Introduced at the January 2011 SHOT Show, Savage's Model 25 Walking Varminter has gotten off to a rather slow start. In fact, it's taken Savage a year and a half to begin shipping them from their factory. The hold-up, as I understand it, had to do with production delays associated with synthetic stock that is unique to this model.
Like all Model 25's, the new Walking Varminter is based around a beefed up rimfire-style action. The bolt is of the 3-lug design and features a 45-degree throw for better scope clearance. Other features of the action include the adjustable 3.5 to 6-lb AccuTrigger and a side-mount two position safety - both of which are carried over from the rimfire rifles. The action is rather long at just under 8.5 inches, but it's slim 1.135" diameter helps keep the weight down.
The barrel is of a medium-heavy contour measuring 22-inches in length and 0.700-inches at the muzzle. Unlike the 110-series rifles, the varmint contour used on the Model 25's gives the appearance that there is very little taper to it even though there's roughly a 0.30" difference in diameter between the breech and muzzle. The particular model I received featured a threaded muzzle to accommodate a suppressor, but oddly Savage chose to use a 1/2-20TPI thread size rather than the more common 1/2-24TPI. The suppressor ready barrel isn't standard for this model, and upon asking about it I was told they had done a special run for a chain store and I inadvertently ended up with one of them. Lucky me!
The magazine system uses a heavy duty polymere material for both the magazine and the one-piece bottom surround/release mechanism/trigger guard. For the 17 Hornady Hornet cartridge the magazine capacity is four rounds with a fifth in the chamber, and the system proved to work well with no faults throughout my evaluation. The stock is of the synthetic type with a 1-inch rubber recoil pad, finger grooves in the forend, and a textured grip. Overall length of the Walking Varminter is listed as 41.75-inches and the claimed weight is 6.9 pounds. MSRP comes in at $567.00.
Regarding the synthetic stock, I must say that I am rather disappointed in it - especially knowing that it is the reason this model took so long to hit the market. Truth be told, it looks and feels like the engineers at Savage simply copied the profile of the synthetic stock used on the Axis rifle, and we all know the shortcomings of the Axis stock is. The butt of the Walking Varminter stock is mostly fine, the forend is perfectly adequate even though it's a little more slender than I prefer, but when it comes to the grip area Savage totally missed the mark. The grip suffers from three key problems: 1) The radius of the curve is too large and is not of a consistent arc; 2) the entire grip area is to narrow/skinny like it was made for the hand of a small child; and 3) the scallops just aft of the grip are not long/large enough to accommodate an adult sized hand. These three issues combine to form what what is by far one of the most ergonomically awkward and uncomfortable stocks I have ever handled.
For testing purposes the Walking Varminter was outfitted with a Harris Benchrest bipod, medium height Burris Signature Zee rings, and a Weaver V24 6-24x42mm scope. Ammunition for the evaluation consisted of 150 rounds of Hornady's SuperPerformance Varmint with the 20-grain V-Max bullet (#83005). All shooting was done off the bipod and a Protektor rear bag.
Sight-in and initial 4-shot groups were shot at 50 yards and it didn't take long to realize this evaluation was going to try my patience. It was immediately apparent that the first shot from each and every group was going to have a mind of it's own, and that trend continued throughout the duration of my shooting. It didn't matter if I shot groups back to back or if I let the barrel cool between groups. It didn't matter if I cleaned the bore frequently or let it get good and dirty - the first shot always just went it's own way. As aggravating as that was, if I eliminated the first shot from each group I got the following group sizes at 50 yards: 0.314", 0.550", 0.225", 0.233" and 0.813" for a 0.432" agg. If I include the first shot from each group the aggregate jumps up to a less than stellar 1.412".
Moving out to 100 yards things just got more frustrating as my fight with the synthetic stock became more pronounced. This combined with the wayward first shot netted some rather ugly targets. Groups with the first shot excluded at 100 yards came out to 0.410", 1.023", 1.013", 0.713" and 0.550" for an aggregate of 0.743".
It was at this point in my review process that I decided something had to be amiss. My initial thoughts were that all this trouble was simply a result of my distaste for the synthetic stock, so I contacted Joe DeGrande at Savage who was nice enough to send me a laminate stock used on the M25 Lightweight Varminter model. With the new stock mounted and having double checked that everything was good and tight, I headed back to the range. Much to my dismay though nothing had changed and the rifle was still shooting erratically. I then started to entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe, my Weaver scope had taken a dump, so I packed up and went home yet again to break the rifle down - this time replacing the now suspect questionable Weaver Classic V with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm.
A new day and a new scope atop the Walking Varminter I again headed out to the range for one last ditch effort to get some respectable groups from the Model 25. If it didn't happen this time I was done - I was down to my last 45 rounds of ammunition and I was tired of fighting with it. Initially things looked somewhat promising as I was sighting in at 50 yards, with my two groups at that range being 0.539" and 0.658" respectively. The first shot in each group was still going it's own way, but the other three were staying together well and my groups were staying in one place from target to target.
Jumping out to 100 yards my first group was just horrendous at 3.328" and I thought for sure this was going to be yet another nightmarish day, but then I settled in and my next three groups netted a 0.692" agg. Not exceptional by any means, but definitely acceptable in my book for a bone stock rifle and factory ammunition. The next four groups went south on me though with a 1.395" agg., and again it was mostly due to that first shot going AWOL on me every single time. My final four groups resulted in a 1.16" agg which was a little better, but definitely nothing to get excited over. Also, by this point I had put 75 rounds down the tube so it was pretty fouled and in need of a good cleaning, so that is likely part of the reason the groups started opening up there at the end.
I really can't explain the consistent first-shot flier. It remained consistent with both the laminate and synthetic stocks, it remained consistent whether I let the barrel cool between groups or not, and it remained consistent whether shooting from a clean or fouled bore. I think it's safe to say it's just one of those mystical firearm mysteries we mere mortals were never meant to understand - much less solve. Once past that first shot issue, the next three would print pretty consistently in small groups when I did my part. The other factor to consider is that at the time of this writing there is only one option for factory ammunition, so if a particular barrel doesn't like it you're pretty much out of luck unless you roll your own.
Aside from the stock, the extremely stiff safety disengagement, and this particular examples errant first-shot issue I think the Walking Varminter and the new 17 Hornady Hornet cartridge are a perfect match and show a lot of promise as a lethal combination for varmint hunters. The 17 Hornet has next to no recoil and should be sufficient for small vermin out to around 300 yards making it a great setup for a youngster. Wind will always be a major issue for the tiny .17cal bullets, but that's just the nature of the beast. Whether the 17 Hornet will find a lasting home with shooters is anyone's guess at this point, but it does fill a small niche between the 17 HMR and the 17 Remington Fireball.
Unfortunately I don't really feel comfortable recommending the Walking Varminter model as I truly feel the synthetic stock is poorly designed and substandard compared to what's offered by the competition. Browning, Remington, Ruger, Winchester and countless other long gun manufacturers offer well designed, quality synthetic stocks that offer excellent ergonomics and a rigid construction, so why can't Savage manage to do the same? With a $567 MSRP price I don't think expecting a quality, serviceable synthetic stock is asking too much, do you? In my view you'd be much better off spending the extra money up front to get one of the Model 25's with a laminate stock.
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