Ok guys I haven’t been around here much lately but I thought I’d touch on a build I did for a knock around carbine for what needs shooting. My last couple of builds have been kinda pricy and wound up being long, bulky, heavy, precision rifles. I thought this time I’d build a rifle with practicality and ease of handling in mind. There aren’t very many factory options for leftys so I started with a used lefthanded Savage model 11. I had started off by turning it into a budget American classic clone a couple of years ago, just because that was the flavor of the month.
When the inspiration for this rifle hit me it was the obvious choice for a donor so I removed the stock and barrel. I had already replaced the trigger return spring and tuned the factory 3 screw adjustable trigger to right at 2#. Crisp with no over travel or take up I was happy with it. I went ahead and made and installed a bolt lift kit with a few hardware store parts and some stuff I had in my shop. which really smoothed out the operation. I found an inexpensive factory takeoff barrel in .308 with 1/10 twist and had it cut down to16." Lacking the tools to thread it I had a local smith go ahead and cut, crown ,and thread it for me. He also went ahead and put a custom brake on it. Before installing the .308 barrel I checked the lugs and found they were making full contact and needed no lapping thanks to the Savage floating bolthead design. I then was able to locate an older short action detachable box stock and the bottom metal. I converted the stock over to lefty and cut a couple of inches off the butt. Then I relocated the sling studs and re contoured the limbsaver recoil pad to match the new butt profile. After that I bedded the stock to the action and installed the bottom metal. I painted the stock sponge camo with flat forest green and khaki and sealed it with Testors dull coat. I reassembled everything and topped it with an EGW picatinny mount and a 3-9x40 vortex diamondback I had laying around. hopefully I’ll get some coins together for a Leupold ultralight soon.The resulting rifle built for what needs shooting is very compact at 37"OAL, plenty powerful in .308 and so far shoots factory ammo into a little over an inch at 100yds. (generating brass) I’m sure after a little load development it’ll have 300 yards covered easy. The handling is awesome especially in tight spaces and it slings and points very well. I haven’t put it on the scales but It doesn’t weigh much.
I am very pleased with the results and thought I’d show it off a little, 
Looks really good, I love handy bolt action rifles like you turned yours into.
Looks perfect for what you were going for.
The bolt is on the wrong side…
Good work
Yea you need to get that corrected… 
Great job.