The only rifle I have ever owned which wouldn't extract properly was a '96 Mauser.
What weak points and dislikes with Savage centerfire rifles??
- Thread starter RickR1100
- Start date
The only rifle I have ever owned which wouldn't extract properly was a '96 Mauser.
The are designed to be manufactured cheaply, and there are compromises that need to be made to achieve that. They achieve nothing worthy of note in design, function, or aesthetics. They have opened the market to new shooters wanting to get into the sport on a budget however, and that is a good thing.
Own a Savage Axis XP in .223 Remington, only have two issues with the gun.
1) Factory plastic stock flexes easily.
2) When operating the bot slowly cases can drop back atop next round in the magazine its not exactly a large opening to reach into and clear the casing.
Number 2 issue can be resolved by just not cycling the action slowly, but sometimes its nice to not send your brass flying for others to step on.
1) Factory plastic stock flexes easily.
2) When operating the bot slowly cases can drop back atop next round in the magazine its not exactly a large opening to reach into and clear the casing.
Number 2 issue can be resolved by just not cycling the action slowly, but sometimes its nice to not send your brass flying for others to step on.
The only experience I have is my 10tr. Not the prettiest gun in the safe but it blows me away how well it shoots everything I've fed it so far. The out of the box accuracy makes my sako's and remmy's look silly and the accu trigger is far better than my remmington but not as nice as the sako trigger.
Fit and finnish can't compare to the others either but for the price it's accuracy is impressive. I've had zero problems with it yet.
Fit and finnish can't compare to the others either but for the price it's accuracy is impressive. I've had zero problems with it yet.
They are mostly accurate and dependable. Mine is the same. Pay more, get more. Keep in mind the "wonderful" Remington 700 just had a trigger recall, so the Savage haters could be a bit more evenhanded. Savage is the F150 of rifles. Mine is very accurate, printing multiple sub MOA groups at 200M.
I found that any "long" action - .30-06/25-06/300winmag etc. gun that savage makes has an unusually long distance between scope bases front to back, and that makes it more complicated to scope the gun than you would think. If you get straight bases and rings, then the normal "good budgut" scopes have very little to no adjustment left for eye relief. The tubes of the scopes are just not long enough to give you any leeway. This means scopes such as a Bushnell 3200 or a Leupold vx1/2 , Ziess conquest, or other 3-9x40 sized scopes.
I had to then buy an extension ring. This wasn't enough clearance. Then I bought two and oriented them towards the middle to give me enough room to get the scope back far enough to clear the bolt handle AND give me the correct sight picture in the scope. (I still had to take a dremmel and grind out a bit off the base of the extension ring for the scope front bell to clear, so I was ANNOYED)
It's not so bad if you live in a big city and bring the gun to a place like wholesale or cabela's cause they have lots of options in store. But if you are doing this at home or even worse via parts being mail ordered, its a nightmare.
Anyhow, I've owned 4 savages and I don't own a single one now. . . . . (other than a model 325 in .30-30 that was probably made in the 50's)
I had to then buy an extension ring. This wasn't enough clearance. Then I bought two and oriented them towards the middle to give me enough room to get the scope back far enough to clear the bolt handle AND give me the correct sight picture in the scope. (I still had to take a dremmel and grind out a bit off the base of the extension ring for the scope front bell to clear, so I was ANNOYED)
It's not so bad if you live in a big city and bring the gun to a place like wholesale or cabela's cause they have lots of options in store. But if you are doing this at home or even worse via parts being mail ordered, its a nightmare.
Anyhow, I've owned 4 savages and I don't own a single one now. . . . . (other than a model 325 in .30-30 that was probably made in the 50's)
That's a lot like asking what weak points dislikes are there with Remington centrefire rifles. Are you talking an SPS? Sendaro? 710? 7400? Did you have a specific Savage in mind or are you just looking for comments all over the map much like Savage's line up of rifles is?
Sherlock Gnomes
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I have had 5 savage rifles. I love the accutrigger. My main complaint has been on my savage 12 where they screwed up alignment of holes. Some previous owner on this board may have seen the issue but did not disclose this. But I fixed the problem thanks to my smith. Love savage rifles. Hate Remington
Any idea if this is the same with the short actions?
As lack of eye relief is one of my biggest pet peeves of scoping rifles these days.
I find the scope tubes are too damn short.
Is there a difference in action lengths with the Axis?
Any idea if this is the same with the short actions?
As lack of eye relief is one of my biggest pet peeves of scoping rifles these days.
I find the scope tubes are too damn short.
Is there a difference in action lengths with the Axis?
I have a lot of trouble with eye reflief as well and often find i have the scope moved as far back as i can get it. I can't say for all savage short actions, but my model 16 in .308 is shorter and the scope works fine.
As for the axis they are all a long action regardless of caliber, but with a plug in the magazine to accomodate different cartridge lengths, and the bases are quite far apart, which makes the eye relief tricky.
Any idea if this is the same with the short actions?
As lack of eye relief is one of my biggest pet peeves of scoping rifles these days.
I find the scope tubes are too damn short.
Is there a difference in action lengths with the Axis?
No problems with the short action. Just the long one. It really makes you almost NEED a long tubed scope just to have a bit of play in regard to eye relief placement. Just look at a scoped one and if it doesn't have 2 extension rings on it, it won't have a lick of adjustment left. Unnecessarily long spacing in you ask me. I'll never own another personally. Plus with the .300 win mag I owned, the max of 3 rounds in the mag made the magazine hard to "click in" . It had to be "rocked" in with the rear first then the front with a good push. It would pop out during recoil often, resulting in a dented top round from the mag hitting the ground. Just wasn't happy. The accuracy was decent. Using a good lead sled , I could get easy 1" three-shot groups and usually 1.5" five-shot groups. But I can get that with other , just as in-expensive rifles that don't have those issues.
I currently have;
111 in .270. No issues what so ever. The distance of between the bases is too long to accommodate for eye relief adjustment, however it just happens to be the right distance with the scope I currently have on it. Will be getting a single piece base plate when I get a new scope though.
12 in .223. Stock not that great but works. Had an issue with extraction on some types of ammo, mostly the cheap stuff, 60 seconds of file work fixed that.
MKII. Stock is too short for confortable use, but that is common in almost all .22s for me.
93. No issues
93R17 No issues
Had but sold;
64. Stock again too short for comfort
Edge/Axis. The quality of the stock. Design and shape I really liked, but it was just flimsy.
Every single one of my Savages have been accurate shooting guns with the right factory ammo and I will not hesitate to buy another one.
111 in .270. No issues what so ever. The distance of between the bases is too long to accommodate for eye relief adjustment, however it just happens to be the right distance with the scope I currently have on it. Will be getting a single piece base plate when I get a new scope though.
12 in .223. Stock not that great but works. Had an issue with extraction on some types of ammo, mostly the cheap stuff, 60 seconds of file work fixed that.
MKII. Stock is too short for confortable use, but that is common in almost all .22s for me.
93. No issues
93R17 No issues
Had but sold;
64. Stock again too short for comfort
Edge/Axis. The quality of the stock. Design and shape I really liked, but it was just flimsy.
Every single one of my Savages have been accurate shooting guns with the right factory ammo and I will not hesitate to buy another one.
I'm saddened by the negative comments about Savage(l believe these comments are true and accrate as Boomer does not kid). I have one,which is so accurate that even I did not shoot well,it still sent the bullets to where I wanted.
I'm considering an Axis so thanks for the info regarding scope issues between long action vs short action.
This is the first time I have heard of this with the Axis.
Why are some rifle companies overlooking this issue?
Don't they try the scopes on the rifles in the R&D department?
Methinks this is an easy issue to spot, dial them in to max magnification... Pinhole view= bad design.
Same with the magazine issue Boomer mentioned.
This is the first time I have heard of this with the Axis.
Why are some rifle companies overlooking this issue?
Don't they try the scopes on the rifles in the R&D department?
Methinks this is an easy issue to spot, dial them in to max magnification... Pinhole view= bad design.
Same with the magazine issue Boomer mentioned.
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My experiences to date.
Unless you are a take the rifle out of the safe in Sept, verify your sight in with 3 rounds, hunt for a weekend and put it away kind of person, stay away from the lower end Savage (ie: The axis $349 scope included, no floorplate models). Not that they don't work, but if you shoot alot, you will quickly realize this is a rifle designed to do just that.
If you shoot alot on a budget, the higher end models are a fantastic deal for the $$ spent. My current one has as good a fit and finish as an $800 rifle could have.
Unless you are a take the rifle out of the safe in Sept, verify your sight in with 3 rounds, hunt for a weekend and put it away kind of person, stay away from the lower end Savage (ie: The axis $349 scope included, no floorplate models). Not that they don't work, but if you shoot alot, you will quickly realize this is a rifle designed to do just that.
If you shoot alot on a budget, the higher end models are a fantastic deal for the $$ spent. My current one has as good a fit and finish as an $800 rifle could have.
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Northman999
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I've never had a problem with the three I own.
What I don't LIKE, is any rifle with the spaghetti thin barrels that are so popular, although they shoot okay. And I'm not a fan of 24" bbls on magnums either, sorry. 24" for standard calibers and 26" for magnums for me, thank you very much.
At least on a $350 savage, the spaghetti thin/shortish barrel can sort of be excused due to cost cutting; but when I see a $900 Winchester (or whatever) with the same kind of thing, I just puke up a little.
If Savages came with proper 26" , heavier barrels in their magnums, I'd have only praise for them.
What I don't LIKE, is any rifle with the spaghetti thin barrels that are so popular, although they shoot okay. And I'm not a fan of 24" bbls on magnums either, sorry. 24" for standard calibers and 26" for magnums for me, thank you very much.
At least on a $350 savage, the spaghetti thin/shortish barrel can sort of be excused due to cost cutting; but when I see a $900 Winchester (or whatever) with the same kind of thing, I just puke up a little.
If Savages came with proper 26" , heavier barrels in their magnums, I'd have only praise for them.
...always shot remingtons...a friend bought a savage in 30-06 two years ago and came out to shoot...and i was frankly very impressed with its accuracy...i think they've improved over the past decade?...he's had no problems with it and has put a whack of ammo through it...and for the price the trigger was fine...
