New Dick's Sporting Goods Package - "Model 11 VT"

[1ShotKing]

Awesome, thanks. Looks like an awesome rifle for the price.

[jonbearman]

Dicks does exclusive's aa the time by deleting certain items like the accustock,they can compete with remington and others.It is just like a line item delete they do on cars and trucks and when you get it you soon realize why it was a bargain.Just a heads up,if you bought the remington,northlanders has criterion remage barrel packages so you can change them out just like a savage with the remage nut.

[eabernstein]

I am looking to buy either the new heavy barrel DSG Savage m11-VT, or Remington 700 SPS Varmint, in .308. Need advice as to the comparison between the two. In Savage, I am not too crazy about AccuTrigger, but I like DBM. In Remington trigger is nice, but no DBM, and the barrel did not look like free-floating. I would like to do target shooting at 200yards, working myself up to 500.
Would anyone care to comment on the overall quality of the two, how susceptible are they for mods. I thought that it was Remington action that people would buy and put new barrels on.

[Wtlj]

Dicks does exclusive's aa the time by deleting certain items like the accustock,they can compete with remington and others.It is just like a line item delete they do on cars and trucks and when you get it you soon realize why it was a bargain.Just a heads up,if you bought the remington,northlanders has criterion remage barrel packages so you can change them out just like a savage with the remage nut.

I disagree with them being sub-par. The only reason they sell store exclusives is to please that market. If they made the same gun for everyone the price would be higher! This just means they don't have to lower their standards to compete in big box stores, add 1-2 different parts and they have a different model that cant be compared (price wise) with another one of their guns. There's nothing cheaper on that gun than any other gun they build.

[expfcwintergreen]

Have any of you who purchased the Model 11 VT been to the range with it yet? Can you report back what is the best group you've shot with it, the average group, and how satisfied you are with it?

i have been torturing myself with which .223 to buy. I think I have finally settled on Savage because of being able to change the barrel myself. It is down to this one or spending much more money to buy one of the Savage target or varmint actions along with a Shilen bull or varmint barrel and who knows what stock that NSS sells.

[nking1776]

Member "Shoalwater" has a post up on his recent VT purchase.

[MikeA67]

I'm not an expert and I have no idea where the budgets are but this scope looks to be very popular in some of the
sniper/shooting forums where I lurk......


http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-5-20x50-Tactical-30mm-Riflescope-P51653.aspx

[res1n9k9]

Was at Dicks today and they have one of the .308 11VT that seriously looking at...been looking and researching Savage rifles for a while..so if i get it will provide some feedback on my experiences..

[expfcwintergreen]

Thank you for the heads-up, nking1776. It was a very interesting and informative thread, as is this one.

[splebeau]

Not sure if anyone posted this yet, but here is the Photo from Dick's online... [ http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=12270519&ab=ACLN1_Link_Rifles_PredatorVarmint ]

http://dsp.imageg.net/cms_widgets/19/10/1910423_assets/PredatorVarmintRifles_03.jpg

It includes another Savage they sell. The 11 VT is the bottom of course. Last weekend we purchased one of these, a WalMart Remmy 770 special (with scope) and a Thompson Center .308 rifle and scope special from, I believe, Bass Pro with the plan to see how they stacked up.

Outcome: The Remmy behaved as you might think a $300 rifle would behave. Most of us had trouble keeping a grouping on an 8 1/2 x 11 target sheet at 100 yds. The scope was crap.

The Thompson and the Savage both did very well. The scope on the Savage (Bushnell) was a pain to zero but once it did, it proved to be a nicer scope for the test. Most of the people we had shooting (all, by the way, were ex-military) kept a 2" or smaller grouping at 100yds. The larger (read, TALLER) people in the group picked the Savage over the Thompson for comfort reasons. They both performed very well... I wish we had been able to get a Ruger American for our test.

[splebeau]

We had, after firing it with the stock scope, contemplated how you could turn the Walmart $298 Remington into a decent rifle and still stay under $500. We came up with Redfield Scopes, a scope company recently purchased by Leupold. Specifically there Revenge with the accu-ranger feature found locally for $177 (someone said they thought Dick's had them but I hadn't had a chance to check)

http://redfield.com/redfield-revenge/

Not sure how this goes with a sniper quality scope, however. Sorry.

[762X51]

The bottom "metal" is actually plastic, as is the trigger guard plus, while it LOOKS like the typical Savage detachable mag set up, it's really some sort of mutt that uses Axis magazines. Mine won't feed the last round from the magazine. HUGE disappointment.

[Wtlj]

The bottom "metal" is actually plastic, as is the trigger guard plus, while it LOOKS like the typical Savage detachable mag set up, it's really some sort of mutt that uses Axis magazines. Mine won't feed the last round from the magazine. HUGE disappointment.

Not sure why you emphasize "metal" is it listed somewhere that its metal??? Most gun manufacturers are now using poly and plastic (ruger, savage, remington etc.) while you may think its cheap its been proven to stand the test of time and bring weight down on the rifle. On the magazine issue savage uses this same setups on other rifles other than the axis, some of their higher end models also. It sounds like you have a defective magazine as mine cycles perfectly with no issues time and time again. When buying a mass produced "value" rifle you cannot expect perfection. You already know savage will take care of the issue and it very well could've happened with a $2000 rifle.

[splebeau]

The bottom "metal" is actually plastic, as is the trigger guard plus, while it LOOKS like the typical Savage detachable mag set up, it's really some sort of mutt that uses Axis magazines. Mine won't feed the last round from the magazine. HUGE disappointment.

I'm with Wtlj on this one. I've now fired over 100 rnds thru my Savage 11 VT and haven't had any issues (I have, however, had an issue with my Hornady ammo). I'll have to check my rifle when I get home... I don't recall the trigger guard being plastic? My only gripe with the magazines is their short supply locally.

[762X51]

I'm with Wtlj on this one. I've now fired over 100 rnds thru my Savage 11 VT and haven't had any issues (I have, however, had an issue with my Hornady ammo). I'll have to check my rifle when I get home... I don't recall the trigger guard being plastic? My only gripe with the magazines is their short supply locally.

Unless your rifle is special or Savage changed the specs you'll find both the trigger guard and the magazine frame are plastic. There is nothing wrong with that except it looks exactly like their true metallic bottom metal sets and I thought some folks might like to know it is in fact plastic. The matte finish on the plastic looks just like the matte finish on the metal parts and until I actually disassembled the rifle I though it was metal like my model 10 PC. AGAIN there's nothing wrong with the plastic and it is fully interchangeable with the metal components should anyone wish to upgrade in the future. One plus to this system, versus say the Axis, is that should the tiny little front and rear shelves, that the magazine latches into in the mag frame, wear, the mag frame can easily be replaced.

[762X51]

When buying a mass produced "value" rifle you cannot expect perfection.

I certainly don't expect perfection for $550 but I ABSOLUTELY expect it to at least function. I don't expect high polish bluing. I don't expect highly figured Claro Walnut. I don't expect hand lapped parts. I don't expect high relief engraving. I don't expect billet machined components. I DO expect it to work though. A $369 Ruger American works as does my $257 Axis so why is it so unbelievable that I'd expect my model 11 to work properly? I don't expect a $300 push mower to have all the features that a $7000 zero turn machine would BUT I DO expect it to cut grass. A bolt action repeating rifle really only has to do three simple things: feed, fire and eject. If it can't do those three things it may as well be a break action single shot.

[splebeau]

I'm missing something... 762X51, does your model 11 NOT work properly? I JUST bought mine (only a couple 100 rounds fired) and have had no issues. If you're experiencing issues I'd really like to know what they are just in case it proves to be a problem for the entire line and not just a single rifle.

[762X51]

I'm missing something... 762X51, does your model 11 NOT work properly?

No it does not (See my post #52) . It will not pick up the last round from the magazine. I was able to swap magazines with my 223 Axis and the model 11VT will feed all the rounds (most of the time) from that particular magazine but it's really almost unacceptable that just the minute manufacturing tolerances present in the magazines are enough to keep the rifle from functioning. Honestly if one wanted more magazines for one of these rifles I'd suggest ordering several and then trying them to see which ones actually work. Savage's reputation for accuracy is well deserved but In my experience they also have a reputation for balky functioning. I'm not a newbie at this whole rifle thing and I have owned and used Remington 700s, Winchester model 70s (both pre-64 and later push feeds) Ruger M77s (again push feeds and the later controlled round feed models) as well as commercial Mauser actions and I can say with first hand experience that Savage rifles have the greatest propensity to malfunction than any other bolt action rifle that I've ever personally used. My first Precision Carbine would extract the fired case but leave it lying atop the next round in the magazine. My model 16 Weather Warrior would not feed the last two cartridges out of the magazine since the magazine was about 1/8" short of fully seating against the base of the receiver and now my 11VT won't feed the last round from SOME magazines unless I apply upward pressure to the rear of the magazine base. All of these problems may be deemed fixable but the last thing I want to do with a new rifle is fix it. Too late to make a long story short, but to answer your question, I do not think there is any "issue" concerning this particular model of rifle other than Savage's typical QC problems. If you got a rifle that will feed all the cartridges and extract and eject the spent casings then thank your lucky stars and congratulations. I'm almost certain your rifle will prove accurate. My 223 Axis is one of the most accurate rifles I've ever owned, plus it works!

[splebeau]

I'm sure glad I read these posts before recommending this gun to others. Were the Axis .223 mags chambered in .308?

[762X51]

I'm sure glad I read these posts before recommending this gun to others. Were the Axis .223 mags chambered in .308?

I'm not sure I completely understand your question but both my Axis and 11VT are chambered in .223. An Axis magazine for a 308 will not retain or feed 223 cartridges since the lips are too wide to retain the cartridges and there is a block in the 223 mags to hold the cartridges forward in the magazine. Savage rifles have a lot of pluses; the user changeable barrels, the floating bolt head and the changeable bolt handle for instance. I think that if you could test a rifle's function before actually purchasing it you could make absolutely certain it works before you buy it. Alas, I don't think that's an option with the 11VT since I don't think Dick's will remove the trigger lock let alone allow you to cycle a magazine full of dummy cartridges through the rifle. I think that should I EVER buy another Savage rifle I'll insist on function testing it. If you can do this, take one empty cartridge and enough dummy loads to fill the magazine. Test the extraction and ejection with the empty then test the magazine and the rifle's feeding ability with the dummies. If the rifle balks at ejecting the dummies don't write it off since it was designed to eject an empty cartridge without the extra weight of a projectile (this will be more obvious the larger the caliber). If it will eject a loaded cartridge so much the better but it MUST eject an empty. As long as you can function test the rifle you're considering buying (and it works) there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Savage rifle but in my experience there are far too many that leave the factory half-assed.