Savage Trashing?

[outlawkyote]

My mindset is due to experience only. Others experience may vary.

[358Hammer]

Pretty cool topic: Can't remember the last time someone came into my house and told me my kids were ugly or unsightly.
When my dad bought me my first rifle it was a Remington bolt action 22. Not long after that it was a Winchester 94 and I was hooked. At twelve I had a paying job and bought every news stand magazine that had anything to do with hunting. My best friend hunted with a Savage 99 in 300 Savage. My Dad hunted for as long as I can remember with a semi-auto Remington in 30-06. That was a very long time ago and I can still remember reading that Savage was something less than utility grade. My dad said they were junk. He also told me when I bought my first Winchester 270 ( Jack O'conner) at age 15 that he would not buy my ammo any more.
In 1992 I walked into a gun shop looking for a gift for my oldest sons birthday. There at $200. or there about is a 110 left bolt Savage 308 Win. I bought it along with a 4 power Weaver scope, loaded up some rounds and headed to the range. Dang after three rounds into the same hole. ???!!! is what I thought after a bunch of those little bitty 3 shot hunting load groups. His birthday was the next day and I seriously thought, keep it-give it. I do not let guns that shoot like this get away. Alas, son- birthday oh and I am not left handed, he got the gift.

Many of us were raised with unfortunate influences like mine. Five years ago I seriously got into Savages because I could pick one up very inexpensively. I could purchase very nice quality pre-everything barrels for not much more than a JGS reamer.. I could buy great shooting takeoff barrels for next to nothing and my gunsmith friends just gave me their junk takeoff barrels in the beginning. Then I tinkered with the bolts a bit and did not need a special tool to do that. I do not buy reamers or headspace gauges any more as its getting to late in life to waste the money. Well that is true for the gauges. From time to time I have a reamer made for some brainstorm.

Then I was able to buy Strikers for $300. until people like me drove the price up when not so many of them were out there. Then a fellow named Jim Briggs and I got together and poor me started buying undesignated Target actions at a third of the cost of a custom action. Years ago "76" I started handgun hunting. Went the route of the XP and then found out the cost to convert it to shoot a cartridge I could actually hunt with. I can put some really big cartridges in my Savages that are both unsafe and not possible in either a stock or a reworked XP action. They work just great in the factory 3" port of my target actions.
In fact my 338 Edge barrel will be here either Friday or Saturday and within a few minutes the 338WSM barrel will be off my factory large shank Striker and the Edge barrel will be in place. Within one hour of getting the mail I will be burning powder. That can not be done with a none ugle nut system!

In conclusion, I have a box of factory Remington triggers that are very unsafe to use and replaced them over the years with a better quality than Factory after market trigger FREE TO ANY REMINGTON home.

Neal

[outlawkyote]

as for why your current riffles out preforms the Remington you had custom made, conditions, ammunition, experience, confidence, take your pick.



I especially like how he blamed everything but the real problem ( Maybe because its a Remington?)

[DGD6MM]

Life is to short to shoot a Remington! :D

[Woodser]

Used to be a Remington shooter, still own several. However, for the average shooter looking for top accuracy in an out of the box rifle, there is no beating Savage. And the value for the dollar is in Savage's favor by a long shot. With those points in mind, I have purchased nothing but Savage for the last 20 years.
And, as long as Savage keeps making them the way they do, and they keep shooting the way they do, Remington will be off my wish list.

[efm77]

Just another poor soul who hates being outperformed by a less expensive rifle. All kidding aside though, I will never buy another 700 and I have had a few over the years. While they all shot pretty well, their reliability was terrible. The last one I had was a 700 BDL SS in 7mm rem mag that never would eject a live round or empty without jamming. No matter what brand, bullet weight, etc. When the bolt was retracted, it would kick shell loose but it wouln't exit the ejection port, it would be left lying on top of the other rounds in the magazine. I mean it did it every single time! Sent the rifle back to Remington 3 times and each time they told me they replaced the extractor and it worked fine, but they were lying. They may have replaced the extractor but that wasn't the problem because it continued to do it. My argument was that the ejection port was not made long enough because the shell kept hitting the inside of the rear receiver ring keeping it from exiting. They wouldn't listen to me and wouldn't give me another rifle even though I bought it brand new! I traded it for a Winchester Classic Model 70 and never looked back. I have really valued the CRF Winchester and Ruger actions ever since then. Now I like Savages too and I know their reliability record hasn't been great either but they're so easy to change parts on yourself it just makes them a lot of fun and they're scary accurate too most of the time. It's Rugers and Savages for me here on out. He can say what he wants about the barrel nut but that's what helps make them so accurate and quick to change the barrel. By the way I can also install a conventional barrel, and have done it on my Ruger, got the tools in my garage, it's not that hard. But I'll keep the nut on my Savage because it's so much quicker. Do Remingtons shoot good? Sure they do, but I wouldn't trust one for reliability when the stakes are down and for me there's a lot more to a rifle than just how accurate it is.

[Corprin]

Chevy is better than Ford, and WAY better than Mopar ::)

[groupshooter22]

Chevy is better than Ford, and WAY better than Mopar ::)


As what a boat anchor? ;D :P

[efm77]

Also as for the three rings of steel/gas handling of the 700. Of course this is just my opinion but I think that's a bunch of marketing crock. I doubt that it's an air tight seal between the bolt head extension and the barrel recess so gas could still get around it in the even of a rupture. I don't remember seeing any gas vents in the bolt of a 700 so whatever goes through the firing pin hole could come out around the cokcing indicator right into the shooter's eye as there's a gap between the cocking indicator and the shroud. From the rifles I've seen I think the Savage and the Ruger have the best gas handling system of any I've seen. Savage receiver has a hole on both sides of the front ring, as well as baffles blocking the locking lug raceway, and a baffle in front of the bolt handle. The bolt head also has two holes in it that line up with the holes in the front of the receiver when the bolt is closed. Seems to me Savage has a pretty good design as does the Ruger M77 as it is vented very well.

[outlawkyote]

What amazes me is that people think were biased because we own Savages... Its not like thats the only brand in my closit, its just the only brand that shoots the best.

Browning, Marlin, Winchester, Remington, H&R, Ruger, and Savage all live in my closit. The savages just seem to get fed most nowa days.

[firemachine69]

The only reason I want a Remmy bolt, is the superior aftermarket for us southpaw'ed folks. ;)

[Tim300wsm]

i just witnessed my brothers face and eye get burned when an overloaded factory round was fired through his remy 700 there is no seal the three rings is bullshit

[Eric in NC]

What amazes me is that people think were biased because we own Savages... Its not like that's the only brand in my closit, its just the only brand that shoots the best.

Browning, Marlin, Winchester, Remington, H&R, Ruger, and Savage all live in my closit. The savages just seem to get fed most nowa days.


Ditto - if I go on count I have far more Winchester, Ruger, Mauser, and Remington guns than Savages but if I want a "modern" gun that I know will be very accurate and easy to find good loads for, don't mind putting through HARSH conditions because the price is right and it can take it, gives me many, many options for future projects, etc. I go with Savage.

If I want a pump action, quick handling rifle I go with a Remington, if I want something old and interesting I go with a Winchester or Mauser - but if I was looking to shoot some good groups, maybe win a contest or two AND fill my freezer - Savage is it.

And I did say earlier that I didn't like the floppy rear baffle, harsh bolt lift from the factory etc. etc. - but there are some things you have to put up with on ANY gun.

[Ernest]

The "crowd" this info is coming from is mostly benchrest. I know for a fact some are very accomplished and experienced shooters. I get some criticism from the sniper group, but also some defenders. I have to say, I'd damn near be afraid to show up at a benchrest match with a Savage. I think I might be laughed off the line.

- Phil


I wonder if they tried to laugh Tierney off the line when he showed up with his xtc repeater action and still spanked them? I can't speak about the br crowd up in Sac since I don't shoot br, but I can't imagine anybody laughing you off the line at any of the prone or f-class matches over there for simply showing up with a Savage based rifle.

[Galveston22]

July 1 2009 -- John Dunbar this past weekend won the Wisconsin State F-Class championship shooting a “home-built” .284 Winchester with a Savage target action. John designed and fabricated the aluminum stock himself. It features a central barrel block clamping a 32? Brux barrel. Get this — John completed the rifle only 5 days before the match: “I finished machining/assembly on Monday night, did load workup Wednesday and Thursday nights, loaded rounds Friday night, and headed to Lodi at 4:30 on Saturday morning.” John also made his own co-axial front rest. He reports: “The rest worked really well this past weekend but as always there’s some small tweeking to do.”

[efm77]

"i just witnessed my brothers face and eye get burned when an overloaded factory round was fired through his remy 700 there is no seal the three rings is bullshit"

Exactly. As I said the bolt body is not vented so anything that goes through the firing pin hole is going to be in your face.

"Browning, Marlin, Winchester, Remington, H&R, Ruger, and Savage all live in my closit. The savages just seem to get fed most nowa days."

Ditto for me too. Truth be told, I'm more partial to Ruger than Savage. To each their own and if someone likes something else then so be it. I won't get all bent out of shape about it, we have the freedom to choose what we like. I have grown partial to CRF actions since my bad experience with Remington but I still like Savages too and won't get in a pi$$$ng match with someone just because they disagree with me. But although I like Rugers a little better than Savage and the Rugers made in the last 15 or so years have been on average a lot more accurate than they used to be, I still have seen most Savages shoot a little better on average. People can say what they want about the barrel nut but I believe that contributes the accuracy substantially and haven't seen anything yet to make me believe otherwise. You know you have the headspace correct every time. I have the tools to change a shouldered barrel and have done it on one of my Rugers and it is very accurate and the headspace is tight but with that method you always run the risk of being off just a little.

[Jamie]

You think that is bad, imagine all the crap I get from people when I go out shooting my Savage specialty pistols. Not only do I catch all stuff about it being a Savage, I also have to deal with all the people who think it is impossible to shoot prairie dogs at 600 yrds with a specialty pistol and they are only good for 25 yrd shots.