Decide Between two 111s in 7mm Rem Mag

[Frontier Gear]

Hi guys. I've never owned a Savage for my own personal use and was wanting one in 7mm Rem Mag for elk. So I bid on two used 111s that were on GB. As it ended up I won them both. Now I have to decide which one to keep. The first is a flat receiver, top bolt release, non-AccuTrigger, stagger feed blind mag. The second is round receiver, top bolt release, non-AccuTrigger, premium detachable mag.

Other than personal preference is there any advantage to one vs the other (like parts availability or known issues). If not, I was simply going to shoot them both and see which one was more accurate. Neither of the stocks fit me so that will get replaced either way. From what I can tell, Boyds offers stocks for either option.

Any thoughts from the seasoned Savage guys would be welcomed.

[hafejd30]

I would shoot them as you suggested and see which one you like best after that. If you were looking for the detach magazine then that would help you decide as you would have the dbm for the new rifle stock already. Personally, for a hunting rifle, I prefer internal magazines. One less thing to forget to grab or hook on jacket/brush and worry about loosing mid hunt

As far as aftermarket parts go you should be able to use the same stocks with either rifle, I believe there the same screw spacing. Which also allows you to make either one the blind or detach mag rifle with the current rifles you have. Scope base will obviously be different but plenty of good options for either in the hunting category as far as that is concerned

[strut64]

Clean up the bores and then go shoot. If you Reload you may have to develope a load for each Rifle or find what "off the shelf" ammo each one likes. I have 3 Boyds stocks and recommend them. Keep in tuoch with your progress. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[wbm]

Definitely shoot them first.

I have two flat rear, blind magazine, stagger feed...one in 7mm magnum and the other set up for 6.5CM. I finally got tired of trying to fit scopes on rings attached to the bases that come on the long actions, just not enough eye relief adjustment, and got an EGW one piece for both....it makes it more difficult to top load a blind stagger feed so if both of your rifles shoot about the same I would go with the DBM and get the EGW sooner rather than later.

[Frontier Gear]

Thanks guys appreciate the feedback.

Accuracy Testing:
For this I was going to get two boxes of Hornady Whitetail just to get them on paper, then a box of Custom Lite and a box of ELD-X. I do hand load, but never for the 7mm Rem Mag. These are my first in that caliber. Any other factory ammo options that would be better for evaluating each gun?

Mags:
Most elk hunting around here is spot and stalk, so either type of mag doesn't bother me. We pretty much know where the elk are going to be at before we go out. For deer hunting I can do a lot of driving from one place to the next, so a detachable mag is my preference for deer. It's a bit of a pain to get out of the truck and load up, walk 1/4 mile to check out the clearing only to walk back to the truck and unload.

Clean up:
I cleaned up the first one (blind mag). It was really gummy. The safety was hard to operate and the trigger was stiff. The bolt had some dried gunk in it. After a good cleaning and a light coat of oil, it is a whole new gun. This one came with a scope mount. I checked it and the rings weren't aligned, so that got fixed and I lapped them while I as at it. I'm really liking the tang mounted three position safety. I may end up keeping them both and rebarreling one to something else. Now to clean up the second and see how it is.

Stocks:
I have a couple of Howa 1500 mini-actions is Boyds At-One stocks that I really like. There were pillar and epoxy bedded so that was my plan for the 7mm as well.

Quality Control:
The first one (blind mag) was made between 1995 and 2001 (high "F" series). The second one was between 2001 and 2009 ("G" series). Was there any known QC problems during either of those years that I should be watching out for? Searching the forums I saw that the Axis 7mm-08 barrels tend to be problematic and that Savage may have had some bolt QC issues during the 1980's, but I didn't see anything that pertained to these two rifles.

[Buck_Up]

Boyds At-One stocks that I really like. There were pillar and epoxy bedded so that was my plan for the 7mm as well.

Quality Control:
The first one (blind mag) was made between 1995 and 2001 (high "F" series). The second one was between 2001 and 2009 ("G" series). Was there any known QC problems during either of those years that I should be watching out for? Searching the forums I saw that the Axis 7mm-08 barrels tend to be problematic and that Savage may have had some bolt QC issues during the 1980's, but I didn't see anything that pertained to these two rifles.

You won't regret keeping both, esp if you rebarrel one for two calibre choices. They are great value for the $.

I have both a F serial range 110 blind mag, and a G serial range 111 DBM, and they are both shooters no issues. FWIW.
I also restocked the 110 into a Boyds. I recommend that you get the Pachmayr pad with the Boyds stock, the 7mm RM does have good recoil.

Ammo, my 7mm RM shoots well with 175gr partitions, I use it for moose and bear.

[Frontier Gear]

Thanks Buck UP. I appreciate the first hand experience on the specific manufacture dates.

[PhilC]

Like my flat back 110 in 7RM, serial range E485xxx manufactured 1985. Plain jane, non-checkered stock, no recoil pad. I bought it from the original owner with less than 100rds through it. It shoots Nosler 150BTs and 160PTs to under an inch at 100ds and is scoped with a 70s vintage B&L Balvar.

[deerhunter99]

I would go with the DBM that's just me !!!

[Frontier Gear]

I decided to keep the detachable mag version. Thanks everyone for all the advise. Also, I'm trading the other 7mm for a Savage 12 in 22-250 heavy barrel. I should have that one by the end of next week. I've really got the Savage bug now and would love to build one in 6.5 Grendel. I've got my eye out for a .223 donor.