Thinking of picking up a Savage model 12 .223 and wanted to know if there are any differences, other than appearance, between getting a stainless steel barrel or a blued one?

Thanks,
Steve

From what I have read, the stainless barrel should be more resistant to throat erosion. And while the .223 is hardly considered to be a barrel burner, getting an extra 1000 to 1500 rounds of top accuracy makes it worth a few extra bucks. When I rebarrel my rifles, I will opt for stainless barrels on all of them.

Of my two Savaged produced .223s the stainles is far easier to clean. roger

I only have the heavy barreled stainless.. I liked the stock on it, way over the synthetic one on the cheaper model.. Stainless looks better also...

the only thing negative I can report is that the Savages have a one in 9 twist...

It shoots bullets up to 80 grains just fine..

however, the faster twist, will vaporize bullets like the Hornady SPSXs.. the twist creates too many RPMs for them, and they disintergrate as they leave the barrel...

other than that, you will love it...

quote:

Originally posted by can06:
Thinking of picking up a Savage model 12 .223 and wanted to know if there are any differences, other than appearance, between getting a stainless steel barrel or a blued one?

Thanks,
Steve

You don't say what it will be used for so this may not be a factor, but a blued barrel will heat up from the sun, where a SS barrel will tend to stay much cooler.

If you are considering doing some colony varmint shooting from a bench, I would recommend a SS barrel as it reflects the suns energy.

Jim

I have an older blued 112 and it was very prone to rust because of poor blueing . I would go with a SS

I'll mainly be using it for punching holes in paper with the occasional varmit shoot. Just want a smaller caliber as the 168 grains from the '06 works as a good "shoulder tenderizer" but limits the amount of shooting.

I have no problems with using 60+ grain bullets, it'll probably be better here as most days are a little windy.

I was disappointed in the stock selection for the blued barrel, would be nice if they offered a VLP or BVSS stock with it.

Decisions, decisions ....

Steve

another advantage for the stainless barrel.....it has no need for bluing making it less costly in the end.

As to heat despersion.....just don't polish the barrel to a smooth and pretty finish.....the actual surface area of a rough finished barrel is many times greater than a smooth barrel.

quote:

I have an older blued 112 and it was very prone to rust because of poor blueing . I would go with a SS

That was my experience with earlier models. They seem to have better blueing on the newer ones but like mentioned also......the laminate barrels are much nicer.......

woods

I finally got in to see the Savages for myself. I looked at the blueing and it seemed to be fine, of course there is no way to tell how long it will last by looking.

The salesmen mentioned that one of their best sellers is a blued barrel version, a 26" .223 10FP which he currently has 5 orders for. Anyone have any comments or info on this model?

Thanks,
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by can06:
... the 168 grains from the '06 works as a good "shoulder tenderizer" but limits the amount of shooting. ...

Hey Steve, There are a couple of things you can do to lower the Recoil on your 30-06. A good Recoil Pad is always a big help. You can drop to 155gr Palma Match Bullets. And unless you have some "Law" that precludes it, you don't really have to shoot everything at Full Power - use a Reduced Load.

None of that should keep you from getting the other rifle though. I prefer Stainless because of the inclimate weather, heat and humidity that I typically Hunt in. Perhaps I just exude more "Salt" than most folks, but Blue Steel rusts when I hunt with it all day. And it doesn't seem to matter who the manufacturer is.

Just swapped off the very last non-coated Blue and Termite Food rifle I had today. Replaced it with a Stainless and Laminated rifle by the same manufacturer in the same caliber.

So, I'd personally go with the Stainless and do some recoil reduction tricks with your 30-06. You can ALWAYS load it back up to Full Power whenever you want.

Good Hunting and clean 1-shot Kills.

Hot Core,
I do have some lighter loads that work well in the 06. Even the 110gr sierra varminters shoot pretty good and have much less recoil.

Another reason I'm getting a smaller caliber rifle is my son is coming out shooting with me now so having two guns is a big plus there. BTW, this will be my first heavy barrel, all my previous guns were strickly for hunting which I don't really do much of anymore but always subject to change.

Weather is rarely a problem here, all my blued guns have faired very well for decades though my 870 wingmaster is just starting to show a few aging signs now.

Steve

Hey Steve, I've got a buddy who has one of the Blue & Walnut Howa 30-06 rifles and he has had excellent luck with 110gr RNs in it. We had driven to a Gun Show up in Winston-Salem and he found some at $4/100 and decided he give them a try. Great accuracy and they became his favorite Ground Hog bullet on his trips to West Virginia. He never had a bit of a problem with rust on any of his Blue firearms either.

If the 223Rem you get is anything like mine, you will absolutely love it. It is one of those cartridges that works well with many powders. Plus you can Down Load it to 22Hornet levels with some of Seafire's Blue Dot Loads or crank it right on up to it's normal SAFE MAX. Case life is excellent and buying bullets in bulk gets their cost way down.

If you like Blue the best, then go with it. Lots of nice rifles out there right now.

Best of luck to you and your son.

quote:

The salesmen mentioned that one of their best sellers is a blued barrel version, a 26" .223 10FP which he currently has 5 orders for. Anyone have any comments or info on this model?

It would be an excellant choice, they usually shoot quite well out of the box. Savage usually makes sure headspace is tight on the tactical/police models. Make sure the barrel and tang are floating - adjust the accutrigger down to a light pull (it will have the varmint spring which will drop down to 1 1/2-2 1/2#) - and at some point you may want to look at a sturdier stock (the bell and carlson duramax is a reasonable choice $100 or the bell and carlson varmint/tactical $200....or stockade woodchuck $285) or maybe reinforce the factory one to be stiffer in the fore end.Another idea would be a factory take-off laminate (either bvss or low profile from someone like northland shooters supply) A "skim" bed job around the lug and pillars is worth doing also. Many 10fp's will shoot 1/2" pretty much boxstock with just decent reloads. Good Shooting!

woods

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
Of my two Savaged produced .223s the stainles is far easier to clean. roger

I have found this to be true with my two savage rifles as well. Why is it that the stainless is easier to clean and remove the copper from than the blue barrel?

I'm a stainless/laminated man myself, I now have four of them. A 112BVSS 7mm Rem Mag rechambered to 7STW, and 12BVLP-SS-S's in 223Rem, and 243 and 308Win chamberings. All that means that they are short stainless steel actions, single shots, with 26" fluted stainless steel barrels. The last three are new, and if the 3-shot targets shot at 100 yards are any indication, they are nearly benchrest accurate.

These measurements are outside to outside: 223=.424" shot with Federal 69gr Sierra Matchking BTHP's, 243=.547" shot with Federal 70gr Nosler Ballistic Tip, and the 308 shot with Federal 168gr Sierra MK BTHP's =.499".
That's groups of .200", .304" and .191". Yes, three shot group, but still...WOW!! Retail is $617 at this time.
Spring for Kelbly's bases and rings and a good scope, like the B&L 8-32X with .125" clicks; and imagine the varmint jihad one could go on!

Rich
DRSS