Savage 93R17 17 HMR Accuracy

This is the continuing story of my experience with the Savage 93R17 FV.  After my last trip to the range I was starting to feel this gun just didn't have it.  It would group a couple shots nicely then throw a couple way out.  At first I thought it was me but soon realized no matter how steady the shot, fliers ruined my groups without fail.  That is why I was so pleased that while I was cleaning the barrel the forward action screw literally fell out!  Ahha, I proclaimed to myself.  That's the problem.  I put that screw back in, snugged her down, and had a whole new outlook on my next trip to the range.

It's been a month since my last post and there is good reason for that.  It's been spring here in Wisconsin and the winds have been howling away.  Gusty winds take their toll on low ballistic coefficient bullets.  I'd been waiting for a mostly calm day to get back to the range and I finally had my opportunity with winds 5-10 mph last weekend.  I started off pretty rusty.  My cheek pressure on the stock was varying causing some still pretty wild groups, but it didn't take long for me to settle in.

I had some CCI full metal jacket 17g, Federal V-shock 17g, Hornady 20g XTP's, and some Hornady 17g V-maxes.  The CCI FMJ's were up first.  Since I only shot three groups they didn't get quite a fair shake.  I'd say those first three groups were my warm up.  They shot decently though with five shot groups of 1.375", 1.813", and .875" before I ran out.

Next up was the Federal V-shock Premium 17g.  So far I'm leaning toward this being the most accurate load in my rifle.  Five shot groups ran 1.875" (vertically strung, only 5/8" wide), .813", 1.625" (without one called flyer group was .75"), 1.25" (actually seven shot group.  I forgot which target to shoot at), followed by a .75" three shot group (I used up two of the shots on the previous target).  You can see two of these targets directly below.

Next up was the Hornady 20g XTP.  This is a controlled expansion bullet made for those shooting things bigger than ground squirrels.  The first group went well at .688", followed by 1.438", and a curious 2" group.  The 2" group had three in .75" just left of center and another two considerably higher and to the right.  Probably another loose nut.  Only this time behind the trigger.

On to the most popular round for the 17HMR, the Hornady 17g V-max.  The first five shot group went 1.125".  Surprisingly, four went into a nice 1/2" cluster.  The next try yielded a 1.313" group.  I'm starting my excuse for the next group early.  This was Mother's Day and I was in a hurry to finish this last target before the cease fire was called.  This was a 2.313" group!  Three shots left of bull at 5/8" and two shots right of bull at 5/8".  I wasn't going to post this embarrassing target, but what the heck.  It's the last one at the bottom.

There you have it.  I didn't get the fantastic 1/2" groups every time like some guys claim.    I'm sure a really skilled shooter could easily best my numbers, but I'm not a once a year shooter either.  The facts are this rifle will best a lot of it's center-fire counterparts.  For a rifle I only paid $249 for, I'm impressed.

Cleaning the 17 HMR - The Easy Way!

All of my center-fire rifles copper the bore to some extent.  If I go too long without cleaning they buildup significant amounts of copper that can be a real chore to remove.  Since the 17 HMR uses a jacketed bullet at 2550 fps, I figured it would be just like my center fires.  I use a 17 cal cleaning rod for my 204 Ruger so I was set in that department.  The first few times I cleaned the 17 HMR barrel I was looking for the green-blue color on the patch that tells me copper is being removed.  You know what I found?  Nothing.  Nadda.  Zilch!  There was no sign of dissolved copper whatsoever.   I shined a light at the end of the barrel and even took it outside in the sun looking for copper and never found any.  I'm not saying it doesn't copper foul at all, but if it does it is minimal.  Ramming my cleaning rod through a barrel with lands only a few thousands of an inch tall just to get powder fouling out makes me a bit nervous, so I looked into a bore snake.  Dragging a dirty rope down the barrel didn't sound like the best idea either so I kept looking.

Somewhere in my internet searches a forum member mentioned a patch worm.  What the heck is a patch worm I thought to myself.  I tracked it down to this Patch Worm.  It is essentially a length of weed wacker string with one end sharpened to pierce a patch and with the other end having a small fitting slightly larger than the string.  For different calibers a different size button is slid down the string to the large end.  That button is a little smaller than the bore.  Then you use the sharp end of the string to pierce a patch and slide it down the string to the top of the button.  Soak the patch with some solvent, push the sharp end of string through barrel out muzzle, and just pull the patch through.  Bloody genius!

Me being fiscally challenged I skipped on the nice commercial version at a whopping $6.50 and headed out to the garage.  I cut about five feet of weed wacker string and headed back to the basement workbench.  With the gentle use of a lighter, I heated the end of the string and pushed the end into some sheet metal I had laying around.   Then I sharpened the other end of the string with a Dremel tool with a sanding drum.  I used the same Dremel setup to carefully round the previously heated fat end of the string so it fit the bore with a patch over it.  A little trial and error and had a good fit between my flannel patches and the bore. 

Time to test this thing out.  The little Savage was dirty having close to a hundred rounds through it without cleaning.  Heavy carbon fouling was easily seen the entire length of the barrel.  I whipped out my general purpose gun cleaner that consists of a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone in an old saline solution bottle, (remember that fiscally challenged thing I mentioned earlier?) and wetted down the patch.  With the excitement only a do-it-your-selfer would display, I pulled the patch through the barrel and held the gun up to the light looking through the barrel.  Son of a gun!  That looks pretty clean!  I'm sure it's not as clean as I'd get it with a rod, but this is so much quicker and doesn't risk damaging the rifling.  I ran another wet patch followed by two dry patches and called it done.  I intend to use this cleaning method on the 17 HMR from now on.  I'll probably still pull out the rod and jag on occasion, but not after every session.

I posted a picture of my home made patch worm below.  Another nice thing is it stores easily in a ziplock sandwich bag which fits inside my gun case a lot easier than a cleaning rod.  Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Savage 93R17 Range Report

Today was my birthday and besides turning 46 I treated myself to a day of leisure.  That included a nice trip to the range to do some testing.  When I left the house the wind was minimal, maybe a couple miles per hour.  By the time I got to the range and set up winds were gusting from mostly calm to 10mph or so.  Normally I wouldn't even comment on this wind but you'll realize why later.

My previous experience shooting the 93R17 revealed an accu-trigger that was a bit of a disappointment.  I had read how great it was a few too many times I guess and my expectations were too high.  Reality was I had the trigger adjusted all the way down and it was still rather heavy, had creep and over-travel.  Even after doing some light modifications to get the pull weight down it still was nowhere near the quality of my CZ527 trigger.  The pull weight was now much more in line with the guns purpose though and didn't feel too bad.  The lighter trigger felt much better than the previous trip, but groups only narrowed marginally.

The rifle seemed to like the Hornady 17g V-maxes the best.  A normal group would run about an inch and a half with a couple groups over two inches and a couple as small as 3/4".  I know what you're thinking.  Those 46 years are starting to take their toll!  I may be aging a bit but I can still hold a lot smaller than 2 inches!  The problem was mostly lateral stringing.  A quick check of a ballistics calculator showed the .125 coefficient bullet moving over 3" at 100 yards in a 10 mph wind!  I guess I'll have to wait for some better weather to see the real potential of my new rifle.  I show a couple targets below.  The one on the left is one of the better groups, the one at right more typical.  For reference the square is just under one inch.

A couple things were of note.  First there was a big improvement in the trigger.  I no longer felt I'd pass out before the trigger let go.  A small amount of creep was noticeable, but not on every shot.  I may go back in and smooth the trigger a tad more, but it's pretty good now.  I think the additional weight I added to the stock also made it easier to hold steady on target.

The last interesting thing was a couple groups with vertical stringing.  I use one of those bunny bags at the rear and I usually have it sitting on a 2x6 chunk of wood to get it to a comfortable height.  Today I forgot the wood and had the rear bag sitting on a sand bag instead.  Every time I'd fire the sand bag would settle just a little.  The result was me constantly playing around with the rear bag to get the correct elevation.  The next time out I won't be forgetting the wood block.  Heck, I might even show up with a real front rest instead of a pile of sandbags!  Until the next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Savage 93R17 FV W/Accu-Trigger

I talked to a couple of guys at the shooting range some time ago that laid praise on the 17 HMR cartridge.  A couple stories they told sounded good and the groups were very nice.  I've been wanting something accurate that I don't have to reload just to be able to afford shooting it.  The 22 LR is as cheap as it gets, but it doesn't perform well when you get much past 50 yards.  I suppose it can perform with match ammo and a thousand dollar rifle, but that's too much money.  This 17 HMR was looking like just what I wanted so the cartridge was chosen.  Now I just needed an affordable rifle to shoot it in.  The 17 HMR is chambered by all the big makers so it was just a matter of finding something I liked in my limited budget.  Marlin, Mossberg, and Savage all make affordably priced 17's.  I have a Mossberg shotgun that has served me reliably for thirty years.  My 444 Marlin I've never had a lick of trouble with and shoots surprisingly well.  What I didn't have was a Savage and I've read a lot about the Accu-Trigger being a nice piece.  My CZ 527 has the best factory trigger I've ever felt and I thought it would be interesting to see how the Accu-Trigger stood up with all the hoopla.

I perused the Savage website and found a 93R17 FV with Accu-Trigger, cheap synthetic stock and heavy barrel for a list price of $295.  After looking at online prices I found I could order one for $220 plus the $25 transfer fee from my FFL.  I was ready to order online when I decided to stop by my local gun store.  I kind of know the guys in there and figured I owed giving them a chance, but honestly didn't think they could compete price wise.  Well, I was happily surprised.  Three days later they sold me the same rifle for $249 plus tax.  It cost a little more than online, but I prefer to keep my business local.

It's a plain blued steel action and heavy barrel on a black tupperware stock.  No sights are installed but it came with Weaver style ring bases installed from the factory.  Savage lists the weight at six pounds and it sure feels light with most of the weight forward in the heavy barrel. It's not good to dry fire rimfires, so I resisted the urge to try out the lauded Accu-Trigger until I got some ammo.

After mounting a scope, see separate article here, I picked up three different boxes of ammo from Walmart and waited for a trip to the range.  I shot the Winchester 17g V-max loads the first day out.  Five shot groups were in the 1.5" to 2" range at 100 yards.  Better than a 22 LR, but nothing to brag about.  The thing was, most groups had three or so bullets clustered nicely and then a couple off on there own.  This rig may have potential.

On my second range session I shot the CCI 20g FMJ and Federal 17g V-max rounds.  As I got more rounds down the barrel two things kept going through my mind.  Despite being adjusted as light as it would go, the trigger was too heavy.  The trigger has a little creep and some over travel, but besides the heavy pull, it was pretty good.  Now combine that heavy trigger with the light weight of the rifle and it was hard to get a clean let-off without the gun moving.  Upon returning home I checked the posts on Rimfirecentral.com.  It seems the trigger can be lightened even more by simply modifying a spring.  I tore the action down and trimmed a coil and a half off the spring and put it back together.  After chambering a spent casing, I tested the trigger for feel, pull weight, and safety.  It now breaks at a little over two pounds on my fish scale.  Now that is more like it!

With the trigger setup to my satisfaction, it was time to see what I could do about adding some weight.  As I stated earlier, the rifle weighs about six pounds without scope, with the majority of the weight in the heavy barrel.  I pulled the butt plate off to find a nice hollow in the stock.  I also just happened to have a sand bag on the work bench, when a flash of semi brilliance hit me.  Pour the sand into the stock!  Now I'm sure somebody else has already done this, but I was pleased as punch as the sand poured from the bag into the stock.  After re-securing the butt plate, I gave it the old hold it in your hand and heft it up and down a couple times test.  Yep, it's heavier.  It actually feels pretty good with the extra weight rearward balancing out the heavy barrel, so I'm off to get the digital bathroom scale.  I couldn't tell you how accurate the scale is, but after balancing the rifle/scope/sand combo on it, I got a reading of 8.7 pounds.  I like it just like that and I can't wait to get back to the range and test it out.  I have very high hopes.
 
Update:  See my latest post HERE for another range report including group sizes and target pictures. :)

BSA Goldstar Scope Review

I searched the internet for hours looking for a review on the new BSA Goldstar line of scopes without having any luck.  I decided to be the guinea pig and posted this review after purchase.

BSA Goldstar 3-18x44 Rifle Scope Review

Mounted on my Savage 93R17 FV

Introduction

I needed a scope for an inexpensive Savage 93R17 FV I recently picked up.  I’ve been using Bushnell products for years now and know they offer a quality product for a reasonable price, but I hadn’t tried much else so how could I be sure?  BSA is an oft maligned scope manufacturer which I caught the CEO at the 2011 ShotShow talking about their topline scopes.  I’ve read the BSA horror stories like everybody else.  I’ve also read a lot of reviews from satisfied customers.  After listening to the CEO interview at the ShotShow, I decided to try a BSA for myself. 

The Savage 93R17 is chambered in 17HMR.  Its’ use would be mostly target shooting at 100 and possibly 200 yards.  I also had in mind some ground squirrel shooting at ranges probably less than 100 yards and more likely around 50 yards.  For target shooting I like lots magnification, at least 18x.  Most scopes with 18x or higher will have 6x on the low end at best.  For shooting the ground squirrels that constantly ravage the cabin, 6x could make it pretty hard to find the little varmints in the scope at close range.  Then I saw BSA’s new Goldstar line in 3-18x44 form that looked perfect for the job.  It also had side focus which looked awful handy after I’ve been reaching around to rotate adjustable objectives the last few years.  After searching for hours I couldn’t find a single review on the new Goldstar line.  Undeterred, I made the decision to try my first BSA scope.  I’d either hear a bunch of I told you soes, or I’d end up with a scope perfect for my application without spending twice what the rifle is worth.

First impressions

I ordered the scope from Midwayusa.com for $155.99 over the weekend and it arrived Wednesday.  I ordered the scope along with a set of Durasight Z-2 Alloy 1” Weaver style medium rings for $14.49.  The scope came in a good looking cardboard box with the scope inside cushioned with Styrofoam and packed inside more foam and a plastic bag.  My first thought was nice packaging.  This certainly wasn’t blister packed like the junk at Walmart.

Packaging and manual

Once I got the scope out of all the packing material I have to say I was a wee bit disappointed.  The matte finish was acceptable, but it just didn’t exude an air of quality.  You’d think the gold markings on matte black would look great but I think I’d rather see white markings.  The BSA logo looks good in gold.  Overall the finish is what you’d expect on a sub $200 scope.

I pulled the caps off revealing the low finger adjustable and resettable to zero turrets.  After turning both elevation and windage knobs I decided the clicks were both audible and positive.  It would be nice if target turrets were offered.  The side focus knob was stiff enough that you don’t have to worry about accidental movement but loose enough to be manipulated properly.  I was able to bring the cross hairs into sharp focus in no time flat using the quick focus eyepiece.  The zoom control has a small tab that protrudes about 3/16" giving a comfortable grip for adjustment.

Mounting

The rifle came with a set of two piece weaver style bases installed at the factory. So all I needed was a set of rings.  For a heavier recoiling rifle I might spend a few bucks, but for a 17HMR almost anything will hold.  I picked out a set of medium Durasight Z-2 Alloy Weaver style rings in medium height for $14.49 from Midwayusa.com.  These have the vertical split that I think looks good and I’ve been wanting to try.  The machine work and finish is good and they come with torx screws instead of slotted.  It takes a little more mucking around to lay the scope in the vertically split rings.  You can’t just mount the lower halves, drop the scope in, and screw the tops down.  It seems best to assemble the rings around the scope first, then mount the whole assembly onto the bases.  I won’t get into it here, but I like to lap my scope rings.  You can see a quick ring lapping video here. 

Durasight rings, side focus, power adjustment ring, and quick focus eyepiece

At just over 13” long the scope doesn’t look out of place on the little Savage like some others.  With an optimum eye relief of 4” combined with the rather short LOP stock, I had to mount the scope almost as far forward as I could to get a good sight picture.  There is a little left, but not much.  The objective bell clears the barrel with just enough room for me to squeeze on the included rubber lens covers.

Clarity

I don’t have any high end glass to compare the BSA to.  What I do have is a Bushnell Banner 6-24x40 that has good sharpness up to about 20 power.  This scope is available for about $175 so it is in the same class.  Since the BSA only goes to 18 power, I limited the power on the Bushnell to 18 also to make a fair comparison.  I spent the better part of two hours looking through both scopes at assorted objects between 50 and over 200 yards away.  Though it’s a little more touchy than the adjustable objective on the Bushnell, the side focus on the BSA is much easier to reach.  Good focus can be achieved with both.

At first glance both scopes looked great.  Clarity through both scopes was about equal, but somehow the Bushnell seemed better.  After peering through both scopes until my neck hurt, I concluded the Bushnell has better contrast and color rendition.  In addition its’ edge to edge clarity was quite good.  The BSA has good clarity in the center but not as good at the edges.  The Bushnell’s glass is slightly better, but not by a wide margin.  Anybody with a 17 caliber rifle is probably wondering if you can see the holes in the target.  When focused properly 17 caliber holes are easily visible in the white part of your target at 100 yards.  Holes in the black are a different story, but then that's case with most inexpensive scopes.  It doesn't matter to me because my targets don't have much black on them.  Here is my preferred target. 

Adjustments

At this time I haven't gotten the consistent accuracy from the rifle that I deem necessary to "shoot the square".  While cleaning after my last range session the front action screw literally fell out of the receiver.  The front bolt is only long enough to get about two threads started before the bolt starts to tighten up.  When I re-assembled the rifle I was afraid of stripping it and obviously didn't get it torqued properly.  I suspect this is the reason I seem to get so many bad flyers.  I have it torqued down now and I'll have an update soon.  Because of that I cant tell you how good the adjustments are, but I have no trouble adjusting the scope for the different points of impact seen by the 17g and 20g bullets.

Warranty
The Goldstar series comes with BSA's "CEO Signature Warranty".  I'll quote from the warranty card:

"BSA is proud to offer a new breed of optics worthy of our "No Questions Asked" CEO Warranty.  This Lifetime Full Warranty is valid in the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii.  If this product is found to have defects in materials or workmanship, BSA Optics will at our option and without charge repair this product, or replace it with a BSA product of comparable specifications and value.  No warrranty card is required.  No time limit applies."

Warranty Card

Conclusion

The BSA has a very useful zoom range of 3-18 power with a 44mm objective.  The 30/30 type reticle with three fine lines below crossbar at -2, -4, and -6 MOA to assist in bullet drop are simple yet effective.  I'd like to see a mill dot reticle offered also.  Side focus is more convenient than an adjustable objective.  Glass is not quite as good as I hoped, but still plenty good for the application.  Good price at 155$ from Midwayusa right now.  So far it has held zero and with a glass etched reticule I assume it will continue to do so.  This is a feature packed scope at an affordable price.  I'm pleased as punch with the zoom range.  Because I lapped my rings I could take the scope off and return it without any ring marks, but I'm keeping it.  That says more than anything else I could write.

EZ Hunter Reticle