Cerickson12
FNG
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2020
- Messages
- 64
My interest in bolt action rifles started approximately 13 years ago. My first rifle was a black Friday special Mosin Nagant from Big 5. This rifle started my journey down the rabbit hole of precision rifles. I eventually landed on a Remington 700. I currently shoot a Zermatt Arms Origins SA which I run as a switch barrel setup 6.5cm and 7RSAUM. I love this rifle but I’m tired of switching barrels when hunting season rolls around so I want a rifle that stays setup year around. My love for precision bolt guns got me wanting to explore a budget build option.
Not everyone is in a financial place where they can drop $5k on a single rifle build so I wanted to create a thread on a budget option. My goal is to build a savage 7prc for less than what I could buy the Savage Ultralight for. In this thread, I believe I accomplished just that.
My goal was to find a cost-effective rifle that checks the following boxes:
Another rifle I considered was the Ruger American Gen 2 but ultimately decided that the Savage checked more of the boxes for me. I have several friends that own the Ruger American and they have all been incredibly accurate. The biggest reason I didn’t want to go with the Ruger is because there are not as many aftermarket accessories available.
Initial rifle review:
Out of the box, the Savage 110 Trail Hunter Lite is a very basic rifle. It comes with a 20-inch barrel, cerakote tungsten paint, threaded muzzle, Hogue Stock, and an accu-trigger. For a $600 rifle, I had low expectations when it came to fit and finish.
Hogue Stock:
One thing that I noticed was the barrel was not completely free-floating. At first, I thought the action was warped because the barrel was touching the left side of the Hogue stocks barrel channel. I used a sharp knife to cut back part of the barrel channel to ensure the barrel was free-floating. Additionally, the forend of the stock is a wet noodle and if you were to shoot off a bipod you would see the forend of the stock flex into the barrel.
Trigger:
The trigger was nothing to write home about out of the box was set to 4lbs and was able to be lowered to approximately 3lbs.
Bolt:
The bolt on the Savage model 110 is stiff if compared to a 700 clone rifle action. To cycle the action I would sometimes have to break my shooting position to lift the bolt on a fired case. This isn’t the biggest issue to me but it is annoying.
Accuracy:
The accuracy of this rifle has shown promise. I shot a 5-shot group where 4 of the five shots were under a moa approximately .75. The fifth shot was a flyer and opened the group to 1.25. For me, this showed me the rifle will be capable with some basic upgrades.
Optic:
For this build, I chose to use a Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44. I had this as an extra scope in my safe and I feel this is a pretty good bang for the buck optic. Glass quality is impressive for a 600-dollar optic out of China.
Upgrades:
Total rifle cost after upgrades (not including glass): $1100
Stocky Stock:
The Stocky VG2 is an awesome upgrade. It has changed the way the gun feels and the action/barrel feels much more secure. A big difference is the forend of the rifle is now ridged and sturdy, not flexible.
Bolt:
I also received the Desh bolt lift kit which is supposed to smooth out the bolt lift. It’s hard to tell how much of a difference this upgrade made. Between the Desh bolt lift kit and the new bolt handle the bolt runs smooth.
Accuracy:
Now that the rifle is in a new stock I wanted to see if there is a change in accuracy. I just broke 100rds down the pipe so the barrel is broken in now. Below is a photo of the target. Groups seem to have tightened up significantly and I believe with some handloads this rifle will shoot consistently sub-moa. Groups are with 175eldx avg velocity 2730fps.
I’ll make another post after I work up a handload for the rifle.
Not everyone is in a financial place where they can drop $5k on a single rifle build so I wanted to create a thread on a budget option. My goal is to build a savage 7prc for less than what I could buy the Savage Ultralight for. In this thread, I believe I accomplished just that.
My goal was to find a cost-effective rifle that checks the following boxes:
- Approximately $600
- Caliber 7PRC
- MOA accuracy
- Sub 10lbs (rifle plus optic)
- Aftermarket options
Another rifle I considered was the Ruger American Gen 2 but ultimately decided that the Savage checked more of the boxes for me. I have several friends that own the Ruger American and they have all been incredibly accurate. The biggest reason I didn’t want to go with the Ruger is because there are not as many aftermarket accessories available.
Initial rifle review:
Out of the box, the Savage 110 Trail Hunter Lite is a very basic rifle. It comes with a 20-inch barrel, cerakote tungsten paint, threaded muzzle, Hogue Stock, and an accu-trigger. For a $600 rifle, I had low expectations when it came to fit and finish.
Hogue Stock:
One thing that I noticed was the barrel was not completely free-floating. At first, I thought the action was warped because the barrel was touching the left side of the Hogue stocks barrel channel. I used a sharp knife to cut back part of the barrel channel to ensure the barrel was free-floating. Additionally, the forend of the stock is a wet noodle and if you were to shoot off a bipod you would see the forend of the stock flex into the barrel.
Trigger:
The trigger was nothing to write home about out of the box was set to 4lbs and was able to be lowered to approximately 3lbs.
Bolt:
The bolt on the Savage model 110 is stiff if compared to a 700 clone rifle action. To cycle the action I would sometimes have to break my shooting position to lift the bolt on a fired case. This isn’t the biggest issue to me but it is annoying.
Accuracy:
The accuracy of this rifle has shown promise. I shot a 5-shot group where 4 of the five shots were under a moa approximately .75. The fifth shot was a flyer and opened the group to 1.25. For me, this showed me the rifle will be capable with some basic upgrades.
Optic:
For this build, I chose to use a Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44. I had this as an extra scope in my safe and I feel this is a pretty good bang for the buck optic. Glass quality is impressive for a 600-dollar optic out of China.
Upgrades:
- Stocky Stocks VG2
- Accu-trigger target spring
- SRS pic/arca rail
- Get Outlier 2 port muzzle brake
- Glades Bolt handle
Total rifle cost after upgrades (not including glass): $1100
Stocky Stock:
The Stocky VG2 is an awesome upgrade. It has changed the way the gun feels and the action/barrel feels much more secure. A big difference is the forend of the rifle is now ridged and sturdy, not flexible.
Bolt:
I also received the Desh bolt lift kit which is supposed to smooth out the bolt lift. It’s hard to tell how much of a difference this upgrade made. Between the Desh bolt lift kit and the new bolt handle the bolt runs smooth.
Accuracy:
Now that the rifle is in a new stock I wanted to see if there is a change in accuracy. I just broke 100rds down the pipe so the barrel is broken in now. Below is a photo of the target. Groups seem to have tightened up significantly and I believe with some handloads this rifle will shoot consistently sub-moa. Groups are with 175eldx avg velocity 2730fps.
I’ll make another post after I work up a handload for the rifle.
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