Savage Target Actions - reviews?

blackacres said:
As I mentioned, for a novice long range shooter, I feel that the above build will shoot better than I can. As a novice, I also feel that it would be somewhat foolish to purchase I high end action, stock, scope, etc. as a first gun.

Savage also use heat treated 4130 chromoly to manufacture their carbon steel actions. I would suspect their engineers, consultants, etc. would have put a lot of thought into what material to use for their target actions. If they select S.S. it must have been for a valid reason. It sure wasn't for ease of machining, as non-heat treated 4130 'machines freely', much easier than S.S.!

Again as I mentioned, IF I find I enjoy longer range precision shooting and my skills improve, either a PGW rifle, or a custom built gun using a high end action, in a McMillian or Manners stock, in a different caliber, with perhaps a S&B scope mounted would most likely be my next move.

Oh, I am like you, I highly doubt Team Savage use stock factory barrels, maybe hand selected, but I would suspect it's a custom high end barrel! I don't recall ever seeing one of their stock rifles fitted with one of those 'neat' barrel heat shields Team Savage uses!!
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you are absolutely wright about this one )) we need to start somewhere and obviously, having a gun that will shoot around 1/2moa will get you to learn reading conditions at long range. I did the exact same thing so I cant disagree )) BUT....if you decide to push it to the limit, and mange to develop your skill strong enough to use 1/8moa reading (under 600 is feasable), you will try to make your grouping tighter as you will be able to use that accuracy...and that is where my passion was born...

have fun shooting, whatever material you decide to choose. Its not a contest of material but precision ! if I can be any help, feel free to contact by PM.
 
Jerry, I completely agree that barrel dilatation during a 20 shot string will play A LOT, on accuracy. I made some test on chrony and on field and got surprised by how well the barrel is holding. It will open for sure so...if you start at 1/2moa, it will open to AT LEAST 3/4.

But I start at 0.096moa for 10 shots at 2750fps......so it open at 0.35moa....that is a custom rig ! I shot, in front of 8 people, a 1.1in group at 600yds (5 shot), a 6.5in group for 15 shots at 900m (film in front of 6-7 persons at Connaught). All those groups were made on Kenny Proulx Konsbergh electronic target.

Shooting 1/2moa at 1000yds or 1/2moa at 50yds is the same, its an angle, no mils. I wonder how to verify, with certitude that a gun is shooting 1/2moa at 1000 as so much comes in to play. We need absolute perfect conditions.

I just figured out I have so much to discuss that you know what, i'll finish preparing myself as i'm leaving tomorrow morning and for sure we will have FUN discussing all that with a good meal at Raton.....dam I already cant sleep anymore.....

see you there my friend
 
This will be the longest week EVER.... My gear is having a head start down south and I am getting withdrawal symptoms as this will be the longest time between trigger pulls.

There is no doubt your rifle is shooting exceptionally well and peak accuracy has never hurt anyone. conditions look to be cooling off but the predicted thunderstorms is likely to cause all manner of wonky winds.

Over the years of shooting LR, I have found that confirming anything at 1000yds is more luck, guessing and science. Way too much going on. But if you have the confidence to make a hold and drop it into the V/5 ring on any given Weekend, that rifle is working just fine.

Having shot with some of a couple of top US shooters, I know they make mistakes and mis reads too. It's the ability to quickly adapt to the changing air that keeps them at the top of the page.

See you on Sunday.

Jerry
 
hooo just to be clear, the rifle is shooting good...does not mean that the shooter is )))))) those group, of course were made in calm conditions. And wind still need to be read, no mather what precision your file is able to give you.

for sure, it wont be a concern if the rifle is ok, and believe me, I've been working my ass off to make it shoot like that. It took close to 900 rounds to get there. Even a custom need the proper ammo. I'm a beginner at long range but humbly believe i'm good at reloading and a good puller for 100yds.

I made a piece of brass to ride my rear bag, and for sure will get your attention as I can feel, you like innovation also )))

the week will be long hahahahhaaaaaa can believe it...i'm driving it soooooooooo long
 
if material don't have anything to do, why are there some manufacturer starting to produce action made out of titanium ?

stiffness (read hardness) is what define resistance to elasticity-flexibility. The more a given "piece" is hard, the more force is required to create a deflection. and what about young modulus......
 
WG300 said:
if material don't have anything to do, why are there some manufacturer starting to produce action made out of titanium ?
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Most people have been lead to believe that Titanium means "Instant Upgrade", just as the 7075 vs 6061 thing, It's usually not. Yes if you keep the exact same dimensions the Ti action will be lighter by about 40-45% roughly. A few grades of Ti alloys do have the tensile strength and hardness required for this application, but stiffness is reduced quite proportionally to its weight, as its about 55% the rigidity of steel. There's no magic solution, only proper cost effective material selection and design for the task at hand.
 
Jerry, What's the main damage they're seeing?. If there's deformation in the locking area it might be a hardness issue, major failure would be more in the Fatigue life of the design, the 2 materials definitely do behave differently but that stuff gets well beyond the extremely tiny bit I've learned so far when it comes to materials, mainly as a byproduct of working with it and talking to actual engineers about why they pick some of them. Personally I don't see why a great functioning action couldn't be made from Ti, but doing an exact size for size copy of a regular steel action may not be optimal. There's also so many ways Ti can be treated, its a whole career of its own to figure that out. I will say I certainly wouldn't pay more $ for a Ti action unless weight was an absolute issue that couldn't be cut elsewhere, there's nothing performance wise that good old steel can't do better, other than corrosion resistance.
 
Mostly because shooters either want to hear that it can cause it reinforces their experience.... or believe that it can't so will never try.

Either way, they are right.

Which answer are you waiting for?

Jerry
 
Not really looking for a single answer, per se - just hoping to see what the collective CGN experience with this particular action was. Comments that didn't come from hands-on experience with the Savage Target Action are being mentally left on the side of the road as I walk along this thread.

As I've not really heard anything too overly negative from someone who has spent time behind one, I think I'll take the plunge and see what happens. What could possibly go wrong? :p

Once it's built, and I've sent some lead down-range, I'll report back and add to the collective experience myself. Won't be for a while, tho... hopefully the pieces will all be gathered together and assembled by the new year, with luck.
 
There is nothing magical about an action whether Savage, tuned up Rem or custom. When set up properly, they all do the same thing. The biggest difference is appearance and "feel". It is amazing at how shiny can sway the views of many shooters.

The irony, some of these shiny receivers aren't much better then the dull factory offerings they are trying to improve on.

If a receiver could be shown to always outshoot another, we would all be using them and the manf would be backordered till the end of time. For many competitive shooters, it is more about which triggers will fit then accuracy potential of that tube.

The biggest variable is the barrel, the chamber and the installation. Assuming you can handload for the barrel and shoot, the results are similar regardless of which properly set up receiver you use. AND there can be massive difference in performance from barrel to barrel even from the same top tier manf. No one wants to accept cause it costs too much money but some barrels shoot, some dont and sometimes, you just got to take it off and start over.

Now you can debate prefit vs shouldered headspace. That will get all sorts of replies with all manner of results. Bottom line, when machined properly, a prefit works the same as a shouldered headspace. Been there, built the over 2 dozen rifles to test.

The Savage action is far from glamorous but it does the job surprisingly well. The target action trigger is so so with some simply not being able to get light enough to garner that term. For me, I have simply avoided that problem and taken a standard repeater receiver, put in a Rifle Basix 2 trigger, single shot follower and match barrel. These repeaters weren't told they couldn't work so keep putting bullets into small groups at distance.

They shoot and have served me well for all my recent years in F class competition and will be joining me in Raton, NM for the US Nationals and Worlds.

IF you need parts to set up a rig, let me know.

Jerry
 
I have a lot of experience with accurate rifles. (90% of ammo accuracy is the bullet. 90% of rifle accuracy is the chamber/barrel. A custom barrel is far superior to a factory barrel.

The "rifle" is the stock (should be comfortable and must be well bedded to provide accuracy and stability of zero); the trigger (must be consistent and crisp) and the receiver must be strong (stiff) enough to hold the barrel without action flex. A single shot is best because you have a lot more bedding area and the opportunity for a third action screw in the middle of the action. Important in any rifle over 223.

I have put custom barrels on a lot of Savage single shot actions and been pleased with the results. I had a small hand in the development of the current crop of rifles, but have not handled current production rifles, just the prototypes.

Buy a factory rifle and see how it goes. Some barrels are better than others. After 5000 rounds you can put on a custom barrel. Sooner, if the factory is mediocre.
 
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