Savage MKII FV + AMMO informal review

[DT741]

As I mentionned in another thread, concerning implusive buying of Savage MKII, I will do a ''informal review'' of the actual rifle and the way its set up right now.
Also I had a bunch of commercial, non match ammo sitting at home. So I did an ammo test/review, again in regard of my setup and my use of the rifle.

Pictures of the rifle and setup will be in post #2, post #3 and #4 will be groupings and #5 will be my personnal ammo review with explanations on how the test was conducted and all the details

 

[DT741]

Specs:

-Savage Mark II FV
-Canon 21" Heavy Barrel 1:16 Twist
-Accutrigger
-Picatiny mount pour optique
-Telescope Bushnell Banner 3X9X40 avec ring Leupold
-Bipied Cadwell

I wanted an accurate .22LR out of the box and this is what I got. Very accurate, can outshoot its owner I'm sure. Wanted it for some accurate plinking, occasionnal friendly shooting matches (no competition just backyard accuracy fun) and pest control (gophers, groundhogs, squirrels and what not). the Savage MKII can easily be used for all of the above and I'm not disapointed by Savage again and this is why I have now 5 Savages in the safe.

My setup is an ''Average Joe'' setup. I don't do or intent to do benchrest shooting. I won't participate in regulated competions but I will take out beers cans, redbull cans, clay pigeons, spinner targets, small critters and kick my buddies ass in friendly competion. So my optic is a Bushnell Banner 3X9X40 with Leupold Rings. Cadwell bipod is the only support I will use, no tripods, no sandbags as I won't carry those in the wood.

 

[DT741]

Now the ammo test results !! And post #4 contains everything you need to know about how the test was conducted and the ammo review based on my personnal result and use for the rifle.

 

[DT741]

Test conditions:

The day was a sunny day with no wind at all. Prone position supported by my bipod only and the butt in my shoulder (no sand bag), laying down in my Ram box

The barrel was cleaned between each ammo switch and my rate of fire would be best described as ''higher than average'' by benchrest shooter... so a maximum of 30 second between shots in series of 5

The review classifies commerically and locally available ammunition at the time and I went for standard ammo. No matchgrade ammo and crazy expensive stuff. The ammo is ranked from best to worst (top to bottom) from my personnal groupings, preferences and general experience with it this day.

TARGET AMMO

1- Winchester Dynapoint HP 40gr Copper Plated
2- CCI Green Tag 4gr Lead Round Nose
3- American Eagle 40gr Lead Round Nose
4- American Eagle 38gr Copper Plated
5- Remington Golden Bullet 36gr Brass Plated
6- Federal Champion 36gr Copper Plated

VARMINT/PEST CONTROL AMMO

1- Remington YellowJacket HP 33gr
2- Winchester Super X PowerPoint HP 40gr


WINCHESTER DYNAPOINT surprised the hell out of me. For 25$ for a 500 bulk pack, I was able to obtain reliability in grouping and performance. This ammo is standard velocity so it is accurate AND quiet. It is now my favorite bulk ammo and will feed my Savage MarkII most of the time.

CCI GREEN TAG : everybody told me to try CCI products, which I knew would perform. As soon as I tried it I saw the groupings shrinking down. CCI ammo is of good quality but I have no use for it. 20$ for 100 rounds... I'll leave it to dedicated competitors, benchrest shooters, you guys can take full advantage of this type of ammo. But I will use it to kick my buddies asses in friendly backyard competition for sure

AMERICAN EAGLE : I had 38gr copper plated and 40gr lead round nose and they both peformed well and will buy more if I see some in store. Good performance, good precision and I can use it in my MarkII, 64F and Rascal Youth.

GOLDEN BULLETS: Also suprised me, I loved them for plinking with my Savage 64F and I can use them in my MarkII with a decent accuracy and I happen to have a lots of it.

FEDERAL CHAMPION (bulk 525): GARBAGE OF THE DAY !!! As you can see in the pictures above, result are not very good. It does stays in the 3'' circle, I'd say 1 1/2 to 2'' grouping but compared to the others its a fail. Not reliable, light loads, no real precision. Its plinking ammo for my Savage 64F, nothing more...

VARMINT/CRITTERS/PEST CONTROL AMMO


REMINGTON YELLOW JACKET HP: This little thing packs a hard punch !! Very accurate Hyper Velocity round !! It is officially my new pest control ammo and will store a good quantity of it (call me a hoarder, I don't care I like this ammo) It accurate enough for target shooting, but I'll keep it exclusively for pest control

WINCHESTER SUPER-X POWERPOINT HP: another good ammunition but I had some (2-3) light load that resulted into flyers, like you will be able to see in the 8 inch circle pictures (The target has a #3in the center and its well identified). These flyers affected its reliability in the precision world, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it as critter control. Second position because of that, #1 is Yellow Jacket with NO FLYERS

 

[DT741]

The 8'' circle were used for ammo change.

After each ammo change, I would clean up the barrel and shot 10-15 rounds into those 8'' circles aiming at the number in the center with more or less efforts. I wasn't expecting something like that and the WINCHESTER DYNAPOINT stood out of the lot again. I thought about it later, this is why you don't see CCI and YellowJacket.

 

[Cb750k]

Sweet, thanks for the follow up. I'll most likely be buying one of those Savages with the heavy barrel, this pretty much seals the deal. They don't come with iron sights, correct? I'd love to have both an iron sight as well as some kind of optic set up but it's not a deal breaker at that price if it doesn't.

 

[TargetGuy]

My mark ii G model is super accurate as well.
Comes with irons, and drilled and tapped receiver for two #24 weaver bases as well for optic

 

[rugerfan]

Have the exact same rifle, CCI blazer shoots the best groups of the ammo i have tried so far, as for the yellow jackets, they shoot well accuracy wise, but i have feed problems with them.

 

[JimV]

Sweet, thanks for the follow up. I'll most likely be buying one of those Savages with the heavy barrel, this pretty much seals the deal. They don't come with iron sights, correct? I'd love to have both an iron sight as well as some kind of optic set up but it's not a deal breaker at that price if it doesn't.

The FVT comes with a Williams peep sight. It would be probably get in the way of a scope, but it attaches to its mount with only a single bolt so you can easily remove it. However, the peep sight works so well you might not want to bother.