Savage, when did it go from the gun to meh?

I bought my Savage Stealth because I could not wait forever for my ordered Tikka CTR.
Months later when the Tikka showed up, I had to keep the Savage as it shot so well. Still have it, but it’s in an XRS chassis now.
It flat out shoots. I just wish it had a lighter bolt lift.
 
I got an older axis 243. It’s accurate that’s for sure. Reliable yup. Feels cheap yup.
For a meat getting rifle that takes some neglect for 400$ or whatever I paid for it. It serves a purpose

I have handled many savages in the stores over the years.
They all seam like the same old thing with more lipstick and a higher price tag.

Oh and I can’t stand the accu-triggers.

I’d part with sub 500$ for a savage no problem. But if I’m spending 1500+ it’s going to be something else that’s for sure.
 
Lead hammer said:
Lol ok if you say so. That also means you can have non accurate quality.
The only thing my Savage would annoy me with is for PRS, because of the bolt lift, it can get you off target.
Click to expand...

most people can't use better than 1.5 moa even in elr hunting, so anything less is chasing point of diminishing returns in real world, so if most options give less then that, which means it's not 'non accurate', I'll be choosing quality over an extra half minute, giver if that's your game and budget, and most guns now can do better than 1.5 so hunters have zero reason to worry, may as well get something of quality if budget allows, if you can't afford it or need a beater...savage is a good place to start, will take a 1 moa rig of quality over a 1/2 minute savage all day long, don't get me wrong, I like my budget rifles and my primary is one, a ruger American, but even in that class savage still at bottom, put their top bolt action and barrel in a chassis with the standard box mags, and agree, ditch that accutrigger, so you have to throw away half the rifle and redo it to get it done right the second time, I like projects too, that's how to do a savage, howa same same, accurate junk, spend triple to get it done right the second time
 
My long time Mark IIG has had consistent feeding problems with 10 round mags (5 rounders were fine). A fellow range member last year thinks he may have found the issue. A member here has come up with a solution to put some more material at certain points of the mag spine, but it looks like an alteration can be made to the gun as well to have a more secure fit when the magazine is inserted - there's a curved piece of metal that has to be bent somewhat to create a more snug fit so the magazine doesn't have a lot of play inserted.

I had a Axis II Precision rifle a couple of years back. Despite a number of folks saying how it is really not a precision rifle but just an Axis dressed up in an MDT chassis, I thought it was a decent rifle. I replaced it with a Tikka, but for accuracy the Axis II Precision was more than decent in my view. And I didn't have any functional issues with it aside from the fact that a number of my casings had the primers actually punctured (that may have been the ammo I was running on it).

But here's the thing though - Savages as a whole are not on the same price point as their more expensive counterparts, and as such there should be a tempering of expectations when it comes to quality of worksmanship, given the fact that Savages are generally regarded as more entry level / value priced firearms.

That said, I would continue to buy selected models, if not for the only reason in order to continue to support local Canadian industry.
 
I am actually looking for a fairly entry level 308 rifle to shoot a bunch of surplus 308 corrosive ammo, for which I recently became the owner. I don't want to run it through my current 308 deer or precision rifle, so that's where I am looking at picking up a used Savage for this - the performance may surprise me, but I know that I am getting something fairly cheap but it SHOULD work OK. This is where someone's "meh" may meet my requirements.
 
blakeyboy said:
most people can't use better than 1.5 moa even in elr hunting, so anything less is chasing point of diminishing returns in real world, so if most options give less then that, which means it's not 'non accurate', I'll be choosing quality over an extra half minute, giver if that's your game and budget, and most guns now can do better than 1.5 so hunters have zero reason to worry, may as well get something of quality if budget allows, if you can't afford it or need a beater...savage is a good place to start, will take a 1 moa rig of quality over a 1/2 minute savage all day long, don't get me wrong, I like my budget rifles and my primary is one, a ruger American, but even in that class savage still at bottom, put their top bolt action and barrel in a chassis with the standard box mags, and agree, ditch that accutrigger, so you have to throw away half the rifle and redo it to get it done right the second time, I like projects too, that's how to do a savage, howa same same, accurate junk, spend triple to get it done right the second time
Click to expand...

I could not afford a custom built rifle at the time, I still want one but still can’t afford one. Mine came in a chassis and shot very well, I wanted something warmer in the cold weather, so went the XRS route. Still have the accutrigger, it does just fine, especially for hunting. Waiting to see when the new Triggertech comes out, cause yes it’s fun to mod. I feel most factory bolt rifles should be able to easily shoot 1 MOA or better.

What are the rifles that are quality in your opinion?
 
Lead hammer said:
I could not afford a custom built rifle at the time, I still want one but still can’t afford one. Mine came in a chassis and shot very well, I wanted something warmer in the cold weather, so went the XRS route. Still have the accutrigger, it does just fine, especially for hunting. Waiting to see when the new Triggertech comes out, cause yes it’s fun to mod. I feel most factory bolt rifles should be able to easily shoot 1 MOA or better.

What are the rifles that are quality in your opinion?
Click to expand...

it's more of an overall but generally important bits if can be 'not plastic' (ie; magazines and bottom metals), if you don't mix up a svelte bolt/barrel into an overweight cheap fat stock, the accutriggers are survivable, the two stage howa also, but amazing after all this time more haven't gone after the tikka trigger formula, crips single stage in the 2-4 lb adjust range and not too much over travel, the affordable stuff is a test in weighing out disadvantages, I liked ruger American out of box as no smith no replacement parts required kitchen table build 3/4 moa with factory ammo, proper magazines and trigger down to 3 lb. Howa on the other hand, at least in the mini's, the stock is a fat pig stuck on a svelte piece of top metal, then the bottom plastic and plastic magazine that's the size of a 10 round AR mag...only holds 5 and has some tip down reliability issues after shot, did for me, all hunting confidence lost, and the two stage trigger felt cheap on the finger and the stamped safety was just a mirror of that cheapness...have to replace everything except the barrel/bolt/action on the howa mini's, I like tikka's but would quickly get away from their magazines as soon as I could and luckily lots of options to do that with chassis builds, turns out that's a great fix for a lot of the stuff out there now, I even put my ruger in one, same magazines though AR, and I shoot them better than traditional so I'm sold on those solutions now anyway, love to love traditionals that get it all right from bottom end, stock, top end...very hard to find in the budget end of world, if I could get my cartridge in a tikka and ar mag fed chassis I would upgrade from the ruger in a heartbeat...tikka is where I start if it's chambered in what I want to shoot, that's the baseline of moving away from the budget trade off stuff...and still have to live with that plastic magazine if you leave it alone
 
I’ve got a Model 111 in 270W, it’s my hunting go to gun, and I have no desire at all to change. Got it used with a Timney trigger added, and it shoots as good as I need it to. Under an inch if I do my part properly. It’s a hunting gun so I don’t worry about getting marks or scratches on it, plastic stock is durable and tough
 
So the Tikka laminated wood stocks run a plastic mag still?
I like the Tikka action, trigger is fine. Plastic stock is bad, barrel is hard to get off but possible, often the barrel will shoot a bit slow. Plastic bolt shroud thingy? The CTR I was going to buy would have ended up in an MDT XRS stock, the same as my Savage. I would actually like a CTR in the new laminated MDT stock, with metal mag. Wait, I would prefer just the action, wait, too expensive might as well go custom.
 
Lead hammer said:
So the Tikka laminated wood stocks run a plastic mag still?.
Click to expand...

Yup, sako a7 an upgrade on mag as there’s some metal in good spots in it. The ultimate mags on real sakos though. For flush fit regular stocks. On Tikka I’d only look at box mag models or the others with mind as base for chassis project with box mags.
 
Lead hammer said:
So the Tikka laminated wood stocks run a plastic mag still?
I like the Tikka action, trigger is fine. Plastic stock is bad, barrel is hard to get off but possible, often the barrel will shoot a bit slow. Plastic bolt shroud thingy? The CTR I was going to buy would have ended up in an MDT XRS stock, the same as my Savage. I would actually like a CTR in the new laminated MDT stock, with metal mag. Wait, I would prefer just the action, wait, too expensive might as well go custom.
Click to expand...

some of the issues has been fixed by the t3x except the magazine but they are feeding way better than the axis ...
 
medvedqc said:
some of the issues has been fixed by the t3x except the magazine but they are feeding way better than the axis ...
Click to expand...

oh they feed amazing, for hunting only duty likely never have an issue, for volume based shooters that can actually wear things out though is where plastic fails, in something I wanted to shoot a ton for fun, would try to get away from plastic feed anything, plastic insert anything, the catches etc. will wear faster than metal bits, plastic seems to have a shelf life compared to steel, brittle over time, etc. steel wears in not out, plastic wears out...
 
blakeyboy said:
oh they feed amazing, for hunting only duty likely never have an issue, for volume based shooters that can actually wear things out though is where plastic fails, in something I wanted to shoot a ton for fun, would try to get away from plastic feed anything, plastic insert anything, the catches etc. will wear faster than metal bits, plastic seems to have a shelf life compared to steel, brittle over time, etc. steel wears in not out, plastic wears out...
Click to expand...

Depends on the plastic. There be many engineered plastics & composites out there that are more suitable than steel in many applications. The buggaboo is that most gun makers over the years failed to select the right stuff to ensure long service life. The makers go fer profit mostly, sad to say.
 
I've had two Savage. The earlier bolt guns were kinda ugly but they were inexpensive and shot well enough.

I ended up selling the 223 Model 110. Don't remember why.

I ended up with a Precision Carbine in 308W and it has been a solid performer since I took it home. It was purchased cheap, from an idjit. I happened to have Varget and 125gr Ballistic Tip bullets lying around so I put together a couple of test loads, one of which went into 5/8" at 3000 fps. Thats the load I have been using for years now and the rifle continues to reliably produce 5-shot, 5/8" groups even after a couple thousand rounds down the pipe. I expect it will continue to do so for years to come.

The Precision Carbine had a short run and I have no idea why. It is a great rifle with a really good trigger that is short, handy and light enough to carry, while heavy enough to shoot to distance further than most of its owners will ever attempt. I shot mine to 1200 yds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom