Are Savage Factory Blueprinted actions worth it?

mspben

mspben

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Hello,

Since my 28 nosler is out of commission I'm looking at picking up a different factory rifle to mess around with this fall.

I'm considering picking up a savage and messing around with pre-fit barrels in probably 300 RUM and 28 nosler.

My question is is it worth buying one of the rifles savage has "factory blueprinted"? I can't find many reviews comparing a blueprinted vs regular action to see if it is worth the price difference.

I'm assuming the advice is try to buy as cheap a savage action as possible and build it from there, but I thought I would ask.

Ben
 
In most cases it doesn't make fiscal sense to throw money at a poor quality action to try and make it better, when you can spend that money towards a more fit-for-purpose action that was designed and manufactured to better specs to begin with.

If you are stuck on a budget, I would stick with a bone stock Savage or splurge a little bit and get a Tikka. While they cost more, there's a lot more value in a Tikka. You can spend a bit more and get a more budget custom action, like a Bighorn Origin, but I'm not sure what they are running for in Canada and it would be your decision if it's worth it or not.
 
The single shot savage actions are very good but have there limits and a factory blueprinted one will cost a bit more all about what you want if you want prefits and pull the barrels on and off yourself its the way to go
 
How much is the action you're considering? I personally wouldn't invest any money in a savage action and then more to improve it. Almost any action can be barrel swapped at home these days.
 
Mine shoots great, I don’t know if I notice a huge difference with the blueprinted action over say a model 12 action but I have never had an issue using savage actions
 
A few years ago you could buy a gun that had come through the S&W custom shop. What it really meant was unless you wanted to pay a great deal of money, a custom shop revolver was one assembled by their paying gunsmith class candidates under close supervision rather than run of the mill by the regular workers. A "blueprinted" action might only mean someone had more supervision than routine inspectors' overwatch.
 
My 0.02$
If going Savage, stay with basic models and play around with it the way you want.
If wanting a premium build, get out of Savage. If wanting premium (well better than Savage) and prefits the Bighorn Origin is very affordable.

In the long run, and as a factory blueprinted ex Savage owner,
Even the best Savage will limit you in stock/chassis choices, and you’ll have a hard time getting a trigger to break as clean as custom R700 triggers.
Tried Savage Timneys, Savage rifle basix, tuned them to some extent, getting a clean crisp low ounce break is very tedious, and never got it to TT diamond levels.

Maple leaf eh
I owned a blueprinted action, they are definitely a class and a quality level of their own when speaking of Savage products
You just end up with an expensive action, that isn’t compatible with much accessories, a moot point
 
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mspben said:
Hello,

Since my 28 nosler is out of commission I'm looking at picking up a different factory rifle to mess around with this fall.

I'm considering picking up a savage and messing around with pre-fit barrels in probably 300 RUM and 28 nosler.

My question is is it worth buying one of the rifles savage has "factory blueprinted"? I can't find many reviews comparing a blueprinted vs regular action to see if it is worth the price difference.

I'm assuming the advice is try to buy as cheap a savage action as possible and build it from there, but I thought I would ask.

Ben
Click to expand...

Been a huge Savage fan until they got new management and starting to cut costs... AND changing every freaking part in the action. Today, there are at least 3 actions which they call a Savage SA. There are/were 3 firing pin systems, 2 triggers, 2 action thread sizes, port sizes and locations.

10/11/12 used to mean something... now they are mixing with 110 and who knows what ever name. Until you get the action in your hand, I doubt you can actually say what you are now buying. This is the type of mess I have no interest in.

if you want to use a Savage SA, go with something older... like Stevens 200 type old... BEFORE the hedge funds got involved. Or a Single shot small port target action... I think they are still the same as the original minus the really stupid action bolt spacings.

These old actions needed no action work to function superbly and many F class matches have been won at 1000yds against custom actions.

Today, I run something else for my repeaters.... and a Stevens 200 for my 'dirty' range FTR

Jerry
 
Good Afternoon,

Apologies for taking some time to post. Family and work doesn't allow me a lot of forum time these days.

Thank you very much for the input. Your notes are all along the lines of what I was thinking. I agree with you, but at the end of the day the cost difference got me on this one.

I ended up ordering a savage elite precision in 300 win mag from my local gun shop yesterday; they made me a deal that was a little better than I had seen elsewhere so I went for it.

My reasoning is based on timing, cost, and what I'm going to be doing with it. I was looking to have something together for shooting season, which is coming up real fast for me (when the crops come off and I can get out in the field). I was looking to get something and have loads developed by the time the fields are ready for shooting.

Second, and the biggest factor, was cost. See below for my rough estimate of the cost difference (without taxes obviously):

Custom build:

Action $1,300 Bighorn Origin or ARC nuclues
Barrel $750 rough price, can change based on options
Stock $1,000 MDT ACC
Trigger $350 TT diamond
Total $3,400

Savage Elite Precision typical cost (for 300 WM) = $2300
The cost difference allows me to pick up a barrel to play with a different caliber and still be cheaper than the other route.

While I know this won't be as nice a rifle as one based on a bighorn or ARC action, I'm hoping it will suffice as a secondary project for this fall.

Thanks for the input everyone; I'll let you know how it shoots when it gets here. If it shoots like garbage that greatly reduces the value proposition haha... My timing sort of reduced the likelihood of finding used gear for a build as well.

Ben
 
Seems like you already had your mind set afterall!
Best of luck with that elite precision barrel, we’re 2 owners on here that had accuracy problems and Savage wasn’t ready to help...
 
MartyK2500 said:
Seems like you already had your mind set afterall!
Best of luck with that elite precision barrel, we’re 2 owners on here that had accuracy problems and Savage wasn’t ready to help...
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm curious to see how it shoots. Definitely ruins the value if it needs a new barrel.

Ben
 
I think the Savage elite precision is a great value. If you're going to shoot it as it came out of the box the blueprinted Savage is a fantastic idea. They're much more consistently functional and smooth than the run of the mill actions. My main bolt gun is a mid range Savage that came off the assembly line a couple years ago, not a blueprinted one. My primary extraction was a little weak out of the box and as it broke in and the round count got close to 1000 it wouldn't extract anything anymore. It was a cheap and easy DIY fix, but that's the sort of thing the blueprinted actions should help avoid. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new rifle!

However, because they keep changing things it is more difficult to find compatible parts and accessories which makes a custom build much harder. The value proposition starts to fall apart when you look at building a custom rifle on a Savage action too; by the time you add up all the other pieces, a few hundred more for a nicer custom action that is compatible with more parts looks like a good idea. I built a custom rifle on a Savage 110 action and it's a nice gun that I enjoy shooting, but I won't do it again. I would buy another Savage, but I wouldn't put a bunch of money into customizing it. I'd also build another custom rifle, but I wouldn't do it on a Savage action.
 
jonyork said:
I am super curious for a review of the rifle at some point!
Click to expand...

cut and paste from another post I made...


Here are my impressions on the Savage 110 Tactical elite.

ACTION
This is one of the nicest finishes I have seen on a Savage.
A nice deep blue, not some cheaper finish that will rub off.
Scope rail screws are #8-40 instead of the standard #6-48 we usually see.
It’s my first Savage action to actually fling brass real far and positively, I believe they made propper mods for it to be PRS worthy.
Uses large shank barrel threads, may limit your existing barrels interchangeability.
Comes with a notched barrel nut and keyed recoil lug.
Bolt lift wasn’t any worse than any other Savage I’ve owned.
Closing the bolt was tough, as if the bolt head is machined too tight in relation to the action, and needs a certain break in.

TRIGGER
Standard accutrigger.
Does not go as low as advertised.

CHASSIS
This MDT ACC chassis rocks.
I have now since sold my Savage 110 Elite, but have that very same chassis on order for an R700 footprint custom action.
Since you are getting this chassis from the factory, it’s only set up for top bolt release, has no oval action screw hole to accommodate both action type screw spacings, and has cool engraved Savage logos.

BARREL
Couldn’t get mine to shoot even if my life depended on it.
I am a stubborn SOB, I rather sell something that doesn’t shoot Varget + 175 SMKs than trying to experiment with other combinations.
Barrel profile could be much heavier, it’s thicker that many factory barrels but they should of gone full M40 profile if you’re going to advertise as a PRS specific gun.
Muzzle threads are 5/8x24 and use a step behing it making their factory brake pretty much proprietary.

MUZZLE BRAKE
Much louder and much less efficient than my insite heathens, didn’t like it.
At least it was well indexed.


Ended up selling it as my gun safe is going 180,
Selling everything Savage and going Bighorn Origin builds from now on.
Too bad I had just received my IBI large shank barrel that I’m stuck with now.
In my experience, the nicest Savage I have ever owned, but make yourself a favour, and change barrel for a heavier profile at the earliest convenience.
With this type of chassis it’s not like you’re going on a hike to hunt with this, this chassis is made for M40 Heavy barrels at a MINIMUM!
 
jonyork said:
I am super curious for a review of the rifle at some point!
Click to expand...

I'm picking the rifle up tomorrow; not sure I'll have time to sight it in this weekend but if I do I'll post my results if I have anything more to add beyond MartyK2500's review.

I'm excited to see it and curious to see if the accuracy is at all decent. I've had a couple savages in the past including a LRP in 260 rem. I wasn't a fan back then, but given the chassis and other upgrades I was interested in giving them another shot.

Ben
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
A few years ago you could buy a gun that had come through the S&W custom shop. What it really meant was unless you wanted to pay a great deal of money, a custom shop revolver was one assembled by their paying gunsmith class candidates under close supervision rather than run of the mill by the regular workers. A "blueprinted" action might only mean someone had more supervision than routine inspectors' overwatch.
Click to expand...

What you describe is Custom shop yes.

Factory blueprinted would just be the top tier of the quality control kind of thing !
 
Savage barreled actions are some of the grossest abortions I own, but they are cheap and shoot pretty good. I think there are more parts in a Savage bolt then an entire Glock 17 pistol... probably not, but pretty close lol.
The entire bolted together bolt assembly is hideous in appearance, barrel nuts are ugly on any rifle not exclusive to Savage these days, cheap plastic safeties, accutrigger kind of sucks and aftermarket replacements are not much better, even bolt removal is a pain in the ass compared to just about any other rifle.
BUT...they do seem to shoot well, at least the ones I've bought, have all been keepers. The hideous double bolt head design actually makes the action very safe, the bolt guide acts as a baffle to prevent gas escape, with makes it one of the safest actions in the event of case failure, behind the 700 but above a '98.
Good inexpensive cheaply made rifles that shoot. There are many much nicer made equally accurate rifles, but they come at a price...which is expected with higher quality, more 1 piece parts, and traditional barrel installation.
 
Tested Rifle

Hello,

I picked up the rifle yesterday and put together a few rounds this morning to zero it.

Couple facts about the rifle to confirm (as I haven't seen much info on the long action):
-Rifle in long action comes without a muzzle brake (so I threw on an extra one I had from insite arms)
-Rifle does in fact have a 30" barrel - various supplier websites were saying 26" but savages website does say 30"
-The MDT chassis is awesome. The adjustability is wicked, love it so far except:
-With the cheek riser where I need it the bolt can't be removed. This frustrates me to no end. How hard is it to get this right (I have had other rifles with this issue too, not a unique problem)

Info on the loads (as usual work up your own loads so you know they are safe):
-I was shooting 230 grain bergers with h1000 with the same basic recipe I used last time I had a 300wm (which was more than 5 years ago)
-Hornady brass, new
-Bullets had to be seated about 30 thou shorter than my last 300 win mag
-Bullets were loaded about 10 thou off the lands
-Powder charge was 71.9 grains, resulting in about 2765 fps (my notes say I was doing about 2711fps in the last rifle, which I believe had a 26" barrel)
-no pressure signs, action opened easy

Accuracy was promising but I won't comment on group size as I only have 10 rounds through the rifle and have done no load development.

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