Hi there, I recently got my hand on a Savage and it really pleased me.
Chapter 1: Prelude
so the story began with me who got a paycheque from a job, and decided to buy myself a target/hunting rifle, there were 2 rifles that came up in my mind initially, the Remington 700 Tac SPS, and the Remington 700 ADL, because its reputation is right on, everyone around me convinced me to buy a Remington and supported its point by "Look the US sniper uses it... look it is so famous....look it shoots sub-moa... look". I loved the beautiful remington too, the price was $750 on my doorway, but for that price it comes with good adjustable trigger weight, bull barrel, good stock,
scope/base/mount excluded, and it is---like I said----beautiful!
however, I'm not those kind of person that jumps on conclusion, I would not throw a truckload of money on something that I regret a few days later, I became a money-wise person after marriage, anyways so I waited and waited until a truly voice in my head told me:"you are a beginner, don't waste $700 on a rifle, get a budget but good value rifle instead, and Remington is not everything, open your mind for the other brands, then you will have limitless options..."
so I searched for other brands as well until Savage Arms caught my eyes.
I know that Savage Arms has a good reputation in accuracy and long history as well as Remington, its history is even longer than Remington, and they promise that every barrel out of their factory is button-rifling made, for accuracy sake. their accutrigger is a great innovation, hunters love it, so do LEOs, so I thought, maybe I could find my deal in this brand.
and god blessed me, there was a good deal on a Savage Model 11, for $399, came with mounted scope already.
so I did some research on this particular rifle and found out that
1) it is a accurate gun
2) the scope that comes with is simply just a piece of junk
3)trigger pull is heavy and it is NOT an accutrigger
4) synthetic stock is cheap-a$$
5)beautiful or not, it really depends on the buyer, like the way a husband choosing a wife.
but for the price, I couldnt go wrong, so there I go, I purchased it!
Chapter 2: Open box
while I was walking out the gunstore with that heavy cardboard box with a Savage logo on it, I knew that it was a gambling, I had 50/50 chance to be satisfied or disappointed, but they gave me a life-time warranty and return-within-30 days, and that kicked away my worries.
so there it is, my new rifle, welcome to my world.
ok, some specs on this particular rifle:
full name: Savage Model 11 Hunter XP .223cal, it is a package rifle
caliber: .223 REM
barrel length: 24" sporter
twist rate: 1:9
magazine: detachable box mag
mag cap: 5 rds (on their official website they say 4 rds for 223 but I could actually put 5 in it with ease)
accutrigger: no
accustock: hell no
scope: Bushnell Sharpshooter 3-9x40
first impression of me was like: well, you get what you pay for.
it has a cheap synthetic stock, I found out even my Norinco stock is better than it, alright, it says it is free-floated, but the left edge of the forend of the stock could actually touch the barrel, and I couldnt put a dollar bill in it and move freely.
so that was how I fix it:
I filed the left edge for 1/12 inch and it will never touch my lovely barrel again!
by doing so, I could point my rifle to every angle and it stays free-floated.
and the trigger pull was heavy! even heavier than my Norinco M305! around 5lbs, for a bolt rifle it was unbearable, and I had to figure out why.
so I took out the action, took out the trigger, and found out it had a big bold heavy spring! for safety reason I supposed?
I didnt want accidental discharge, but in the same time I wanted a light trigger weight. and I didnt want to buy a accutrigger, so I decided to upgrade it by myself.
thats the way its done, I replaced the factory spring with a spring from a ballpen, it was a lot lighter, and I found out every 1/6 inch I cut down equaled to 0.5 lbs less, so I finally did my trigger job to make the trigger pull as light as around 2.5lbs.
and I put some dummy rounds and dry fired it, and it stayed as safe as before, I even unlock the safety and bump it on the floor, and it didnt fire.
the trigger is now crispy, and the rifle is now still safe.
and I found out Savage did put 2 bedding screws into the rifle stock and locked tight the action, such economic and effective method actually surprised me.
the bolt is beautiful! really, I so love such stainless finish, so unique, stylish and elegant.
the Bushnell scope has really bad reputation, but for me it looks not bad, it is clear, and steady, solid, dont know how it work in the range.
Chapter 3: Range report
so finally I have an opportunity bringing it to the range, before I go, I purchased 1 box of the cheap PPU 55gr FMJ, 1 box of Winchester white box 55gr, 1 box of Federal NBT 40gr, and 1 box of Federal Premium 69gr Sierra Matchking.
I treat every rifle as an individual, and every rifle has different taste to different kind of bullet, now I just need to find out which one is my Savage's favorite.
well if I found it and it worked fine, I would try some handload in the future.
the scope was factory mounted and zeroed, and it was around 3/4 MOA left and down, I clicked to adjust it while I try out different load of ammo.
my shooting setup was this:
I didnt use a benchrest, nor sandbag, I had only a block made of wood to support the rifle, and my shoulder.
distance is 100 yards, and that was how it performed.
Winchester 55gr, disappointed! around 1.75MOA
Federal NBT 40gr, 1 MOA
PPU 55gr FMJ, 3/4 MOA, to my surprise such cheap ammo could perform so well, but the thumbs down was that 1/10 chance to miss fire, their primer seems unusable sometimes.
the best group that I could shoot that day, Sierra Matchking 69gr, this was 1/2 MOA, this group is small than a 5cent coin.
the way I calculate MOA is that 1inch=1MOA @ 100 YARDS.
next time I go, I would bring a benchrest with me, so that I'm sure it could give me even better groups.
the factory Bushnell scope was not bad at all, nothing loose and nowhere shaking, as solid as it used to be. maybe it would become unsolid in larger caliber such as 30-06, 308 due to bigger recoil, but for my 223cal, it worked fine! the only bad thing about this scope was that it was hard to tune, I tried so hard to tune it to make it closest to the bullseye,but once it is tuned, it stays the same.
I was really pleased that day, this rifle is a great shooter, with that scope it is such a good deal for $399.
Conclusion:
This rifle has potential to be sub-MOA even quater MOA, I did shot sub-MOA group and I will have a quater MOA while using a benchrest and a better scope.
actually my friend gave me a Leupold VX-1 for my birthday, and I will mount it and sell out the Bushnell to some kids.
I mounted a bipod for bench shooting but havent tried yet, I will post my new result in the future.
It has a carbon metal-24"-lightweight-button rifling-sporter barrel, the whole gun including scope and 6rds together weights less than 7.5lbs, it could be carried on shoulder all day long comfortably. It is great to be both a hunting rifle and a paper puncher.
and thats about it, thanks for reading, and have a nice day!
Chapter 1: Prelude
so the story began with me who got a paycheque from a job, and decided to buy myself a target/hunting rifle, there were 2 rifles that came up in my mind initially, the Remington 700 Tac SPS, and the Remington 700 ADL, because its reputation is right on, everyone around me convinced me to buy a Remington and supported its point by "Look the US sniper uses it... look it is so famous....look it shoots sub-moa... look". I loved the beautiful remington too, the price was $750 on my doorway, but for that price it comes with good adjustable trigger weight, bull barrel, good stock,
scope/base/mount excluded, and it is---like I said----beautiful!
however, I'm not those kind of person that jumps on conclusion, I would not throw a truckload of money on something that I regret a few days later, I became a money-wise person after marriage, anyways so I waited and waited until a truly voice in my head told me:"you are a beginner, don't waste $700 on a rifle, get a budget but good value rifle instead, and Remington is not everything, open your mind for the other brands, then you will have limitless options..."
so I searched for other brands as well until Savage Arms caught my eyes.
I know that Savage Arms has a good reputation in accuracy and long history as well as Remington, its history is even longer than Remington, and they promise that every barrel out of their factory is button-rifling made, for accuracy sake. their accutrigger is a great innovation, hunters love it, so do LEOs, so I thought, maybe I could find my deal in this brand.
and god blessed me, there was a good deal on a Savage Model 11, for $399, came with mounted scope already.
so I did some research on this particular rifle and found out that
1) it is a accurate gun
2) the scope that comes with is simply just a piece of junk
3)trigger pull is heavy and it is NOT an accutrigger
4) synthetic stock is cheap-a$$
5)beautiful or not, it really depends on the buyer, like the way a husband choosing a wife.
but for the price, I couldnt go wrong, so there I go, I purchased it!
Chapter 2: Open box
while I was walking out the gunstore with that heavy cardboard box with a Savage logo on it, I knew that it was a gambling, I had 50/50 chance to be satisfied or disappointed, but they gave me a life-time warranty and return-within-30 days, and that kicked away my worries.
so there it is, my new rifle, welcome to my world.
ok, some specs on this particular rifle:
full name: Savage Model 11 Hunter XP .223cal, it is a package rifle
caliber: .223 REM
barrel length: 24" sporter
twist rate: 1:9
magazine: detachable box mag
mag cap: 5 rds (on their official website they say 4 rds for 223 but I could actually put 5 in it with ease)
accutrigger: no
accustock: hell no
scope: Bushnell Sharpshooter 3-9x40
first impression of me was like: well, you get what you pay for.
it has a cheap synthetic stock, I found out even my Norinco stock is better than it, alright, it says it is free-floated, but the left edge of the forend of the stock could actually touch the barrel, and I couldnt put a dollar bill in it and move freely.
so that was how I fix it:
I filed the left edge for 1/12 inch and it will never touch my lovely barrel again!
by doing so, I could point my rifle to every angle and it stays free-floated.
and the trigger pull was heavy! even heavier than my Norinco M305! around 5lbs, for a bolt rifle it was unbearable, and I had to figure out why.
so I took out the action, took out the trigger, and found out it had a big bold heavy spring! for safety reason I supposed?
I didnt want accidental discharge, but in the same time I wanted a light trigger weight. and I didnt want to buy a accutrigger, so I decided to upgrade it by myself.
thats the way its done, I replaced the factory spring with a spring from a ballpen, it was a lot lighter, and I found out every 1/6 inch I cut down equaled to 0.5 lbs less, so I finally did my trigger job to make the trigger pull as light as around 2.5lbs.
and I put some dummy rounds and dry fired it, and it stayed as safe as before, I even unlock the safety and bump it on the floor, and it didnt fire.
the trigger is now crispy, and the rifle is now still safe.
and I found out Savage did put 2 bedding screws into the rifle stock and locked tight the action, such economic and effective method actually surprised me.
the bolt is beautiful! really, I so love such stainless finish, so unique, stylish and elegant.
the Bushnell scope has really bad reputation, but for me it looks not bad, it is clear, and steady, solid, dont know how it work in the range.
Chapter 3: Range report
so finally I have an opportunity bringing it to the range, before I go, I purchased 1 box of the cheap PPU 55gr FMJ, 1 box of Winchester white box 55gr, 1 box of Federal NBT 40gr, and 1 box of Federal Premium 69gr Sierra Matchking.
I treat every rifle as an individual, and every rifle has different taste to different kind of bullet, now I just need to find out which one is my Savage's favorite.
well if I found it and it worked fine, I would try some handload in the future.
the scope was factory mounted and zeroed, and it was around 3/4 MOA left and down, I clicked to adjust it while I try out different load of ammo.
my shooting setup was this:
I didnt use a benchrest, nor sandbag, I had only a block made of wood to support the rifle, and my shoulder.
distance is 100 yards, and that was how it performed.
Winchester 55gr, disappointed! around 1.75MOA
Federal NBT 40gr, 1 MOA
PPU 55gr FMJ, 3/4 MOA, to my surprise such cheap ammo could perform so well, but the thumbs down was that 1/10 chance to miss fire, their primer seems unusable sometimes.
the best group that I could shoot that day, Sierra Matchking 69gr, this was 1/2 MOA, this group is small than a 5cent coin.
the way I calculate MOA is that 1inch=1MOA @ 100 YARDS.
next time I go, I would bring a benchrest with me, so that I'm sure it could give me even better groups.
the factory Bushnell scope was not bad at all, nothing loose and nowhere shaking, as solid as it used to be. maybe it would become unsolid in larger caliber such as 30-06, 308 due to bigger recoil, but for my 223cal, it worked fine! the only bad thing about this scope was that it was hard to tune, I tried so hard to tune it to make it closest to the bullseye,but once it is tuned, it stays the same.
I was really pleased that day, this rifle is a great shooter, with that scope it is such a good deal for $399.
Conclusion:
This rifle has potential to be sub-MOA even quater MOA, I did shot sub-MOA group and I will have a quater MOA while using a benchrest and a better scope.
actually my friend gave me a Leupold VX-1 for my birthday, and I will mount it and sell out the Bushnell to some kids.
I mounted a bipod for bench shooting but havent tried yet, I will post my new result in the future.
It has a carbon metal-24"-lightweight-button rifling-sporter barrel, the whole gun including scope and 6rds together weights less than 7.5lbs, it could be carried on shoulder all day long comfortably. It is great to be both a hunting rifle and a paper puncher.
and thats about it, thanks for reading, and have a nice day!
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