Ian
Notorious member
You guys know about the "Good Idea Fairy", right? Brad and I have been trying to tar and feather him for a while, but the little buggar is a first-class Ninja.
Speaking of Ninjas, this idea popped into my head earlier today after watching far too many u-toob vids documenting 300 Blackout suppressors in action. The damn AR-15 action is just loud. Bolt actions aren't loud until you cycle the action, and you can CHOOSE when that happens or how briskly it needs doing. And I happen to have a Savage Pig Gun barrel that's threaded on both ends leaning in the corner by the tomato stakes. Now I know that barrel's chamber and throat like the back of my hand since I spent so much time with it getting it to group with cast bullets at over 2300 fps. See where this is going? I gots this fancy new 235-grain plain-based, .30-caliber mould that I also know pretty well, and a pinch of Red Dot sure can zing a cast bullet with next to no muzzle pressure......
So, naturally, I had to prep a .308 Winchester case, seat a .3098"-sized ACE 235 in it and try it in the barrel. Just a scuff from the land origin and a scuff on the front band. Perfect. I swat at something buzzing by my ear...and...BINGO! the idea hits me! Now I know what to do with that left-handed Savage tacticool sniper rifle I bought a couple of years ago! It's got the long forend with two swivel studs, contoured for that heavy monster of a 24" cannon barrel, and as configured I never shoot the thing any more even though I prefer a left-handed rifle in the field. I wonder if the tall barrel sights will line up if I headspace it? I rummage around in my box o' Savage parts and find two brand-new, black barrel nuts (I always end up having to cut them off of factory rifles that have the bead-blasted finish so I keep spares), a set of Leupold QD scope bases for a Savage short-action, and lo and behold a brand-new set of high scope rings to boot. QD mounts and open sights that will clear a suppressor is a great combination (yet another $200 tax stamp, yeah!), pop off the scope for CQB in the brush or if the scope gets bumped, or even set up a Sightron NV scope on another set of rings. Picatinny ain't the only game in town, you know. I keep hearing little snickers coming from the top shelf above my loading bench, must be a cricket up there or something. Anyway, I unbolt the scope, check existing headspace, bust the rifle down to parade rest, and screw on the Pig Gun barrel. I check and recheck headspace and the sights are dead-nuts on TDC at 1.6305" headspace. How does Savage do that? Their thread timing for action and barrel must be immaculate, or I'm just lucky. Probably that. Looks like I'm stuck using the Savage recoil lug, but that's ok, I'm going to use this POS plastic stock, too, cuz I'm cheap.
Speaking of cheap, the stagger-feed blind box magazines on a Savage 10 rifle is definitely the brain-child of a team of extraordinary bean-counters. I'll bet they cost three cents to make, each. Dadgum thing in my ear again, what IS that??? OH!! Lookie there what fell out of the drag bag earlier: A stack of 20-round M1A magazines. Hmmmm. Yep, feed lips are right, feed angle is right, those mags will clear the front steel pillar, lots of room at the back side to make a pivoting latch of some sort, Dremel out the bottom of the stock, make a spring pin for the front of the magazine, I do believe it will work for the Savage. Gotta google this up and see if anyone has already done it, I'll bet someone has with either M1A, FAL, or SR-25 magazines. The reason that is so cool to me is this rifle lived previously in my drag bag next to a bona-fide M1A, and will be going back in there after it's upcoming makeover, so wouldn't it be neat to use the same magazines for both rifles? That reminds me, I forgot to check the dummy round to see if it will fit the magazine, but I do and it does....barely. Wow, I bet these little subsonic hammers will work in the M1A too, with the spindle valve closed.
At this point I look up suddenly and catch not one, but THREE little Ninja Good Idea fairys sitting on that top shelf, dangling their little legs and giving each other high-fives.
About that time I reach for a hammer...........
Speaking of Ninjas, this idea popped into my head earlier today after watching far too many u-toob vids documenting 300 Blackout suppressors in action. The damn AR-15 action is just loud. Bolt actions aren't loud until you cycle the action, and you can CHOOSE when that happens or how briskly it needs doing. And I happen to have a Savage Pig Gun barrel that's threaded on both ends leaning in the corner by the tomato stakes. Now I know that barrel's chamber and throat like the back of my hand since I spent so much time with it getting it to group with cast bullets at over 2300 fps. See where this is going? I gots this fancy new 235-grain plain-based, .30-caliber mould that I also know pretty well, and a pinch of Red Dot sure can zing a cast bullet with next to no muzzle pressure......
So, naturally, I had to prep a .308 Winchester case, seat a .3098"-sized ACE 235 in it and try it in the barrel. Just a scuff from the land origin and a scuff on the front band. Perfect. I swat at something buzzing by my ear...and...BINGO! the idea hits me! Now I know what to do with that left-handed Savage tacticool sniper rifle I bought a couple of years ago! It's got the long forend with two swivel studs, contoured for that heavy monster of a 24" cannon barrel, and as configured I never shoot the thing any more even though I prefer a left-handed rifle in the field. I wonder if the tall barrel sights will line up if I headspace it? I rummage around in my box o' Savage parts and find two brand-new, black barrel nuts (I always end up having to cut them off of factory rifles that have the bead-blasted finish so I keep spares), a set of Leupold QD scope bases for a Savage short-action, and lo and behold a brand-new set of high scope rings to boot. QD mounts and open sights that will clear a suppressor is a great combination (yet another $200 tax stamp, yeah!), pop off the scope for CQB in the brush or if the scope gets bumped, or even set up a Sightron NV scope on another set of rings. Picatinny ain't the only game in town, you know. I keep hearing little snickers coming from the top shelf above my loading bench, must be a cricket up there or something. Anyway, I unbolt the scope, check existing headspace, bust the rifle down to parade rest, and screw on the Pig Gun barrel. I check and recheck headspace and the sights are dead-nuts on TDC at 1.6305" headspace. How does Savage do that? Their thread timing for action and barrel must be immaculate, or I'm just lucky. Probably that. Looks like I'm stuck using the Savage recoil lug, but that's ok, I'm going to use this POS plastic stock, too, cuz I'm cheap.
Speaking of cheap, the stagger-feed blind box magazines on a Savage 10 rifle is definitely the brain-child of a team of extraordinary bean-counters. I'll bet they cost three cents to make, each. Dadgum thing in my ear again, what IS that??? OH!! Lookie there what fell out of the drag bag earlier: A stack of 20-round M1A magazines. Hmmmm. Yep, feed lips are right, feed angle is right, those mags will clear the front steel pillar, lots of room at the back side to make a pivoting latch of some sort, Dremel out the bottom of the stock, make a spring pin for the front of the magazine, I do believe it will work for the Savage. Gotta google this up and see if anyone has already done it, I'll bet someone has with either M1A, FAL, or SR-25 magazines. The reason that is so cool to me is this rifle lived previously in my drag bag next to a bona-fide M1A, and will be going back in there after it's upcoming makeover, so wouldn't it be neat to use the same magazines for both rifles? That reminds me, I forgot to check the dummy round to see if it will fit the magazine, but I do and it does....barely. Wow, I bet these little subsonic hammers will work in the M1A too, with the spindle valve closed.
At this point I look up suddenly and catch not one, but THREE little Ninja Good Idea fairys sitting on that top shelf, dangling their little legs and giving each other high-fives.
About that time I reach for a hammer...........
