Savage Safari Express

sniper58

sniper58

Regular
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Location
Quesnel, BC
Anybody else have one?......................or even seen one before?
Mine is the only one that I've ever seen. Controlled-round feed in .300 Win Mag.
supposedly this type of system was only made for 3 years.
I've had mine since 2002. Bought it new from Russel Sports in Calgary.





 
never seen this model sniper58, thanks for sharing.

Have to do a little research into this one.
 
Info that I've been able to find about the SE is that they were made in stainless steel and with a walnut stock. Mine misses on both counts.
Initially they were available in .458 Win Mag & .375 H&H. .300 Win mag was added later.

Edited to reflect proper information:

I just finished reading a review from the July, 1994 Petersen's Hunting magazine. Seems that the rifle was initially offered in .338 Win Mag, .300 win Mag, and .458 Win Mag.

The review shows a totally different rifle from mine. The one that they tested was stainless in a walnut stock. It had 3-leaf express sights, muzzle brake, barrel-mounted sling swivel, and a blind mag.

In 1995, they offered it in .425 Express. .375 H&H was added in 2000. .338 was discontinued in 2001, .300 & .375 discontinued after 2002. The rifle was dropped from Savages's catalogue after 2004.

I bought my rifle as one of Savages "Package Rifles" It's got a tupperware stock, detachable mag and is in blued steel.

I think that maybe I got a rifle built out of "leftovers" from the factory?

Anyway, I like it................shoots handloaded 220 grain loads at 2795 fps into groups under 1", and shoots Hornady "Heavy Magnum" factory ammo into really nice groups as well. I probably haven't fired 150 rounds out of this rifle. Think I'll maybe get serious about using it a bit more
 
Last edited:
sniper58 said:
In 1995, they offered it in .425 Express.
Click to expand...

Cameron Hopkins must have had some serious pull at Savage to achieve this, or someone loved that cartridge. It's a cool idea but I never understood why they didn't just chamber the .416 Taylor. .416" bullets were (and still are) easier to get than .423" and in 1995 you would be forced to get Woodleigh or some other small boutique brand.
 
Took it out to the range this morning.

Hornady Heavy Magnum 180 gr. ammo gave 3/4" groups, Federal Premium 150gr Trophy Bonded gave a 6" group. Anybody want 17 rounds of Fed Ammo..............................cheap?

First time I've shot the rifle in about 6 years.
 
Cool rifle. I had one in .375H&H, kept it only long enough to reaffirm that I hate muzzle breaks.

I've never seen another in that or any caliber. In fact, I've been told "No such thing!" so many times I was starting to doubt my sanity! :)
 
Huh, must have missed that memo. So did they design and build the bolt or I wonder if they farmed that out to someone with existing CRF? I guess they didn't sell real well judging by the short life span. Interesting stuff..
 
I had heard of the Savage CRF rifle but had never seen one or knew how that would work. Thanks for posting!
 
Omenator said:
Would you mind showing a few more pictures of the bolt? Does it have the floating bolt head of the push feed Savage 110 series?
Click to expand...

Sorry about the delay in answering...............................job gets in the way of the important stuff sometimes!

Anyway.........................yes, it has the floating bolt head common on Savage firearms. This rifle also has the locking bolt. I'm including a picture of the little key that's used to lock/unlock it.
The ejector is a spring-loaded blade that pops up once the bolt's back far enough.










 
Salty said:
Huh, must have missed that memo. So did they design and build the bolt or I wonder if they farmed that out to someone with existing CRF? I guess they didn't sell real well judging by the short life span. Interesting stuff..
Click to expand...

10-year lifespan for the model isn't really all that short...............look how long Remington made the model 600's and 660's.
According to what I've been able to find, the CRF was available from Savage's Custom Shop for a while after they discontinued the model. Not sure if it's still available.
 
Thanks for taking the additional pics.
Looks like a neat idea, and you can just chuck a cartridge in the chamber without having to put it down into the magazine.
Doesn't look like it was too difficult to make versus the typical Savage, just needed to add the ejector assembly it looks like.
 
The blade ejector's great. Sitting at the bench, just a little flick of the wrist drops the brass right beside the rifle. Out in the field..............crank the bolt and that brass is GONE!!!
 
I'm sure we had one sitting in the shop I help out at, in 338 WM, stainless with Savage On/Off type break, had some type of synthetic stock but memory has faded��
Took a lot of years before it sold , about ten years ago if memory is correct.
I would love one in 375 or 458!
Cheers Dale Z!
 
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