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About 6 weeks ago, I was asked to review a rifle. Naturally I was interested in giving it a go so it was sent to me in the box with all the paperwork. As soon as I took this rifle out of the package, it became obvious that this was no ordinary rifle. In fact, I was astounded at how well this rifle has been thought out. Not just a bunch of parts assembled to make a rifle but rather a rifle assembled for a task. A varmint rifle.
The first thing that struck me was the stock design. A grey laminated thumbhole stock with a beautiful satin finish. The forearm of the stock has 3 vents per side cut into it for extra ventilation under the barrel. The forearm is approximately two and a quarter inches wide with a rounded bottom that has proven itself for riding my shooting bags while target shooting and my shooting sticks while in the field.
This stock has 3 swivel studs that are slightly recessed into the forearm. In order to install a Bipod, I had to turn one stud out a couple turns. When not running a bi-pod I can turn it back in and it is a little more recessed and out of the way. Nice touch!
As I had the rifle broke down while turning the swivel stud out, I noticed the action pillars in the stock. These pillars actually reached through the stock and had contact marks on them from being drawn tight to the action. Most stocks that claim pillar bedding have pillars that don't extend all the way through the stock and don't reach the action. Unless the pillars reach the action, they are not very effective. These pillars are actually doing their job.
The recessed area of the stock that's mortised out for the recoil lug was very generous in size. This stock will require very little work getting it ready for an epoxy bedding job in the future. The barrel channel is very generous in size giving me a completely free floated barrel plus a generous amount of free air underneath the barrel to allow better air flow in combination with the vents on the forearm of the stock.
The metal work is all blued with the exception of the bolt. Its a very durable finish I found out as I bumped the rifle against my gear shifter trying to get it out of my truck in a hurry. There were no marks or abrasions anywhere on the metal parts after a visual inspection.
I quickly noticed the 26 varmint contoured barrel had flutes! I have not seen a factory blued barrel that was fluted before. There are 6 flutes that are .165 wide and .015 deep running 13 down the length of the barrel. I doubt they reduce the weight of the rifle much but, they are a very attractive feature to this beautiful rifle. The crown is the standard 90 degree recessed crown that has proven itself in the past. Under close magnification I could not see any burs to cause accuracy issues.
The next thing I noticed was that it came with the over sized bolt handle. In the middle of winter, wearing gloves, these handles are very handy indeed. Like I said, this rifle is well thought out for us varmint hunters.
It was hard not to notice the stickers on the side of the rifle that said AccuTrigger and upon closer inspection I noticed the trigger guard was not plastic but instead it was made of a metal. In a day of disposable and cheap products its uncommon to see quality parts on a rifle that's built for a budget.
This trigger was adjusted quite well from the factory giving me a clean crisp let off that rivaled my Timney triggers. My trigger broke at an even 1.5 lbs out of the box and I have not had the need to adjust anything on it.
Taking this rifle to the range proved time consuming. Its a real attention getter and I spent a lot of time visiting with other shooters about this rifle. Most shooters were very impressed with its looks and were very impressed with the size of groups I was getting with my hand loads. I found one load in particular that continuously made little cluster holes at 100yds.
Accuracy with this particular rifle was a little finicky. I tried three different breeds of factory loaded ammo with mixed results. The most accurate factory ammo I used was Winchester 34gr jacketed hollow points. My chronograph clocked these bullets at 4160fps average and group size was average. Not too bad for factory ammo I thought.
The worst groups I had with factory ammo were with the Hornady 32gr V-max. My chronograph clocked them at 4125fps average which is 100fps slower than they advertise on the box. My group size with this ammo was very erratic giving me a couple holes where it should and then a few holes all over the place. Average group size around 3 is an estimated guess since many bullets didn't even print on the paper.
The next brand I tried was Remington's 40gr Accutip .This ammo chronographed at an average 3830fps and group sizes at 100yds averaged around 1.5.
Thats when I started working up loads. Ive had many people recommend several powders for this rifle plus I had ideas of my own. I purchased several different types of bullets ranging from 32gr to 40gr in my pursuit of those itty-bitty little groups. Out of all the loads I tried, my rifle preferred only one. Using 28.2gr of Reloader 15 behind a 39gr Sierra Blitz-King and a federal GM205M primer continually put my bullets into little clusters. Varget was by far the worst powder I used with this rifle, with some groups going over 6. All other loads and bullets just would not go under an inch at 100yds through this rifle.
The recoil from the .204 was not offensive to even the novice lady shooters. They would look at me and grin after every shot while they were loading another shell. I could see their enjoyment after hitting their mark without being beaten to death like other rifles do. The other side is that, this is a varmint rifle and I could see the ladies struggle with its weight and length. Shooting off the bench was enjoyable for them but shooting unsupported made them strain from the larger and heavier barrel and stock combination. Its actually on the lighter side of my varmint rifles but still not the kind of rifle a person wants to pack for an extended amount of time unless youre used to the larger rifles.
During the times I was alone at the range; I went through all the shooting positions and was as comfortable in the prone position as I was in every other position. In the standing position, I took some snap shots to see how well this stock snaps into my shoulder. I was very impressed with how fast the scope centered on the target as my eye focused in for a shot. Even with a 24X scope, the target was quick to achieve off hand thanks to its stock design.
Feeding was smooth as silk in this rifle. Out of 450 rounds, I never had a jam or a problem with extraction. The added mass of the bolt handle made recycling rounds very easy while the .204 Ruger was able to hold a generous 5 rounds in the magazine. My rifle came as a .204 Ruger but it can also be ordered as a 223rem or 22-250rem.
Taking this rifle to work, I was happy how well it splattered those pesky little prairie dogs. It was no problem to make a mess of them out to 350yds but after that, hits became difficult. I did on the other hand go into withdraw from not having the high flight acrobatics I normally got when using the larger calibers. Jack rabbits would vaporize on the spot when hit with that little bullet too.
I also took three coyotes with the little .204 and they responded to the hit in the same manner as when hit with a 40gr bullet from a 223. Pelt damage was minimal with this caliber so I suspect it will become a hit with the pelt hunters.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this rifle for accuracy and design. It was well thought out as a varmint rifle and, fills the niche as a showcase rifle. It also has the Savage legendary accuracy built in. This rifle not only impressed me, it has also become part of my collection.
How To Get Your Own
This particular rifle is contracted through Savage Arms by Jerry's Sports Center, and they (Jerry's) is the sole distributor. It cannot be ordered anywhere else, and Jerry's Sports Center has only a limited number of this design ordered. At this time the Model 12BGTV is chambered for the .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, and 22-250 Remington. It was suggested by Skip Jeanneret (Proactive Sales & Marketing NE) that this model may get extended if sales are good.
At the time of this writing it is still undetermined what the suggested retail price of this rifle will be, though after speaking to Skip Jeanneret and Brian Herrick (Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Savage Arms) this rifles price should fall somewhere around that of the Model 12 Varmint Low-Profile.
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