.... And why are these not precision rifles ... What is then???
Excellent question worthy of a serious answer. Thanks for asking!
Bear in mind this is a precision rifle forum and I am going to answer this within that context.
The single biggest determinant of potential precision (Precision actually defined in shooting as being able to place shots as close together as possible) is the barrel. The best hand loaded ammo in the nicest stock with the best shooter will not render precision results if the barrel is of poor quality.
Factory barrels are mass produced to a wide continuum of tolerances with results that range from "precision" (rare) to garbage (less rare) to everything in between. There are no structural differences between the barrels used on their chepaest hunting rifles to their "tactical" rifles except for the outside contour, and in the case of the Remington faux 5R, the shape of the lands. They are crude inside, many have incredible barrel run-out and few have been completely relieved of all stresses.
This is an excellent video on barrel quality... check this out. Although this depicts a Remington, I assure you, Savage are as bad or worse. This DOES NOT mean they do not shoot reasonable well, but it does mean that you would have to try 100 different rifles to find the one rifle that is capable of rendering precision.
Pimping of Savage over remington and vice versa is brand loyalty nonsense. These all shoot the same. My personal experience with Tikka supports Mystic's comments. I feel they produce the most consistently accurate rifles on the shelf
Find a rifle you find most comfortable. I am a precison junkie and an avid long distance competitive shooter. I absolutely do not advocate a magnum as a cartridge for someone just learning long range shooting. If you are shooting factory amo, go with a 223 or a 308, but factory ammo in a factory rifle is only going to produce mediocre results. If you want factory a 300WM rilfe and you want to shoot factory ammo, you are accomplishing very little in your long range shooting education.
I'll say it again, you cannot become a good long range shooter unless and until you master short range shooting. If you and your gun produce sloppy results at 100, it is going to be no less than 10 times worse at 1000.