Savage Long Range Hunter

OLDHORNHUNTER · Oct 8, 2014

Need some HELP have a son that just bought a new Savage LRH in 7mag mounted his scope bore sighted it & went ton the range !! took 3 boxes of shells Remington Federal & Hornady various grains .. 1st couple of shots at 100 yards Not even close to the 4x4 target came back in to 50 yards finally got a read !! bullet was over 8" high & right adjusted shot & reshot got the bullets back pretty close!! went back to 100 yards 1st 3 shots were spread about 11" switched ammo same story switched ammo again same story { gun was cleaned after about 12 shoots } ..went back out the other day with him .. we set up a target at 25 yards !! 1st shot was dead nuts but about 1/4" right 2nd was Exact height but left about a 1/2" 3rd was Exact same height but right between the 1st & 2nd shots !! went back out to 100 1st shot was about 4" high & 1" right 2nd shot was about 9" higher & to the left 3rd shot was back left !! I shot the gun my 2 shots were about 4 to 5" apart as well !! we were shooting off a Lead sled with 30 # of weight pretty solid !! ANY ONE HAVE ANY IDEAS ??? the kid said he did some research & several people commented ion these barrels being free floated but they were NOT !! his u can NOT slide a Dollar bill under the barrel at all !!!! scope rings & bases all tight all the stock screws were tight as well !! WTH ????

30Hart · Oct 8, 2014

Either the scope went out or you have gun oil between the rings and scope body. Had this problem on a 308 and it was gun oil under the front ring...makes the scope move under recoil...use degreaser on the rings before you mount them...might be something else. I had a Remington 270 that had tool marks down the barrel that actually cut through the rifling on a new gun...I'm betting scope or oil problem.

OLDHORNHUNTER · Oct 8, 2014

the scope was mounted & bore sighted at a local gun shop , they are brand new rings & bases the scope was dead nuts on the 243 it came off !! Not saying it isn't the scope thanks for your input it is a head scratcher for damn sure

sageman · Oct 8, 2014

Try loading the rifle for your Son behind him so he can not see you ....after a couple of shots do NOT put a round in and see if he flinches.

cabinfever · Oct 8, 2014

Try HSM ammo with the berger bullets. Lap the scope rings and remount.I would also do a 30 shot barrel break in using the Shilen method.With that kind of inconsistency my guess is its the scope. You should get 1/2 MOA groups with that gun.

Weiserbucks · Oct 8, 2014

Take it out of the lead sled . I have the same rifle , it shoots 5"-9" groups out of a lead sled . It shoots 3/4" groups off a bipod . My rifle hates the lead sled for some reason I cant explain . Either that or your rings and or bases could be loose .

huntfishall1 · Oct 8, 2014

With the shots jumping around so much on the paper I'd say its likely an issue with the scope mount/rings.

Gator · Oct 8, 2014

Put a different scope on it and try again same result it's the rifle, if shoot groups it was the scope.

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jf239 · Oct 8, 2014

I have the same gun in 6.5 284. Remove the stock, clean the bedding replace the stock and torque to 45 inch pounds aplying pressure against recoil lug by pushing down on barrel as you torque. Then take some fine sand paper and run it under the barrel at the front of the stock and clean the lip off that is there until you can get a dollar in between it. This will make it shot very well if the scope and rings are correct

muzzhunter · Oct 8, 2014

I'd bet it's a barrel float issue, I bought the wife a gun and we were having the same kind of problems. Checked the barrel and it was not floated. Went home and cleaned it up and floated the barrel. That sucker is a tack driver now. Good luck.

DeerMadness · Oct 8, 2014

Don't know what your trouble is but....I saw a Savage LR today and it had a Burris Eliminator scope and a bipod for $1950.00. It was a sweet looking rifle but heavy as heck.

elkassassin · Oct 8, 2014

A Savage Huh?

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1FastGambler · Oct 8, 2014

My guess is that you have more than one contributing factor to the very poor shooting.

I have one and it also had it's own major accuracy issues.

1. These rifles are EXTREMELY picky with how the stock is mounted to the action. (see post above) DO NOT over tighten a Savage Accu-Stock! Tighter is NOT better!

2. Scope is junk or has major issue with the mounting. (just because a "gun shop" mounted it does not mean it was installed properly.

3. Something with scope mounting is not right, I've had more than one brand of bases and rings with manufacturing defects, causing a poor fit between the base and action, etc.

4. Barrel is bad

5. Flinching

I ended up throwing the P.O.S. Accu Stock in the trash. I installed a Boyd's stock, pillar and epoxy bedded it using Stockystocks.com pillars, and went from 8-9" 100YD groups to Sub MOA. I also have several hours into fitting the Boyd's stock to my rifle.

If I had it to do over again, I would have called Savage and sent it back to them for inspection.

That said, I strongly suggest that you remove, clean, and reinstall the stock and torque properly before you modify it in any way. Then remove the scope, check the rings and bases for proper mounting, if they check out good, go ahead and lap the bottom rings and install a new scope.

If that doesn't fix the problem, I would send the rifle back.

Do a internet search on "poor shooting savage". You will find tons of information from people with a lot more experience with them than I have.
Good luck!

mtmuley · Oct 8, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Oct-08-14 AT 08:18PM (MST)[p]A Savage and an Eliminator. Two things I wouldn't ever hunt with. mtmuley

30Hart · Oct 8, 2014

Like I said the rings weren't degreased and you have oil under the rings...had the same problem with a heavy barreled Remington 308. After the fix...half inch groups.

RedPostBullSlayer · Oct 8, 2014

There's always gotta be a couple douche bags with absolutely nothing better to do than make dumb ass comments on a thread.

deerslayer88 · Oct 8, 2014

Make sure that barrel floated, then bed the stock. My accustock was taken off after one season because the groups were out to 3 inches at 100 yards, before bedding it in the boyds stock I got down to 1 inch groups. The Accustock is no good. If not the accustock check for flinching. The recoil pad on the accustock is not good either, go with a boyds float it and put a cut to fit limbsaver or equivalent if you got with the varmitr if it will fit you can you other almost any limbsaver and I think boyds even sells them now.

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OLDHORNHUNTER · Oct 9, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Oct-09-14 AT 08:47AM (MST)[p]thanks to all those with "Actual Helpful" input on things to check out !!!

OLDHORNHUNTER · Oct 9, 2014

just got off the phone with Savage Arms customer service & they were not aware of any problems with this gun !! the person I spoke with checked their data base for any complaints or return issues with the Modell 111 LRH & there was only one issue & it was a cracked stock !! they are having us return the gun & replacing it !! The problem according to their tech is the barrel is supposed to be free floated & it is NOT !! So anyone that has this gun & issue they are urging the owners to contact them & get the guns sent back !!!! we will see but makes perfect sense for the bullets to be jumping all over like that !!