Savage 110 Scout .223 Review...Updated!

IanC

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UPDATE.....

Savage 110 Scout .223 Range review.

I just received my Savage 110 Scout in .223 in the mail, it came from Cabelas which would not normally be my first choice but these rifles are very hard to find here in Canada. Out of the box the rifle is well finished and the stock is really solid. It is an accustock so has an aluminum insert in it and is well bedded. The barrel is quite thick so it’s a nice rigid rifle. Not wanting to actually use the scout mount I removed it, I plan to use the Iron sights. As for the magazine the rifle came with, I’m a little confused as it’s an Accuracy-Mag versus the Magpul that Savage advertises as coming with the rifle. I think Cabelas must have put the wrong magazine in the box. I contacted them about it but have not heard back yet. The magazine is pretty decent and works well. Shouldering the rifle with the stock insert it is still too short for me and I’m 5’11”. I don’t really understand why savage gives you all those inserts but not a longer set of screws to use them. For the time being I put a slip on recoil pad onto the stock. The stock itself is very solid and feels very natural to shoulder with a very soft pad. Another thing is the bolt handle pictured on their website is not actually the one that is on the rifle. Its large and easy to grab but I personally like the actual product to be like what’s in the photo.

Onto the range….. At our club we only have a 50 yard outdoor range so that was the extent of my shooting. The ammo I used was what I had on hand, Barnaul .223 steel cased Soft points and some Winchester .223 FMJ in a white box. A friend of mine was on the range shooting pistol so I started at 25 yrds just so see how it shoots. I had not adjusted the sights I left them as installed at the factory at about the mid point of the adjustment range. The magazine loads and inserts very easily, there is a little side to side play with it but I didn’t have any round fail to feed even holding the magazine. Actually shooting it was very pleasant I find the shape of the stock makes it quick to shoulder and find the rear sight. Recoil is practically non existent most likely due to the muzzle brake and weight of the rifle topping 7 lbs with no optics. I let my friend take a few shots and he was equally impressed but the short barrel and muzzle brake is a little obnoxious to stand near as a bystander. I had a few fail to eject with the steel case ammo but none with the brass cases. They would extract fully from the chamber but fail to come out of the action every now and then. Im not really attributing this to anything yet as I have only put 40 rounds through it. As for where the rounds went I was able to keep everything within a 4 inch bullseye standing. Which for me I was satisfied with. After a little while I moved back to 50 yrds and sat down with some sand bags. I am finding the same thing other 110 scout shooter have found and that is the rifle does shoot a little high. I lowered the rear sight down to its lowest setting and used a 6 o’clock hold on the 4” bullseye and again was able to keep all the rounds inside of it and even do just as well standing. I shoot a lot of handgun so often use the 6 o’clock hold so im used to it. Like I said it seems to shoot high but its manageable. I have read posts of how the .308 model is practically unusable with the irons so I was a little afraid of how it would shoot. Both types of ammo appeared to have the same POI. I can only imagine how well this rifle would shoot with a scope mounted. I never commented on the trigger yet but I have other Savages and the trigger on this one is just as good as my other ones.




Original post.
I would really like to buy one of these rifles in .223, can anybody tell me reasons I shouldn’t?
Essentially my goal is to have a varmint calibre rifle that is capable of long-distance as well as having something fun to shoot on the range up to 100 yards. I would prefer the irons vs a scope. Any issue with finding a spare 10 round mag which to me is a must and reliability? I would also use it for club level 3 gun, I was never a winner to start with as I prefer a revolver. I have not found much online so any help is appreciated.

Edit.... I see MDT sells the magazines I am looking for, I was not familiar with ACIS
 
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I decided to take the plunge and just buy it and ordered some extra mags from MDT.

FLHTCUI - I will put up a review when everything arrives. With the mail system the way it is it could take a little while. I may skip the unboxing unless you really like that. Youtube has some unboxing videos with the 308 model.(h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX7oDRJJ77Q) Hickok45 also has a shooting video but there is not a lot out there on the .223 model.

czfan499 - I hear about how great the Americans are but I wanted the open sight option so went with the Savage, from what I have found online which for some reason there is not a lot of info out there, the mags can be a bit wobbly but they seem to work pretty reliably. I even talked to Savage and they said yes the wobble can be annoying but they work very well.

Looking forward to getting the rifle and mags. With the big break on the end Its best not to stand to close as a bystander but from what I read it is very effective.
 
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I decided just to buy it anyways, now I can tell you all how awesome it is.

Well, now that you are the happy owner of a Savage110 you are now required to provide a full unboxing report and of course a range/first impressions report as well.
As to your wife's quote you can always add send Lawyers,Guns and Money ...RIP Warren Zevon
Rob

 
I look forward to your thoughts! I am in the same boat, was considering either the Scout or the Ruger Predator in .223 to replace my banned AR. I have a local shop selling the Scout for a decent price and there area quite a few Ruger Americans available as well locally. BTW, Joe Brooks just posted on here that they have the Varmint versions for the predator in stock.
 
Ive had issues with one of my mdt mags in 223. Great company. Really stand behind theyre product. In the end i managed to file it enough to work. They were prepared to replace the mag for me. They rattle a bit in my guns but feed well. My issue being that when loaded with more than 4 rounds sometimes they tipped down and got below the follower. It was random and i couldnt catch it on video. They work perfect now
As much as i like my savage rifles i cant stand the look of thier new models. I also find them short in the stocks and im about your height as well. I havent owned a savage that i coukdnt get to shoot well though
 
I'm looking for a good bolt action 223 myself. Been leaning towards the Tikka as I have several already, Salvage have been low on my buying list just from personal preference, 1 step above Mossberg. cou: Iron sights are not necessary for my use, nor a heavy barrel, love my T3 204 for carrying.
 
I have the .308 with a Vortex Crossfire 2-7 mounted in the scout position. Absolutely love this rifle. Fits, shoulders and fires beautifully. I haven’t used the irons so cannot comment on the problems associated with them.
 
I looked into this rifle but decided on the GSR after seeing it is 8lbs empty. That's quite heavy. Glad to hear people are enjoying them though. I hope to see one at the range.
 
Figured I might as well post again, its been a couple weeks since I got the rifle and have had 3 visits to the range so far, decided I'm going to keep the rifle....lol, although I do wheel and deal a lot so its not necessarily a joke. I picked up some longer screws since and added a spacer but find the butt pad is very narrow so ditched the spacers and went back to the Sims Vibration pad instead. Not really sure why Savage thinks anyone would want such a narrow pad on a rifle. Personally I find a wider pad makes it easier to locate the rifle on the shoulder plus there is little to no recoil with it in place. It literally feels like a .22 lr. I filed off some material from the bottom of the wedge on the sight and dropped it down 1/8th of an inch which didnt change much but like I said previously I am in the black at 50 yrds which works. I may complain to Savage some time but I dont want to send my rifle in right now, having too much fun. I received my MDT mags as well which work just fine but were a little thick at first and would not drop free. I contacted them and was told to just file them down. It did the trick and they work much better now but have to say they swell a bit when loaded so its best to change mags on a closed bolt but they feed very well. A great product and Canadian too. I took one of their mags and chopped it down to make a 5 round magazine which also works perfectly.

POST UPDATE July 17.
Savage got back to me, I emailed them a while back and got no response they I received a random customer survey the other week and I stated customer service was not getting back to me. What do you know must be coincidence but received a response a day after the survey...wink wink. A rep from savage told me that the .223 version does come with the accurate mag it is just not stated in their description. Also they do not supply a lower rear sight and under no circumstances regardless of what people say do not shoot 5.56 in the rifle. He actually worded the 5.56 warning like that. I gather they use a tight chamber throat. I should add that I attended a 3 gun match at my club and used the Scout, 870 and my NP29 and came in 4th place out of 13. My time wasnt the best of course but things were very good in terms of accuracy especially the rifle. It worked very well under stress and to avoid any mag issues I changed mags with the bolt closed and had no feeding no issues. I always started with the accurate mag charged and swapped to the MDT's. I can say I am very satisfied with this rifle.

 
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IanC,

I too purchased a 110 Scout in 338 Federal and like you I found the length of pull short and I am 5'9". I stared at all the LOP plugs and screws provided and finally realized that Savage only intended you to use one at a time??

Overall nice little rifle but I am definitely not impressed with front sight ... it is absolutely too short ... can't hit the broad side of a barn door. When I lowered the rear sight to within fighting distance I couldn't get a comfortable cheek weld as the comb is too high for me with the lowest comb riser.

Really disappointed as I wanted a rugged, iron sighted short range 25 to 75 yard rifle.

OldnCold
 
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