! Keep those pictures coming, I'm liking this.

Dave

[akuser47]

Great work

[RBHarter]

I blame you for what I'm considering. .........

I have this 7mm take off Mauser bbl with a bad throat like it will chamber a 301 dia cast bad. So my evil genius has decided that if the 30-30 bbl is as mercury primer scarred as it seems to be that it should be altered . 1 option is to have the OE bbl opened to 32 Winchester Special with no headspace changes and zero chances for magazine issues that can't be stoned off. But this other Imp (and she is a real siren) seems to think that most if not all of the 280 AI ish chamber can be removed and then recut for the 325 action in 7-30 Waters. What I need however is about 3 7-30 cases to see if the mags will work . Mine are marked for 225 Winchester and 30-30. Which have very different shoulders the 225 is about .008 shorter than the 7-30 .

Your fitting of the bbl mounted base by epoxy is the full solution to the other bugs in my plan......Imp pulsive actions . There is also an 06 take off from a 700 that could be a 30-30 also.

[Ranch Dog]

The Savage 340 made another leap today. Been watching a used, like new Weaver K4 Classic Scout on eBay. Got it for the opening bid of $100 vs. the cost of a new one $188!

Also started work on the recoil pad. Drilled out the wallowed out holes in the stock from the old pads and glued wood dowels in them. I will give that two days to set and then finish the pad installation. Got to dig my belt sander out.

[Ranch Dog]

Your fitting of the bbl mounted base by epoxy is the full solution to the other bugs in my plan......Imp pulsive actions . There is also an 06 take off from a 700 that could be a 30-30 also.

Glad to be an enabler!

I personally think my scout would be an impressive 38-55 Win!

[RBHarter]

I'm wondering about the various other cartridges and the magazine . The 38-55 is all but a straight case . The 225 and 30-30 share a mag and would share with the 32 Winchester Special. A 223 and 222 are separate mags 223 won't fit in the 222 mag the shoulder is too far forward.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm wondering about the various other cartridges and the magazine . The 38-55 is all but a straight case . The 225 and 30-30 share a mag and would share with the 32 Winchester Special. A 223 and 222 are separate mags 223 won't fit in the 222 mag the shoulder is too far forward.

I would think that anything based on a 30-30 case would work. 219 Zipper, 7-30 Waters, 32 Win Spl, 35/30-30 and all the necked up and down Herritt cartridges that aren't too short.

[Ranch Dog]

Made real good progress on this project last night & this morning with the addition of a Pachmayer 750 Decelerator Pad. This added an inch of pull to the length which I really needed. This is the first grind to fit pad I've installed and it went like I was a Pro!

The holes on this stock were really wallowed out so I did it like it is supposed to be done. I drilled them out big time and filled the holes with 3/8" hardwood dowels that I cut off after they dried in place.



The base of the stock was not cut square but I did not want to cut anymore off the stock as the optimal length of pull for me is 15.25". I do not have the big grinding wheels and belts that a gunsmith would use, only a simple 1"X30" belt sander from Harbor Freight that I paid about $25 for once I finished handing them coupons!



To square the very butt of the stock up, I pulled off the safety shield off the top of the sander and just backed the stock into the belt holding it square to the belt until it was true. Worked like a champ and only took a few minutes at the most!



I do have the Pachmayr Recoil Pad Grinding Templates and the Miles Gilbert Recoil Pad Installation Fixture. The templates make lining up the holes and centering the pad a breeze. As this was my first use of the Installation Fixture, it took me awhile to get comfortable with setting it up as once you start grinding you are committed. The old measure a couple of times to cut once.



With the comb and bottom line of the stock set on the Installation Fixture I went right to work. The "Small" Pachmayr 750 is really large on the small stock of the 340 but it grinds quite a bit faster than you would think. The belt sander had an 80 grit belt and the finish on the pad was as smooth as it gets!

Besides the setup instructions, I did follow the advice Mr. Potter gave in a MidwayUSA video on using the tool. The best advice was concerning the use of a scribe line in the pad and then filing a stick of chalk over the pad and wiping the chalk dust off the pad. The scribe line really stands out and you grind right up to the line. It was perfect advice!



The belt sander worked like a charm. It has a vacuum port that kept the debris to a minimum, not like I saw in the video.



Here it is as pretty as can be!



My scope rings came in today's mail so I'm going to work on that now. The Numrich order has been held up due to the weather but I will be ready to go once it is here!

[357cyrus]

Looking good! This reminds me that my Savage 99's recoil pad needs to be replaced. I hope mine comes out that nice.