New to Savage--tried an Axis, big mistake!

[thermaler]

I've always been a semi-auto AR guy--but recently decided to give bolt action a try--and I've always heard good things about Savage.

So I figured an Axis 270 might be good and gave it go.

Problems started immediately. I couldn't get a sub-MOA which i heard is fairly routine with the gun, and figured sticking a lighter pull trigger in might help and so I stuck a timney adjustable at around 3 lbs in. Still mediocre groupings. Today I shot maybe 60 rounds of all kinds of ammo and still couldn't prevent pulling to the left or right. Eventually I figured out that the stock flexes so easily that it's impossible to get a steady shot and touch the gun at the same time!

Worse yet, after all the firing the hex head screw that holds the action to the stock has become locked and my attempts to loosen it have started stripping the soft steel. I know that I did not torque it down all that tightly when I put it back together--I'm guessing that movement in the stock and/or expansion/contraction of the plasti-glass somehow locked it off.

Called Savage--basically told in so many words tough tomatoes to you.

All I can say is RUN--do not walk, away from this rifle if you are ever considering buying a rifle!

[Axtell3]

Hmmm mine shoots bug holes.

[thermaler]

You da [lucky] man!

[dacaur]

Have you checked to make sure the barrel is floated well? Horizontal stringing is one sign of a barrel thats contacting the stock inconsistently.... Mine came with the stock touching the barrel on one side (it should be completly free floated)... Some sanding took care of that.... I figure on a sub $300 gun you cant really expect the fit and finish to be equal to an $800 gun...

[bootsmcguire]

Most people have had good luck with the axis' but as with any product there are always bad ones get out. I will bet that with all that stock flex that your barrel is not consistantly free floating. Personally for the money I look for a Stevens 200 for a cheap priced savage. JMO

[thermaler]

Thanks for the advice--at this point the stock won't even come off--so I'm going in to a gunsmith. I know the rifle is a budget entry--but realistically what you're really buying is a good barrel and action--the rest needs to be replaced to bring it up to potential IMO--and that's when I figured why I shoulda sprung for a better model to begin with. The biggest mystery to me is why nobody in the US is building aftermarket stocks commercially--I suspect they would sell TONS of them. My LRT308 with 18" bull barrel can easily shoot sub MOA all day, I figured 270 would be a better flatter round for taking deer--but it packs a lot of wallop for a flimsy rifle.

[thermaler]

Have you checked to make sure the barrel is floated well? Horizontal stringing is one sign of a barrel thats contacting the stock inconsistently.... Mine came with the stock touching the barrel on one side (it should be completly free floated)... Some sanding took care of that.... I figure on a sub $300 gun you cant really expect the fit and finish to be equal to an $800 gun...
Horizontal stringing describes perfectly what is happening.

[thermaler]

Have you checked to make sure the barrel is floated well? Horizontal stringing is one sign of a barrel thats contacting the stock inconsistently.... Mine came with the stock touching the barrel on one side (it should be completly free floated)... Some sanding took care of that.... I figure on a sub $300 gun you cant really expect the fit and finish to be equal to an $800 gun...
Horizontal stringing describes perfectly what is happening.

[CJnWy]

Sorry to hear your Edge is giving you trouble. The 25-06 Axis I bought for a truck gun has shot everything I've put through it Minute of deer to 400 yards and the 75 grain Vmax is minute of prairie dog that far.....On a cool day. Ya the stock flexes=Specialy when its hot and needs to be freefloated but for $275 I'm more than satisfied with it!
I did however replace the 25-06 barrel with a 6.5-284 Shaw barrel,rework the trigger, freefloat the barrel and glue the trigger guard to the stock= Its now even better ;-)

[thermaler]

Sorry to hear your Edge is giving you trouble. The 25-06 Axis I bought for a truck gun has shot everything I've put through it Minute of deer to 400 yards and the 75 grain Vmax is minute of prairie dog that far.....On a cool day. Ya the stock flexes=Specialy when its hot and needs to be freefloated but for $275 I'm more than satisfied with it!
I did however replace the 25-06 barrel with a 6.5-284 Shaw barrel,rework the trigger, freefloat the barrel and glue the trigger guard to the stock= Its now even better ;-) : )

[big honkin jeep]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with your purchase. I'm an old fan of Savge rifles and bought one for me and my brother bought one as well.. Let's just say we were both very dissapointed. We bought based on the name and reputation by ordering Edge rifles from a local gun store when they were first available. Even with mods and bases rings and glass costing more than the rifles we couldn't get em to shoot. I'm glad some people like em but I hope Savage will wise up and Discontinue them before irrepairable harm to their reputation ala the remington 710 and 770.

[thermaler]

Gunsmith couldn't get the bolt out either, so I'm stuck with it. It's kinda funny--in the AR world a manufacturer couldn't get away with making something this flimsy. Maybe the Axis is OK as a lighter caliber, say 308 max and under, but 270 and 30 06 is way too much wallop for a tonka toy build IMO.

[MaDa]

There's gotta be a way to get the bolt out. Without destroying the stock as well. I think it's obvious that you'll need to get a new bolt.

But should be able to get it shooting as well...
I've never seen one really but from what I've heard they could use an aftermarket stock... Lol

[CJnWy]

You might have a point with the higher recoil?
A fix for your stuck bolt might be to drill the head off of it and lift the action off of the stock. Then try to remove the shank. Makeing sure the recoil lug is bedded in might help prevent the problem from reacuring?
At any rate your confidence in the Axis is such that no matter what you do you are not likely to use it in the future.
The old 110 action I was going to build a 7WSM with has a striped out front screw. I'm hopeing to drill it out one size bigger? So even the regular old Savages where not imuned to problems.

[thermaler]

Good group of people here--thanks guys. If the freakin gun only had a more solid stock and a slightly better trigger I bet sales would sky-rocket--it's still got a sweet bolt and barrel. They are 95% of the way there, and it shouldn't be that hard to do the job right. Searching the Internet it seems that my problems are not uncommon with the Axis.

[thermaler]

Most people have had good luck with the axis' but as with any product there are always bad ones get out. I will bet that with all that stock flex that your barrel is not consistantly free floating. Personally for the money I look for a Stevens 200 for a cheap priced savage. JMO
Most people have had good luck with the axis' but as with any product there are always bad ones get out. I will bet that with all that stock flex that your barrel is not consistently free floating. Personally for the money I look for a Stevens 200 for a cheap priced savage. JMO Pretty impressive signature (collection) you got there--are those all rifles? Not to change the sybject (well, yeah) I noticed you have 6mm BR on the list--I've been seriously considering getting one and I think Savage has one of the only ones commercially available in this country (though factory ammo runs as much as exotic big game ammo : ) ). Whaddya think of it?

[bootsmcguire]

The 6 BR is a very accurate round and an easy round to load for. Very Low recoil also. As far as loading goes, pick a bullet that you want to try and seat over some Varget and head to the range. My 6BR has a 1-8" twist CBI barrel and sits in a Hart LRT stock. Was fun using it on the P-Dog towns of CO earlier this year, just wish I had more brass to have had more ammo for it on that trip. Its first group ever on shots 21-25 this rifle did a .321" group at 100 yards and consistantly does groups in the .4"s.

Here is a picture of it:

http://i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx111/bootsmcguire/IMG_5848-small.jpg

As to my signature of calibers, yes they are mostly rifles, only the 270 is a barrel only at this point and the 458WM actually was traded today so i need to update my signature now. I am not sold on the 270 yet so I have not tried real hard to build for that one just yet. I picked it up mostly to try the .277 bullets intended for the 6.8SPC and launch them at high speeds from a 270, but haven't gotten far with it yet.

As to the original intent of this thread, something else you can try is getting a Torx driver or bit that is the next size bigger that the stripped screw and drive it into the stripped allen socket and try removing this way. I have used this technique in my profession before with mostly success. Just another option before you drill the head off the screw. Also if you are going to drill the screw out, buy a left hand drill bit to drill it with. That will relieve preasure off the threads rather than putting more into them.

[thermaler]

WOW! I'm just a casual shooter but I do admire your custom-build--a work of art! (I'm an artist). The ballistics of the 6 BR and over-all performance seem like a stand-out and I've wondered why it isn't more popular. Thanks for the useful advice on getting the screw out--too bad it isn't simply a pin like in the AR world ; )

[fgw_in_fla]

thermaler - I notice the action screws / bolts on my Edge will not loosen up unless I loosen the back screw first. I suspect it's because the stock is slightly twanged & putting pressure on the screws when tight. If I loosen the one near the trigger first, the forward screw will loosen. If I try to loosen the forward screw first, i'll strip out the inside of the head.
If it absotively, posolutely will not come out, it looks like it might me D&D time.... Drill & Dremel the little sucker out. Good luck with it & if you'd like a list of the stock modifications & alterations I did on mine, drop me a line. Although it's still a plastic piece of ca ca doody poo poo, it's very solid a highly shootable.
All it took was a few feet of aluminum rod, lots of epoxy, a few tools & the desire to own a rifle that didn't wiggle on the bench. Wiggling, as you know, makes it very difficult to hit the target & not look like a buckshot pattern...
Frank in Fla

[thermaler]

I suspect the action can drill those 270 rounds quite accurately, it's just the rest of the package is poorly matched to the task IMO. I already tried the loosen rear bolt first--no go. I'm going to wait until I get a line on a solid wood or composite stock and then drill the sucker out. I've got other accurate weapons to enjoy shooting on my limited range time--so I'm not inclined to waste much time on this thing.