Your take on the savage model 25

wobbles99

wobbles99

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I'm not sure how often this has been covered. The search function won't search for things under three characters (I.E. 25). I'm not even sure if this is the best forum for it. I've seen varmint rifle topics in here before.

I'm looking for first hand info on the savage 25 lightweight varminter. I'm thinking of picking one up as the guy I buy rifles off of has a few in .223 that he is selling for cheap.

I basically want something decent for shooting gophers and coyotes for a decent price.

My previous rig for this was a stevens 200 in 22-250. It's an accurate gun. With handloads it's good for 1'' groups at 200 yards and 1/4 to 1/2'' at 100. but the lightweight barrel isn't good for much more than 5 rounds before getting hot.


I'm budgeting for this action to be rebarreled and a new stock, trigger, and all the goodies to make a decent longe range rig out of it. It'll be an ongoing experiment in the hopes of making me a better longe range shooter.

Being that I'm not made of cash this project will take some time to complete.

In the meantime I don't want to miss out on gophers next year as I shoot with a lot of guys with 204s to 220 swifts. I'd like something more powerful than my 22mag when I go with them.

Which brings me to the model 25. Anyone shooting one of these? Whats your general take on them? hows the fit and finish, accuracy?
 
If you want to rebarrel the action then choose something other than the model 25. your stevens 200 would be easier to rebarrel (read less machining) than the 25 does with its barrel and receiver set up.

fit finish and accuracy have been very good with accuracy being pretty keen. That is on the laminate thumbhole stock version in 204 and 223 so why bother with the change the stock and buy decent in the first place.
 
Sorry, after re reading I don't think my original post was clear.

I am rebarrelling the stevens 200. It's also getting a new trigger, stock, bedding ect. I'm keeping it in 22-250 and am most likely going to get A shilen barrel from mysticplayer.

I'm looking at the savage 25 as a gun to shoot in the mean time while the stevens gets worked over.

The savage 25 won't be getting customized. It will get a decent scope and thats about it.
 
There is a reason the 25's are going cheap. Dead end design that is expensive compared to the Stevens/Savage. A 12FV costs under $600 and has a better trigger (lighter pull potential) compared to a 25 under $600 with a nice stock but mediocre everything else.

Now if they had priced the 25 with the nice stocks just slightly above the Stevens ie $350, they would be selling boatloads of them. My guess is that sales are the pits.

I bet the 12FV shoots better then the 25. Have yet to read a glowing review on the 25. MOA or better is about all they seem to produce for the press.

I hope that I will be able to help you with a barrel for your Stevens. If you install yourself, there is no downtime. Your first install will take you less then 30mins once you get the orig barrel nut off (you need a very strong vise and barrel blocks).

A barrel swap takes me about 5 mins now and do it at my reloading bench. No vise or clamps required.

There is no reason why you can't have a few barrels in different cartridges but the same bolt face and swap barrels as the mood changes (223, 204, 17 Rem). If you can get new bolt heads or better yet, complete bolts, you can build new rifles between sandwiches (shoot the 223 until the wind comes up or the pooches get smart, swap in a 204 or 22-250 barrel for longer shots, same action and stock)

Jerry

PS once the paperwork is approved, I will be able to offer you trigger groups too.
 
For my stevens the reason for downtime is going to be due to the gunsmith I'm using. I've seen a lot of his work (he's local) its really good but he's back right up right now.

I'm willing to wait for the work to get done and would just like a gun in the mean time.

I'm not interested in a second stevens as I want a gun that's going to be set up for varminting out of the box. I'd like to spend &600.00- $700.00 without scope (I've got at least one scope around that I could throw on).

Like I said my gun pimp is trying to sell me a model 25 in 223 for his cost which is well under what my budget is. I could buy the gun, bipod, bases and rings, dies, brass, and still be well within my budget with this one.

Once my 22-250 is done the 25 will probably go to my wife as she needs a varminting rig.

Unless I find something better.

How are the 700 sps varmints or tacticals? The 700 action is great but like I've said I want this gun to shoot out of the box with no tweaking.
 
I was thinking of getting the model 25 but decided to go with the savage 12fvss .223 and out of the box with the first box of cheap ammo I could find " winchester white box FMJ 55g " Six shots or so to get it sighted in and I was shooting 1 inch groups at a 100 yards. and with some experimenting with different ammo or reloading and alittle more practice on my part those groups should tighten up. and the accutriger is great but takes a little getting used to

I wish all trigers could be adjusted that easily
 
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If you're looking for something decent in the $700-800 range w w w.SIRmailorder.com has Remington XR-100's on for $799 in .223 & 22-250. This is normally a $1100 gun and would make the 25 look silly. Down side... single shot, but they do have a nice thumbhole stock.
 
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Have a look at jamescalhoon.com informative articles, too bee or not too bee revisited. good info on reduced charge Blue dot loads for the .223. The big benefit is reduced barrel heating so you can shoot a lot more gophers with your sporter weight rifle. My gopher gun is a 12FV and I shoot 13gr blue dot with a Calhoon 37gr dhp. blows the snot outa gophers and barely warms the heavy barrel, sounds about as loud as a .22mag rim fire. Will sure keep you shooting lots whilst you await your project. BTW I'd choose the Stevens over the 25 but you've handled both and know what YOU want. Good luck and happy shooting.
 
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