Reviews of the Savage Ii 65 Creedmoor Kryptek Rifle

Reading Gun Tests means having a front end-row seat to watch the evolution of firearms. Simply it's rare that so much modify is represented within a single roster. In this test we'll compare three bolt-action rifles with what nosotros phone call traditional, modern, and progressive designs. Even with its Kryptek camouflage coating and heavy barrel, the $thousand Howa 1500 from Legacy Sports International filled the traditional role with a standard-contour stock, bolt, trigger, and safety. The newest version of the $1252 Savage Model 12 LRP serial was aptly named because information technology mirrors the modern long range precision rifle. The $1399 Ruger Precision Rifle progresses the thought of a precision armed forces or competition rifle built around the ergonomics of the AR-15 burglarize in mass production for a mass-production cost.

What ties these rifles together is the 6.5 Creedmoor chambering, which was named — if non designed for — the famed Creedmoor Loving cup rifle competition. The Creedmoor Cup is a iii-twenty-four hour period consequence consisting of 16 different matches with a total of 240 shots fired standing, seated, and prone at distances of 200 yards, 300 yards, and 600 yards. The essence of the 6.5 Creedmoor round is a half dozen.5mm (0.264-inch bore) bullet launched with approximately the aforementioned velocity and relatively flat trajectory of the 300 Winchester Magnum, just with considerably less recoil. This is important considering, unlike hunters, competitive shooters demand to exist able to withstand the recoil of hundreds of rounds during matches and practice.

Not every maker is currently producing 6.5 Creedmoor, only based solely on bachelor choices, Hornady Manufacturing is the most prolific. Our test rounds were Hornady's 129-grain SST Superformance hunting load, plus Hornady'south 140-gain A-Max, and 120-grain A-Max Match rounds. We also tried handloading equivalent ammunition consisting of once-fired Hornady contumely and 140-grain Hornady A-Max bullets to larn more almost the cartridge. Yet nosotros were express in overall cartridge length to adjust the detachable magazines of the Ruger Precision Burglarize.

The Howa arrived with its ain scope in place and with camouflage finish to friction match, but to put each gun on equal footing at the range, nosotros shot our test rounds with Bushnell's new 2.v-18×44 Long Range Hunting Scope featuring 30mm tube construction, 0.25-MOA click value, and the innovative 62M reticle. Bushnell's Tactical Hunter serial scopes feature first-focal-plane magnification, which ways you can keep the reticle lines small to cake only a minimum amount of target. Accuracy data was collected past shooting 5-shot groups from the 100-yard bench at Houston'due south American Shooting Centers (amshootcenters.com). Nosotros are aware that the iii-shot group is being used as the standard elsewhere, including within the rules of Ruger's Precision Rifle claiming, but we like the 5-shot standard meliorate because it says more most heat management and how the shooter is helped or hindered throughout the rigors of multiple shots. Hither's how the rifles performed for our shooters:

Howa Hogue Kryptek Cerakote Package HKF92507KH+AB six.v Creedmoor, $1000

This is the list price. Nosotros found the packet retailing for $795 at RichiesPNG.com, merely information technology was likewise out of stock. You can detect a retailer on the Legacy Sports website under Contact > USA Dealers.

Based on the company'south 1500 action, the Howa rifle was the nigh straightforward in terms of profile, offering a Sporter-way Hogue Overmolded stock with an aluminum bedding block. Information technology was treated to a Kryptek Highlander camouflage coating, as was the Nikko Stirling 4-16x44mm GameKing telescopic included in this package. The barreled action was sheathed in Austrian Brown Cerakote and free-floated, connecting to the stock with two pillars fore and aft of the trigger guard and the hinged floorplate of the magazine. The Howa burglarize felt quite rigid, and the surface of the stock was friendly to the easily and cheek. A beefy safe buttpad was mounted, and there were sling swivels forepart and rear. The forend of the stock was broad enough to make good contact with a sandbag or any other surface. The No. 6-profile heavy butt was 24 inches long. The upshot was a heavyweight hunting rifle (9.5 pounds loaded) with a commanding presence.

We couldn't help but notice that Ruger'southward Marksman adjustable trigger looks and acts very much similar Fell's AccuTrigger, each with a hinged lever integrated with the trigger face. Howa'due south two-phase HACT (Howa Actuator Controlled Trigger) looked mutual in comparison, just is renowned in its own right. The Howa HACT trigger offered a brusque take up to a soft, but predictable, break. Measured using a Lyman digital scale, weight of resistance averaged only nether 2.vi pounds, with a maximum deviation of no more than than half-dozen ounces. At no time did anyone on our team find the fluctuation so obvious that it affected accuracy or the shooting experience in general. One fellow member of our team thought the trigger was further to the rear than they liked.

The bolt action featured very positive ejection early in the rearward stroke. Clamping downwards the bolt handle required a little extra forcefulness, signifying a tight lockup. Both the three-position safety and bolt-release levers were sheet metal to hold down costs. While not aesthetically pleasing, they were more likely to bend than break, and both levers worked without flaw.

At the range, nosotros began shooting with the 4-16x44mm Nikko Stirling scope that came mounted and bore sighted on a spacious Picatinny rail as role of the parcel. On the 18th round downrange, something came loose in the telescopic and appeared in the sight film. We were able to continue without ill effect, and whatever it was eventually disappeared from view. Merely for the residual of our tests, nosotros switched to the Bushnell 4.five-18×44 LRHS scope and connected to use the Bushnell for the Ruger and Fell rifles equally well, thus ensuring a level playing field for each burglarize.

Results showed that a burglarize does not take to exist tactical or sniper-fancy to deliver accurateness. While the best average we could compile firing the Superformance rounds measured about ane.1 inches across, efforts shooting the 120-grain A-Max Friction match ammunition resulted in five-shot groups ranging from about 0.6 inches to 0.9 inches. Switching to the Bushnell telescopic, we were able to place the 140-grain A-Max rounds into groups about 0.5 to 0.9 inches wide.

Our Team Said: The camouflage and Cerakote package was a very appealing upgrade and helps this rifle compete with the pizazz of the latest "tacticool" stocks and chassis. The importer (Legacy Sports International) will soon offer an upgrade to a x-round detachable box mag for even more flair. This could limit cartridge length for handloaders daring to increase their rounds' overall length in search of greater accuracy. Just shooting a one-half-minute of bending out of the box is difficult to argue with.

Savage Arms Model 12 Long Range Precision (LRP) 19137 6.5 Creedmoor, $1252

The adjacent moving picture about a military sniper may feature a rifle similar in construction to the Ruger Precision Burglarize, merely based on the accuracy and simplicity of the Long Range Precision Rifle Model 12, the particularly bedded fiberglass stock is still the heavyweight champion, even if this platform is nether set on from the chassis designs. The HS Precision Pro Series Tactical (PST) stock on the Cruel grabs your attention, equally do the LRP's one-inch-diameter 26-inch-long fluted carbon-steel barrel, oversized bolt handle, and scrolled and polished chrome bolt.

Our test burglarize model, No. 19137, was then new at the time of this writing that the manufacturer had not yet assigned a photograph to its web link. But it does resemble the $3695 HS Precision PLR custom rifle, though our test rifle offered a more vertical grip and the barrel of our LRP showed decidedly less taper. The heft of the barrel walls made the 6.5mm bore look relatively tiny, with the upshot being a rifle that was heavy but with a balance point very near the center of its 46-inch-plus overall length.

The Model 12 fed from a detachable magazine. Nosotros liked that it fit flush to the receiver, but magazine chapters was limited to only three rounds. Formed from sheet metal, the mag'due south construction was robust. While feeding and working the action, nosotros found it to exist polish and reliable, but also a bit heavy, in our view. The words, "Warning: Precision Target Trigger" were emblazoned on the left side of the action, and, yep, this was indeed a special iteration of Savage's Accu-Trigger. The eye activation lever was likewise colored cerise to remind the shooter to pay actress attending. Our Barbarous LRP had the lightest-weight trigger in our test, coming in at near 2.25 pounds with little variation. The trigger awareness was very like shooting fish in a barrel to learn, and it did not enquire the shooter to overcome a sharp break or look through a lengthy pinch.

The tang-mounted safety offered a 3rd key position so the bolt could be worked with the trigger locked down. We found ourselves more willing to utilize the prophylactic on this rifle (rather than just exit the commodities open) considering the stock was and so comfortable in the manus. Both sides of the vertical pistol grip offered the aforementioned natural palm bang-up, leaving the thumb for either left-handed or right-handed shooters resting atop the safety. So far, index to the trigger was nigh perfect for everyone who has shot the LRP.

Some of our smaller shooters thought the buttstock felt a piddling long, but length of pull measured only nearly 13.5 inches. We think its length was somewhat of an illusion caused by the supplied two-piece scope base. With but one cross slot fore and aft of the ejection port, adjustment for centre relief was limited to sliding the scope back and forth within the rings.

In testing the Howa and Ruger rifles, we saw a singled-out preference for the A-Max Match loads and much less willingness for those rifles to deliver the 129-grain SST Superformance hunting loads into a tight group. Before shooting the Savage, we credited this to the Superformance ammunition existence designed more for final ballistics than match-grade accuracy. But the Fell was fix to pile at least one shot on top of another in every group, including those shot with the Superformance. In improver, both A-Max rounds produced some sub-half-inch groups. The Howa and Ruger rifles each favored the Hornady 140-grain A-Max armament with an average-sized group of about 0.vi inches. The Savage tied this performance and delivered 5-shot groups averaging 0.half dozen inches and 0.5 inches across for the 129-grain and 120-grain ammunition, respectively.

Our Team Said: Our wish list for the newest Savage Arms model 12 LRP was very short: A one-piece scope base of operations, a 2nd sling stud beneath the forend, and maybe an adaptable cheekpiece. In the concurrently, buyers of this burglarize are going to exist bored shooting at less than 300 or 400 yards. If longer-range competitive shooting interests y'all, this burglarize is probably the simplest and to the lowest degree expensive manner to get started.

Ruger Precision Rifle 18005 6.5 Creedmoor, $1399

ChampionFirearms.com listed this rifle for $950, but the retailer wasn't accepting pre-orders for the gun. SlickGuns.com had it on sale for $1200, only it was out of stock. Kentucky Gun Co. (KYGunCo.com) was likewise out of stock, with a retail price of $1080 and a cash price of $1049. Sportsmans Supply auctioned 1 on GunBroker.com, with the bid upwards to $1501 when we checked it last.

First reactions to the Ruger Precision Rifle ranged from "It's a bolt-activity AR" to the expectation that the RPR was a "chassis" rifle. Actually, under is right, simply the RPR draws from both of these platforms. A chassis rifle consists of a frame, including a buttstock, folding or rigid, and back up construction for the barreled activeness, trigger mechanism, and magazine well connected to a forend that may or may not be skeletonized, but provides diameter-axial rails for mounting optics, laser aiming devices, or illumination. A true chassis rifle, such as those made by Accuracy International, JPRifles or Ashbury Precision Ordnance, provides a complete construction into which a barreled activeness is bolted in identify. If the RPR were a true chassis rifle, so maybe the barreled activeness from i of Ruger's three Eagle commodities-activeness rifles chambered for 6.5 Creedmoor would autumn right into identify. But the Ruger Precision Rifle is more of a hybrid design built effectually Ruger's patented American-style action and the company's SR AR-15/type rifles.

Even so, the RPR takes advantage of the many AR-similar features that the American public has fallen in love with. The 15-inch-long Samson key-mod complimentary-float handguard is ready to accept Picatinny rails in just nigh any position the operator desires. The top rail was affixed at 12 o'clock and extended the vii.8-inch-long Picatinny rails directly above the receiver. Bore-to-rail elevation was very close, and recoil was designed to move straight to the rear at the top of the 0.9-inch-thick rubber buttpad. The buttpad was designed to exist adjustable for cant, but we establish the primary locking screw to be frozen and were unable to motility information technology from its vertical fix. Adjustment for length of pull was much easier via a cam and clamping lever. With the release lever pulled away from the rifle, the buttpad could be moved closer to or farther from the receiver by rotating the large threaded shaft. Despite variations in size, each staff member was able to adjust for heart relief and comfortable extension of the arms and wrists.

The cheekpiece that covered what looked very much like an AR-xv buffer tube was likewise held by a cam and clamp, only the cheekpiece merely slid up or down on a spring-loaded race. Hand-setting the position was a little tricky, requiring the operator to pinch the lower forks of the cheekpiece to release information technology from its leap-loaded detent.

Sporter-burglarize stocks offer a pistol grip, but when compared to the AR-xv that would exist in name but. The true pistol grip found on the RPR was interchangeable with merely about whatsoever available AR-fifteen grip. The AR-xv/fashion thumb safety was express to movement between 9 o'clock on-Prophylactic and nigh 11 o'clock to Fire, because unlike the AR-15, its family unit tree does not include full-auto operation. The safety lever tin can exist moved to the right-hand side, if then desired.

The RPR was very long, thanks to its 24-inch barrel and a long bolt assembly. The butt was threaded and those threads were capped, merely the thread cap was difficult to remove. We chose non to force it off, especially in the absence of a barrel vise. Adding a suppressor to the threaded barrel would brand it a real fishing pole. The folding stock helped shorten the rifle for transport, but unless yous've got a properly padded case, we think most people will carry the RPR extended, partially because the stock does non lock down when folded.

Removing the commodities required folding the stock, pulling up the bolt handle, and pressing the release lever located on the left-hand side of the receiver. The rear of the bolt was sealed with a polymer cap begetting the Ruger logo, so it is protected and does offering a finished await. The cap screws off and reveals a compartment holding a 5/64th-inch hex wrench to disassemble the bolt or arrange the trigger. Trigger pull upon arrival measured 2.55 pounds, with a maximum variation observed as being just nigh 1.4 ounces. This was light enough and consistent plenty, in our view.

The magazine release consisted of a vertical lever at the rear of the magazine well. Patented by Ruger, nosotros constitute information technology to be very easy to grasp the magazine and activate the release lever with either hand. Two ten-round polymer magazines (PMags past Magpul) were supplied, just those made by AICS will also work. Provisions for a QD (quick detachable) sling mount consisted of the female portions of the arrangement merely. The QD mounts were found on the left side of the buttstock, merely they could be moved to the opposite side. The forward QD attachment was held via the key mod system, so it could be moved to anywhere along the handguard. A 3.75-inch-long Picatinny rail with sling stud was supplied. A shooter could employ the stud to mount a bipod. A Picatinny track measuring about 2.25 inches long was machined into the lower construction of the buttstock. This rails could exist used to connect a monopod or to provide a flat surface for rear purse back up.

When firing the Ruger off sandbags, nosotros establish that the profile of the forend wasn't equally stable on bags equally it was with a Harris bipod we tried afterward gathering accuracy data. Nosotros tried a lot of positions on the sandbags, including pushing the rifle forrard into the bags so that it was braced against the mag and magazine well. Besides, bolt travel was non as smooth as we would have liked, merely the trigger was very consequent, and it was polish enough to allow the shooter concentrate on other things, such as breathing and taking aim. The only feature our shooters really didn't similar was the cheekpiece. Its acme radius followed the arc of the tube beneath, only was then squared off at about 9 o'clock. As shooting progressed, every member of our squad sooner or later on felt the edge rubbing uncomfortably into the face.

In terms of accuracy, the Ruger Precision Rifle was very consequent. One group fired with the 129-grain Superformance ammunition measured i MOA exactly, with a final average of 0.9 inches. The 120-grain A-Max rounds provided an average group of 0.seven inches, while the 140-grain A-Max rounds printed 0.6-inch-wide 5-round groups one after some other.

Our Team Said: If America votes with their dollars, then the AR-fifteen is the near pop rifle in the land. This bodes well for a bolt activity designed in its image, with many of the aforementioned ergonomics and pop features. What we liked almost about the Ruger Precision Rifle's operation was that except for a lack of comfort at the cheekpiece, information technology really lets shooter perform at a high level. No matter what the size or trunk type of our shooters, the results were very much the same. In the case of the 140-grain armament (handloaded or mill), we constitute it remarkably easy to print 5-shot groups into 0.6-inch groups i after another.

Written and photographed by Roger Eckstine using evaluations from Gun Tests team testers.

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Source: https://www.gun-tests.com/rifles/6-5-creedmoor-bolt-action-rifle-comparison-4/

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