I've been looking for a really good deal (i.e., really cheap) on a bolt-action 22LR for general plinking & local, club-level silhouette shooting, for quite a while. I'm currently of extremely "limited means", so CZ's Annies, etc. were waaaay out of my price range.
While sporting around on the 'net, however, I came across a deal at Barton's Big Country that I thought looked good (the lowest price I've seen in years). It's listed as a "Savage Mk II FXP" .22LR, 10-shot, synthetic stock, no iron sights, with a fitted & boresighted 3-9X40 scope. It's one of those package deals, a non-accutrigger Mk II F model.
Price? $189.99 CDN. How about that, something I could actually afford! Even with shipping and taxes, the all-in price was $232.64.
Anyway, it just arrived, so here's the scoop so far:
First off, it has a slightly tapered barrel (not the heavy varmint barrel), but it's not the iron-sighted really skinny one, either (perfect for hunter-class shooting, where heavy barrels are not permitted). So far, so good.
Second, many have complained that, when new, Savage bolts can be scratchy and rough in vertical travel. This one ain't - smooth as glass, up & down with a fluid "click". No problem there.
Third, out-of-the-box non-Accutirggers are heavy & rough. True - it is heavy (probably 6 lbs or more) and was rough initially, but dry-firing (with a buffer under the tail of the bolt to prevent the firing pin from contacting anything) a few times has already made quite an improvement. As far as the heaviness is concerned, the fix for this is well-known, safe, simple and totally reliable. I'm going to bring mine down to just over 2 lbs., as per hunter-class rules, with the use of some brass shim stock I have laying around. Interestingly, out of the box, there is no creep whatsoever in the trigger, right out of the box. Total trigger travel is about 1 mm., without any mods or tuning.
Fourth, it has the synthetic stock, which doesn't bother me in the least. It feels good, fits me well, and I can do anything I want to it without worrying about messing up a beautiful piece of walnut or anything. I can always replace it with a Boyd's Tactical or other stock down the road, if I wish.
Fifth, the scope. I was completely taken aback by this. I expected a muddy, blurry, flimsy no-name throw-away scope, but this was not the case. In fact, it's a Bushnell 3-9X40 (obviously, a lower level one, of course), and seems clear & bright, edge to edge, at all levels of magnification. Granted, it might not return to 0 for long (it would probably be good for pinking for years, though), but it's certainly fine for now. It's not the immediate-throw-away, suitable only for break-in, that I expected.
Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the package, and even more at that price point. Considering that an identical rifle, unmodified, was used to win a US hunter-class competition (with an obviously extremely skilled shooter behind the trigger, of course), it could well be a tack driver with the right ammo.
The plan now is to clean it, take it out to the range, and shoot the heck of it with cheap ammo to sight it in & smooth it up. Then I'll do the well-known trigger mod, get some good ammo, and see what it'll really do.
While sporting around on the 'net, however, I came across a deal at Barton's Big Country that I thought looked good (the lowest price I've seen in years). It's listed as a "Savage Mk II FXP" .22LR, 10-shot, synthetic stock, no iron sights, with a fitted & boresighted 3-9X40 scope. It's one of those package deals, a non-accutrigger Mk II F model.
Price? $189.99 CDN. How about that, something I could actually afford! Even with shipping and taxes, the all-in price was $232.64.
Anyway, it just arrived, so here's the scoop so far:
First off, it has a slightly tapered barrel (not the heavy varmint barrel), but it's not the iron-sighted really skinny one, either (perfect for hunter-class shooting, where heavy barrels are not permitted). So far, so good.
Second, many have complained that, when new, Savage bolts can be scratchy and rough in vertical travel. This one ain't - smooth as glass, up & down with a fluid "click". No problem there.
Third, out-of-the-box non-Accutirggers are heavy & rough. True - it is heavy (probably 6 lbs or more) and was rough initially, but dry-firing (with a buffer under the tail of the bolt to prevent the firing pin from contacting anything) a few times has already made quite an improvement. As far as the heaviness is concerned, the fix for this is well-known, safe, simple and totally reliable. I'm going to bring mine down to just over 2 lbs., as per hunter-class rules, with the use of some brass shim stock I have laying around. Interestingly, out of the box, there is no creep whatsoever in the trigger, right out of the box. Total trigger travel is about 1 mm., without any mods or tuning.
Fourth, it has the synthetic stock, which doesn't bother me in the least. It feels good, fits me well, and I can do anything I want to it without worrying about messing up a beautiful piece of walnut or anything. I can always replace it with a Boyd's Tactical or other stock down the road, if I wish.
Fifth, the scope. I was completely taken aback by this. I expected a muddy, blurry, flimsy no-name throw-away scope, but this was not the case. In fact, it's a Bushnell 3-9X40 (obviously, a lower level one, of course), and seems clear & bright, edge to edge, at all levels of magnification. Granted, it might not return to 0 for long (it would probably be good for pinking for years, though), but it's certainly fine for now. It's not the immediate-throw-away, suitable only for break-in, that I expected.
Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the package, and even more at that price point. Considering that an identical rifle, unmodified, was used to win a US hunter-class competition (with an obviously extremely skilled shooter behind the trigger, of course), it could well be a tack driver with the right ammo.
The plan now is to clean it, take it out to the range, and shoot the heck of it with cheap ammo to sight it in & smooth it up. Then I'll do the well-known trigger mod, get some good ammo, and see what it'll really do.
