New bolt rifle

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union

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When we come out of this corona thing I'm going to get myself a new bolt action rifle. Being a left handed shooter I have options but not as many as I would as a right handed shooter. With that said I'm pretty settled on the platform. I'm looking at a Savage 110 Tactical. It has what I would consider a lot of wins. First it comes left handed. It has the "accufit" system which is nice. It accepts Magpul AICS magazines which are cheap and easy to get.

The one thing I haven't 100% settled on is what caliber. Price is the same regardless. It comes in 308 or 6.5 creedmoor. I'm leaning to the 308 mainly because I already have a 308 rifle in house. The 6.5 would be another caliber I would have to stock. However I am willing to be pushed into either direction. Anyone have any compelling argument for one over the other?
 
I have both. Your reason for staying with .308 is valid.

The only things that might push you to go with 6.5 CM are

1. If you plan on shooting over 700 yards. The 6.5 will make hits past 700 yards a little easier. But out to 1000 yards 308 will do it also. I’ve not gone past 1000

2. You want to shoot small groups with factory ammo. Hornady match ammo is as good as my best hand loads

3. You will have a little less recoil in 6.5 CM

If you plan on deer hunting with it I would definitely go with .308. I’ve taken two with 6.5 CM. It’s a lot like .243 Win. The .308 will drop them a little faster and give a better blood trail, particularly if you use round nose bullets. But either will get job done.
 
I guess it all depends on what you will be using it for. If you want to shoot bug holes in paper then reloading for accuracy you will have an easier time finding a load with the 6.5 and enjoy less recoil and less of a drop at distance. If you are going to stick with factory ammo and use it hunting, maybe the 308 is best.

Have you at least dry fired that Savage yet? You may or may not like the trigger. I have found the trigger to be a pain in the ass if you just slightly touch it sideways at all it has to be reset.
 
Have you shot a lot of RH bolt guns? What type of shooting are you planning? Im LH and yet felt the desire to buy a left handed rifle. Had a LH 870 until it broke and the cost to fix it was triple if it where a RH.

That said : I base most of what I do on the reality of my shooting.
For me its 90% 100-200 yards. When I do get a chance to go to 600 its not the bolt gun. NRA service rifle or a 600 yard prone match.
So 308 will work well if you already own and reload for it. For reduce recoil you can run 110-130 grain bullets at lower velocity. You can even run mouse fart cast loads.

6.5 I think would be real fun if you had regular access to 500 yds or more. I just would not bother with 6.5 loading reduced loads limitted to 200 yards. Lots of fun to think about.
 
As it stands now I'm not likely to be shooting over 200 yards. To do that I need to get off my ass, make the 20min drive and join Hopkinton. I'm unlikely to go hunting but it is a possibility.

To answer a couple of other questions. I have one bolt action rifle right now. It's a Mossberg 44 that was handed down to me by a family member. It just feels awkward shooting it. I'm sure I could train myself to shoot right handed if I had to but I left eye dominate and I have better vision in it.

I have not held a Savage rifle. I chose that route due to recommendations from friends and my local dealer is a dealer for Savage and will order one for me. I am open to other brands.
 
If your commited ( lots of ammo or reload ) to the .308 caliber , the 110 in .308 would serve you well if youve got to have a large caliber bolt and want to try longer range in the future. Ive seen some impressive chrono numbers from Federal Premium .308 ammo if you dont reload.



The bolt body on the 110 series is a loose fit and can bind if cycled too fast. PtG makes a larger bolt body ( not sure if its available in lefty ) that takes out some of the play,.if it matters to you..

Dont forget a.decent muzzle brake ..
 
If you’re going to be doing 200 yards and paper either .308 or 6.5 CM will do fine. If you would consider another caliber consider .223 Remington. Way less recoil, less expensive ammo, and if you want to go longer distance it will do fine out to 600 yards with no special effort. I’m not sure who makes it in lefty bolt gun
 
I still say try someones RH rifle for a while. Yes it may feel strange but worth a try. 223 is a goos choice just make sure its has the correct twist for the ammo you want to shoot.
some have slow twist barrels for light bullets

If I where to go LH I would have to start around here?

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I got a lh savage 10 in 308 and a lh savage b22 in 22lr. Love them both! I'm a member at hopkinton if u want to hit me up when all this is over.
 
If it's main purpose is punching paper you kinda can't beat 6.5 creedmoor - in theory anyway as I can only read about it (until my parts start showing up :) )..

If you want absolute lowest budget paper punching 5.56/.223 is the way to go. I will say though, in an accurate rifle I seem to be able to see about 1 MOA with about any .308/7.62, match ammo tightens things up, but I could be happy at 200 yards with run of the mill .55/round mil stuff. With 5.56 it is a lot cheaper, but run of the mill ammo out of an accurate rifle is more like 2 moa or worse even - need match stuff that ends up closer to .308/7.62 cost to group well...

Within reason, ie $1.00 versus 50 cents a shot, I don't find cost of ammo to be a consideration for 200+ yard paper punching because you just dont use that much. Maybe some do but I always bring half my ammo home.
 
mac1911 said:
I still say try someones RH rifle for a while. Yes it may feel strange but worth a try. 223 is a goos choice just make sure its has the correct twist for the ammo you want to shoot.
some have slow twist barrels for light bullets

If I where to go LH I would have to start around here?

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Optics, scopes, & more for the precision marksman and serious hunter - Nightforce, Swarovski Optik, Vortex, Sako, Leica, Sig Sauer, Tikka, Trijicon, & many more.
www.eurooptic.com www.eurooptic.com
Click to expand...

I'm a left handed shooter with some experience on bolt guns.

I've found that for my deer gun, a left handed gun is a must. I hold the gun with my support hand and cycle the bolt with my strong hand.
Easy and efficient.

If I had a right ahnd gun, I'd have to cycle the bolt with my right hand while trying to control the gun with my hand on the grip. Nope.
This is doubly true if you use a sling in a hasty manner while shooting from improvised positions. You want to run the bolt with your strong hand.

When I started shooting some longer ranges and started practicing shooting prone off my bag or a bipod, things got fuzzier. Sometimes it was easier to run a right handed bolt with my right hand. (I had a RH Rem 700 that I was able to get friends and family pricing from Rem on) Shooting a RH gun as lefty also made it easy to put rounds in the ejection port when I was single loading and easy to see when the gun was loaded.

Just before I was going to take the advanced precision scoped rifle class at Sig, I went out and bought myself a "proper" left handed bolt gun. What I found was that there were some advantages and some disadvantages to shooting a LH gun. Lying on my belly, its actually easier to shoot the RH gun since its easier to reposition my support hand. But shooting over barricades or seated or kneeling or offhand, its easier to shoot the LH gun.
 
One more thing. Savage has a custom shop. For a very small premium, they will assemble any rifle that you want, as long as it is a combination of parts that they already have.

So for the most part, they can build you a LH version of any rifle they make for just a small premium.
 
dcmdon said:
I'm a left handed shooter with some experience on bolt guns.

I've found that for my deer gun, a left handed gun is a must. I hold the gun with my support hand and cycle the bolt with my strong hand.
Easy and efficient.

If I had a right ahnd gun, I'd have to cycle the bolt with my right hand while trying to control the gun with my hand on the grip. Nope.
This is doubly true if you use a sling in a hasty manner while shooting from improvised positions. You want to run the bolt with your strong hand.

When I started shooting some longer ranges and started practicing shooting prone off my bag or a bipod, things got fuzzier. Sometimes it was easier to run a right handed bolt with my right hand. (I had a RH Rem 700 that I was able to get friends and family pricing from Rem on) Shooting a RH gun as lefty also made it easy to put rounds in the ejection port when I was single loading and easy to see when the gun was loaded.

Just before I was going to take the advanced precision scoped rifle class at Sig, I went out and bought myself a "proper" left handed bolt gun. What I found was that there were some advantages and some disadvantages to shooting a LH gun. Lying on my belly, its actually easier to shoot the RH gun since its easier to reposition my support hand. But shooting over barricades or seated or kneeling or offhand, its easier to shoot the LH gun.
Click to expand...
I run RH gun bolts with my left hand, easy enough to just sneak your LH under your chin and over the comb. I run the rapids in CMP matches like this slung up in in a loop sling. Prone and sitting.

As for hunting, well I never shot anything but Shotgun and lever action for hunting that was short lived also have not hunted other than tree rats in close to 30 years. Even still I dont think I would be any faster with a LH bolt gun if needing a follow up shot.

Hasty sling, well I never really used that method plus growing up those elders around me said especially my dad "its all in the name of the method why it dont work. Haste"
Another old timer at the club had more scientific reasoning. how the sling goes around the front of your chest makes for to much influence on the rifle from your breathing and if not adjusted right for the cloths you wear that moment for the shot its going to be to tight or to loose to matter.

in the long run you use what works for you.
I just cant see with the added expense and repair costs to bother with LH guns.
 
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Absolutely love my Savage BA10 Stealth in 6.5 CM. I handload and have had great results with the Nosler RDF 140 gn and H4350. Actually get pretty decent results with factory ammo with 1 inch groups at 300 yards. Still haven't gone beyond 300 but planning to do the Reaching 1000 at Sig once this shit blows over. Planning to upgrade the stock but the rifle is very good out of the box. Upgraded to an Atlas bipod since this.
IMG_1469.JPG
300 yards cheap U.S.A. ready ammo


2B60F442-E167-44BC-AC56-56885C9F2076.jpeg
 
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dcmdon said:
One more thing. Savage has a custom shop. For a very small premium, they will assemble any rifle that you want, as long as it is a combination of parts that they already have.

So for the most part, they can build you a LH version of any rifle they make for just a small premium.
Click to expand...

Ya i read an article about this but I don't know how to go about ordering. I suppose its a call to Savage and then to my FFL? Certainly something for the future.

I'm glad I asked. There is a ton of good info and things to try with a RH gun. I still think I'm going with my initial choice but it wont be my last gun by any means. Keep any info coming this way.
 
Ive got the Ruger American Predator in both 308 and 6.5. Both got for less than $350

308 was well under 2 inches with stock ammo.

6.5 was super accurate, so i added a magpul stock ( not sure why really) first three with match ammo was a cloverleaf. Gun is still under 550 with the stock installed.

Getting MOA groups with cheap herters 14 dollar a box hunting ammo.

Not even sure its worth reloading for accuracy
 

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dcmdon said:
Its funny, after I wrote that I went downstairs and lied on the floor with my RH Rem 700 and tried to remember how I worked the bolt and that was actually how i did it. I guess I just never thought about it.
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well maybe you are a real lefty.
 

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