Trying to put my hands on a Hog Hunter in Tampa, FL

Hello all I'm brand new today and came here due to a difficulty finding any dealers in the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area who stock the Hog Hunter. I have had my eye on this rifle for some time and with a can on the way I want to make sure all my rifles are suppressor ready. PLUS I love that someone is still making a nice set of irons available from the factory. This rifle will get a picatinny rail and be a brush/ATV gun most of the time, but I will slap some glass on it from time to time during deer rifle season. Truly if I could design the gun I'm wanting to serve this role I doubt I could make it appear in better form than the Hog Hunter seems to be.

Here is my issue. From the 2 mega dealers in town to, Dicks to Bass Pro they all stock a ton of Savage rifles, but according to the Savage dealer list which I have called every single dealer there is not a single threaded barrel Hog Hunter in stock. Anywhere. I want it in .308, but like any firearm I want to put it in my hands, shoulder it, check out the bolt cycling etc.

Is there by chance anyone here in the Tampa area with a line on how to put my hands on one? I called Savage CS yesterday to see if htey could maybe check stock levels at their dealers and that was no bueno. Thanks for any leads.

I would find a local FFL that has good transfer costs and order one off line. If you can't find one, online stores usually have a good bit of dealers with their FFL info online. That's how I get the majority of my firearms. Either no one local has one or they want too much for it. I mainly order from galleryofguns.com and budsgunshop.com. There are other places and can be cheaper as well.

Yes, find a local ffl who will accept the transfer from an online store... I've used budsgunshop a lot the past few years... they have a list of ffl's as mentioned above.

I am sure the OP is aware of using an FFL, but he specifically stated he would like to PUT his hands on one to feel it out and cycle the bolt. I don't blame him. Maybe someone in the Tampa area will chime in here.

Yea thanks all I wasn't too keen on having to buy sight unseen, but apparently the Hog Hunter is not a big mover for dealers. The 2 mega dealers carry just about every Savage rifle made except the HH. Same for Bass Pro tons of Savage and zero HH.

If you can order it through one of those two you might be able to decide you don't want it once it comes in. When I worked at GanderMTN we allowed people to do that as long as they ordered it from our website and in the store. Something you might be able to look into.

Call down to Shooters World on Folwer. I'm not sure if they stock it, but they have a pretty good selection plus they have a 100Yrd indoor range you can shoot it at if you buy it. I made the drive over a few times during the 2 years my local range was down for repairs.

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Originally Posted by tufrthnails

Call down to Shooters World on Folwer. I'm not sure if they stock it, but they have a pretty good selection plus they have a 100Yrd indoor range you can shoot it at if you buy it. I made the drive over a few times during the 2 years my local range was down for repairs.

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Shooters World has gotten ridiculous on their firearms prices.

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Originally Posted by Spearjunkie

Shooters World has gotten ridiculous on their firearms prices.

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Just saying he could put his hands on one and see if he really likes it then go buy one online for half the price!

Kind of a crap shoot buying online sight unseen anymore. I sent a Remington 700 back just recently, it had plenty more than just one small issue. Waiting to see what Big green does.

I believe that both Savage and Remington have now cut their quality control programs. Instead of paying someone to check firearms it's cheaper to box them and send them out, let the buyer become the qc. I have nothing to base this on other than my expierences and hearing others.

Unfortunately it does seem that way. My opinion is that you really shouldn't need a QC department if the people making the product really cared about it instead of just collecting a paycheck. On the other hand it seems like most people only work to collect a paycheck anymore but that's probably a large debate we shouldn't get started on.

I will encourage you to just buy it online I have bought and sold many HH's. They are all the same.

Very comfortable to shoot also!

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Originally Posted by RustyShackle

Kind of a crap shoot buying online sight unseen anymore. I sent a Remington 700 back just recently, it had plenty more than just one small issue. Waiting to see what Big green does.

I believe that both Savage and Remington have now cut their quality control programs. Instead of paying someone to check firearms it's cheaper to box them and send them out, let the buyer become the qc. I have nothing to base this on other than my expierences and hearing others.

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Dose of reality right here. No news is good news in the retail market. The Chinese have made trillions with this philosophy.

I just bought one off GunBroker for $400, new in box, delivered to my local gun shop.
They are out there.