Savage 110 - Heavy barrel stock with a sporter barrel

[rtracy2001]

I believe the factory wood stock on my Savage 110 has taken a permanent leave. My 3 shot groups went from cloverleaves to pie plates at a different point of aim with no changes to loads or shooter. A hasty inspection revealed that the right hand side of the barrel channel is in contact with the barrel with a lot of raised wood to indicate significant rubbing. This is now the prime suspect as the "groups" have moved several inches to the left. When I get a free weekend I plan on using the router to enlarge the barrel channel and test my hypothesis that the stock is the cause of my troubles. If this is the case, I believe I want to go with a synthetic stock as this is my primary deer and elk rifle. (The numerous hours slung over my shoulder in the field and in all weather conditions are probably a contributor to the state of the current wood stock.) I think I want the barrel to be free floating.

Can I, or rather, would it be wise to order a "heavy barrel" stock for this gun? I am thinking that the heavy contour stock will ensure the barrel remains free floating.

Am I crazy or on to something?

I am thinking the Houge over-molded stock might be a good one. Any other suggestions? I am on a budget (aren't we all) of <$200.

[TheCelt]

I'm real fond of Bell and Carlson stocks. I have several savage barreled actions in them and am very pleased with their performance.

Instead of using a router to open up the barrel channel I use a wooden dowel and sandpaper. You get a nice smooth and straight channel that free floats the barrel very well. I would recommend pillar and glass bedding the action up to the recoil lug prior to sanding out the barrel channel.

[largom]

You can open up the stock for clearance then cut a groove down the center of the barrel channel and bed a 3/8 piece of drill rod in place, 1/4 in. will also work. Have done this on several stocks to prevent warping.

Larry

[LAGS]

All you need is the thickness of a Dollar Bill to be Free Floated.
If you use a Heavy Barrel stock you will have 1/8" to 3/16 clearance, which is good, but Not Needed.
Sand your barrel channel wider and no need to replace the stock.
BTW.
If you are considering bedding your stock, Which I would suggest you do, You can also Bed and "Free Float" the barrel channel at the same time.
What will give you the clearance you want, and is sealing the whole inside of the barrel channel with epoxy bedding.
You just run a layer of 10 Mill pipe wrap tape on the bottom of the barrel when you bed it.
After bedding, the tape is removed from the barrel, and now you have a .010' space between your barrel and the barrel channel bedding.

[rtracy2001]

You can open up the stock for clearance then cut a groove down the center of the barrel channel and bed a 3/8 piece of drill rod in place, 1/4 in. will also work. Have done this on several stocks to prevent warping.

Larry

This may be worth looking into. My main fear with sticking with wood is the risk of the stock warping after a repair and making the whole exercise for naught (with my luck it would happen during a once in a lifetime shot). Savage didn't use pretty or high quality wood in the early 90's, so even if I screw it up, no big loss.

LAGS,
Good info, I certainly don't mind a larger gap. Results trump aesthetics in this case.

I do like the idea of saving the stock. Some aluminum betting pillars and a drill rod won't cost as much as even a cheap synthetic stock.

Anything else I should do while I am in there?

[LAGS]

I vote for you working on the stock that you have.
You said you are on a budget.
A bedding kit will cost you between $20 to $30 from midway, and even the Miles Gilbert one will do what you want.
I see no reason to spend your time or money on Pillars for a hunting rifle, especially if you lack confidance in the quality of the wood.
But Full bedding the barrel channel with the Free Float bedded in will give you exactly what you want.
It will Weatherproof the barrel channel, and add strength and stability to an iffy wood stock.
But the biggest benifit is the Knowledge you will gain by doing things yourself.
Then when you can afford it, you have those skills to work on this rifle , If you later decide to install a Better stock, or you purchase another rifle in the future.
I recently finished a Savage 110 long action that I fit to a stock off a Savage 11 that was a Short action stock and the 11 is a single shot with no magazine.
Now it is in the 300 Win Mag with the 3 round box magazine.
That is a Long Range Prone rifle, so Yes, I did make and install Pillars.
But on your rifle, Glass bedding the recoil lug and rear tang is more than enough if the barrel is free floated, or free float bedded.

[Frank46]

I bought a savage 110FP in 308 some years back and had a heavy barrel. Was mounted in a plastic stock(don't know what it is made from. Couldn't get consistent grouping. Glass bedded the front receiver ring and recoil lug. That made all the difference as the stock was flexing each time it was shot. Only thing I don't like about the stock is that the place where you rest your cheek isn't high enough and have problems getting a good solid cheek weld. Frank

[Andrew Mason]

X2 on sticking with the wood stock.

inlet the barrel channel a little wider.

i absolutly recomend avoiding the cheap plastic stocks out there, aka, pretty much any factory "synthetic" stock, and many of the aftermarket ones available, like houge. grab a houge stock with no action in it at the butt and forend and twist, you can see the dam thing flex.
do that with your wood stock, will wont flex hardly at all.

[rtracy2001]

OK, a bit of an update. I pulled everything apart this evening and noticed a few things that concern me just a bit. First, the stock is not warped, the action screws were loose. Any why were they loose? it seems the recoil lug is about 1/8" from the corresponding inlet in the stock. This allowed the action to move under recoil and egg-out the action screw holes. (or at least the rear action screw hole).

So I have some work to do. I have glass bedded a Mauser 98 before, and it wasn't too bad, but I was able to look up tutorials and explanations on where to bed the action and where to make sure it is free floated, etc. The Mauser was also a no braner to install a simple pillar bedding system for the rear action screw. The Savage seems a bit more involved and I have not had any success finding pillar bedding blocks for the Savage through MidwayUSA or even Brownell's.

I do think I want to do this myself, so I am sending a call out for any pointers specific to the Savage 110.

Oh, BTW, it is a blind magazine model (don't know how to tell if it is staggered feed or straight feed) and the recoil lug is cast into the receiver instead of being a tab that goes between the action and the barrel nut. The stock also has a raised lip at the end of the barrel channel that contacts the barrel directly on the bottom. Should that stay or go?

Thanks in advance.
Ray

[LAGS]

I still see no reason to Pillar Bed your stock.
If you glass bed it the same way you did the recoil lug on the Mauser you should be fine.
Glass bedding will also close up the gap around the egg shaped action screw holes in the stock.
Bed the action, First, Then free float the barrel and that hump in the barrel channel will then probably be taken out.
But leave it in for now untill the action is bedded, UNLESS you intend to full glass bed the barrel channel and bed it so it is free floated.
That Hump will prevent the action from sitting too low in the stock while you are bedding the action.
Then when the action is bedded, it cant go down any further, and you can get the barrel channel clearance uniform.
Thus, the action is supported by the stock bedding, and now the barrel 1" ahead of the receiver doesnt touch anything.

[duke76]

If you take the stock off and the mag well stays with the receiver it is a stagger feed if you take stock off and mag well stays in stock it is a center feed

[rtracy2001]

If you take the stock off and the mag well stays with the receiver it is a stagger feed if you take stock off and mag well stays in stock it is a center feed

Darn, no chance of a detachable magazine. Oh well.

[duke76]

I would think you would be able to convert it somehow, I have never done it but give savage a call and ask them

[rtracy2001]

I would think you would be able to convert it somehow, I have never done it but give savage a call and ask them

All of the conversions, factory or otherwise specifically exclude the stagger feed receivers.

[wistlepig1]

You might like one of these.
http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/

[country gent]

Pillars can be made from epoxy. A couple studs with one end threaded to match the reciever. Coat these with several coats of release agent. also reciever and any areas that it cant stick to to stop removal of action after cured. Mix epoxy as instructions and coat holes in stock and pins. Insert action in stock and hold tight with clamps on reciever rings and light to medium pressure. Surgical tubing also works well here stretch it tight as you wrap it around. Pins should be 1" or so longer than bottom of stock as the gives a place to tap to start removal when cured. you will need to recut the counterbores for the bolt heads also. Then bed the front reciever ring and recoil lug put 2-3 layers of tape on sides and front of lug to aid removal and bed rear ring around action screw. On reciever remove trigger group, coat with 2 coats release agent after taping recoil lug and plugging all holes cut outs other than action screws with clay. On tock roughen areas to be beded to aid adhesion, you may want to cut some shallow grooves in areas to be bedded to give a better thickness to bedding. you may want to cut recoil lug mortise back to get thicker area here also. Again any cut outs holes other thanother than action screw holes need to be filled with clay to keep bedding out. MIx bedding and with a pop cycle stick lay in epoxy and work into grooves recoil mortise and areas where desired. A light coat on reciever and recoil lug also install barreled action into stock and with coated action screw pull into place slowly allowing air to work out and epoxy to spread evenly with the pressure. I also like to wrapp with surgical tubing. I also will give the action screws a loosen retighten every couple hours to help keep them free. After bedding has cured remove screws and barreled action, with dremil tool remove exess bedding from areas and ream action screw holes up to clearence size. If air pockets show you may want to touch them up with a skim coat. Then reassemble and test.

[country gent]

Have everything ready to go before mixing epoxy. Popcycle sticks work good for this, have several with sqyared ends to remove excess bedding, easier to do before it cures than after. Have plenty of rags and paper towels on hand. A medium sized card board box with a vee cut in opposite sides makes a decent drying rack also. Done right the barreled action will take some pressure to remove from the stock.

[durango]

You're on the wrong forum--go to savageshooters.com--they have a sticky on bedding with a link to accurate shooters. The rifle shown in the tutorial is a Remington, but you'll get the idea on how to do it. A lot of savage nuts say that you need to float the rear tang, some say "no". All twelve of mine are floated. The rear screw/trigger guard can be a challenge on the savages-I made an all thread rod from a 1/4-28 bolt with a short spacer and nut to hold the guard on while the bedding is curing. Have fun!! Steve

[dead dog]

I thought about sanding the whole outside of my stock down .250 inch covering with fiberglass cloth and resin. The woven cloth would be checkering mat used for smooth places. The core would be strong and easy to work outside weather proof. We used steel rollers to get the bubbles out of resin.

[John 242]

I've done a couple of stocks, single and two piece. Not an expert by any means, but here are a few things I've been taught or have found to work. Everybody has there own way of skinning the cat, but maybe this will be helpful to you:

-Walmart has cheap modeling clay in the arts and crafts department. (I like the pretty colors, LOL)

-I use the Brownells Acragel bedding compound. It's easier to deal with than the liquid Acraglas and doesn't run all over the place. Brownells makes a kit, which includes coloring dyes, cups, a stir stick or two and the funky blue release agent. (See below). I add the dye to the compound ONE drop at a time to approximate the color of the wood I'm working with. A little dye goes a long way. Don't add too much!

-Johnson's Paste Wax is a really great release agent. Wipe it on your metal parts with your fingers and let it air dry for a minute or two. Use an acid brush for hard to reach places. You just need a light coat. Some guys use the Brownells aerosol spray release agent and have had good results. I don't use the Brownells blue liquid stuff. I heavily coat guard screws by jamming the threads into the paste wax. Works great.


-When mixing the bedding compound, it's better to have a little more than needed than a little less. (Been there, done that) I mix Acragel on a paper plate. Some guys use cheap disposable cups. Just make sure you mix it thoroughly.

-You'll get bedding compound all over the place (I do). It might be a good idea to use some masking tape and mask off areas of the stock you don't want glass to permanently attached to. If you're completely refinishing the stock, you can afford to be a little messy.

- Be especially careful of any feature of the receiver that may lock it to the stock when the glass dries. Fill these areas with modeling clay. Someone mentioned this earlier, but it bears reiterating. You will be in deep do-do if you lock your receiver to your stock.

-Release agent the entire barrel and action. Inevitably, you will get bedding compound all over the place (or maybe I'm just messy?).

-After about an hour (when the glass is slightly set), use a plastic butter knife to cut around between the stock and the barrel/receiver. Don't undercut into the bedding. You're just trying to separate excess glass that squeezed out of the joints. The plastic knife should cut through the compound. You can later remove the excess when the compound has hardened some. I peel off my masking tape at this time.

-When applying the bedding compound, put the glass on both the metal and the wood. Don't just apply it to the stock. I have found that I get far better results, far fewer bubbles and voids, by applying the compound to both the stock and the metal.

Like I said earlier, I use a gel type compound from Brownells. I've used Marine Tex and I have seen guys use Devcon. Essentially the idea is the same. Mix whatever compound you decide to use COMPLETELY! If the instructions say to mix for four minutes, then MIX FOR FOUR MINUTES! Any improperly mixed compound will result in gooey soft spots. Not cool.

-White vinegar works great for removing acraglas gel from your hands, wood, tools, your hair, etc., as long as it hasn't hardened.

Like I said, not an expert but I've found some of this stuff to be useful.
Good luck with your project.
Hope this helps.