Lee Loader

I thought I would give you some feedback on the Savage 10 FCM Scout on it's return. It took 90 days to get it back and there is very little information with it's return. Basically it says that everything was good but I think the headspace was slightly long. They sent me a 100 yard target and the three shot group was .8 MOA. I thought I would go ahead and shoot it with the same ammo they did, Federal, and it shot... well, simply outstanding.

The must have shot it with a traditionally mounted scope as the scout base was removed as was the receiver sights. I would have shot it with it's scout scope but when they packaged up the base they did not include one of the three screws. I called them and they are sending it to me.

I did shoot it with the receiver sight and the performance was outstanding. I quickly got it sighted in at 200 yards and had no problem banging the 8" gong at my 200 yard berm!



I even put a couple on the the 10" gong at 250-yards and will work out what it takes for my 12" gong at 300. I actually need a taller front sight as I cannot get it down to zero at 100 yards, that is why I started to try it at 200 yards.

I'm truly impressed! The best I could hope for with this very ammo, same lot I was shooting from before it left, was 2.5 MOA and I could not always get that. I believe that with the scope, I will see exactly what Savage shot before returning it, sub MOA performance.

My intent was to turn it out on a consignment sell at my FLL but I'm going to go ahead and shoot some other ammo and shoot it with the scope.

The rifle does have a .308 groove but the bullet mold I have on ordered has a bore rider nose to accommodate this diameter without issue. Like I said earlier in this topic, the action is a longer than it need be in that it was designed for the 308 Win, but with that said, the rifle is probably an inch longer at best when compared to the M85.

So... Savage has got my attention as this rifle can shoot! My dad was doing some weed trimming around the range and stopped to watch, he was quite impressed with engaging the targets at 200 and 250 yards with a magazine full of solid hits as fast as I could get the sight picture on the gongs! He also wanted to know a bit more about the 7.62x39 as he was impressed how hard it was smacking the gongs, the low report, and no apparent recoil. That is exactly how I see the cartridge and I feel like I have a good brace of firearms to maximize the potential of the cartridge.

Glad to see they got it's straightened out. How much energy do you figure @ 250y ?

357cyrus wrote:Glad to see they got it's straightened out. How much energy do you figure @ 250y ?

Only about 650 FPE. It does make that heavy steel plate jump though. Point blank range (3") is 220 yards, so I hold a little between the middle and top of the 250-10" gong to ring it. The 300-12" will need to be held at the top of the plate and that will be 530 FPE. These energies are educated guesses with the Federal 123-grain Fusion, I need to chronograph it with the Savage. It might be a little better as the Savage velocities have always beat the Rossi Single Shot. I think it has to do with squeezing a .310 bullet through a .308 groove. I suspect the smaller bullet generates a greater pressure; hence, a higher velocity.

That causes me to wonder if any compact rifles have been built with slightly underdiameter grooves so they generate the velocities of a standard length barrel?

90 days seems to be a long time to repair a gun. Could be they are under staffed or over whelmed.

Glad to see they got it fixed for you thou. How would head spacing cause large groups? The round being able to wiggle around in the chamber?

530 ft/lb is still about like a .357 mag revolver @ the muzzle. I can't imagine anything goin too far after taking a solid hit from that. Sounds like a pretty potent rig.
I would GUESS that a .308 groove is an acceptable tolerance of what they are trying to achieve in a mass production rifle. In this lawsuit happy country, I can't imagine a custom barrel maker cutting something tighter than standard and putting his name on it because Joe Schmoe wanted higher pressure.

357cyrus wrote:In this lawsuit happy country, I can't imagine a custom barrel maker cutting something tighter than standard and putting his name on it because Joe Schmoe wanted higher pressure.

I think Savage didn't want to cut a new barrel bore/groove for the single offering so they justed used the .308 stock.

62chevy wrote:90 days seems to be a long time to repair a gun. Could be they are under staffed or over whelmed.

I think it was and the communication was awful. I run the Rossi-Rifleman forum and this manufacturer often takes a hit on Customer Service but they are much better by any measure against Savage. Everything can be handled via the web and serial number. You can see when your rifle is received and follow it through to return shipping. I found my Scout leaning up against my back door when I returned from an evening of hunting!

62chevy wrote:Glad to see they got it fixed for you thou. How would head spacing cause large groups? The round being able to wiggle around in the chamber?

Here is what the chamber looked like compared to the SAAMI spec.
At the shot, the bullet must jump to make bore/groove contact. A lot is going on right there at that moment with the combustion gases moving around and ahead of the bullet as it starts to accelerate. No way for it to be perfectly aligned with the bore/groove.

RD do you think they reset the head space or gave you a new barrel? A new barrel would need the head spacing set anyways. But from what you said the chamber was way off, not sure that can be fixed on an old barrel.

62chevy wrote:RD do you think they reset the head space or gave you a new barrel? A new barrel would need the head spacing set anyways. But from what you said the chamber was way off, not sure that can be fixed on an old barrel.

I think the head space was excessive as indicated by the drawing from the dimensions. The Savage uses a barrel lock nut to adjust the headspace and I think that is what was done.

[youtube][/youtube]

Thanks RD. Want to do a pound cast on my Savage to see what is what and make some boolits that will shoot well with it. This is good information to have. Also will be making some cat sneeze and mouse sneeze loads for it just to plink with.