Axis Improvements

[Underdog]

Recently purchased an Axis in 223 and did a few mods to make it a much more enjoyable gun to shoot. First the trigger has a very heavy pull, so I did the trigger mod and used a light spring from my local hardware store. It really reduced the trigger pull and it breaks clean between 2.5 and 3 lbs. Also removed the butt plate and added some weight inside the rear of the stock as the rifle is very front heavy. I used lead fishing weights wrappped tightly inside a nice bundle of cloth and filled the rest of the void with cloth and packed it tight so nothing moves. It balanced out the rifle nicely and it feels much better. I epoxied the removable trigger housing in place and it made the stock much more solid and it reduced the flex quite a bit. I mounted a center point 4x14 scope and took it to the range and after an inital few rounds to sight it in, the rifle shoots some very impressive tight groups. I was shooting just bulk federal from wally world and easily hitting golf balls at 160 yards. All in all I am quite pleased with this rifle and it's performance and with these few upgrades it feels like a much more quality (expensive) rifle.

[fgw_in_fla]

If you epoxied the trigger housing in place, is there any reason to remove it in the future for service, repairs, modifications, hide money, etc?.....

I laid a piece of flat stock in the bottom of the stock & epoxied it in place. It extends in toward the reciever as far as it could without interfering with the butt pad. That made quite a difference.

Took the twist right out of it & added some counter weight to offset the rods & epoxy I put in the fore end. I also had to take out quite a bit of material from the barrel area to float it. It was very tight.

All in all, I'm pretty impressed with the Edge / Axis. I just got mine & shot it today for the first time. I'd be doing a load workup if it wasn't for the strong winds today.

For a little money & a little work, a person can have a fairly decent rifle ;)

[Underdog]

I looked at mine and figured it made the stock a lot more rigid to have the trigger guard glued in place. I'm sure there is a reason why savage made it removable, but on mine it doesn't come off any more. I like your ideas to stiffen up the stock, every little bit helps. I'm very happy with mine in the accuracy department and the stock seems plenty rigid now.