I have a Savage Mark II BV with a Nikon Pro Staff Rimfire3-9X40, which I use for Prone & Dewars matches- love the rifle and it's a tack driver. I use CCI standard velocity (1070FPS) ammo. Trigger pull is about 3lbs and is smooth.
My dad gave me a Savage as my 1st rifle many years ago, which I gave to my son, so I'm partial to the company. I also shoot in Tactical .22 steel targets matches. The Mark II bolt action didn't work so well in the tactical matches so I purchase a Savage A22 semi auto for these matches. It is also equipped with the Nikon Pro Staff Rimfie 22 3-9X40 scope. The A22 is also a tack driver.
One thing I don't like about the A22 is the rotary magazine - It's a pain to load and Savage only provides ONE with the rifle. Additionally, I didn't like the plastic stock so I purchased a Boyd's "at one" stock. It's a beautiful stock and the installation was very quick but that's when my magazine troubles began. The original magazine has a flat release lever and it worked perfectly. The second magazine, which I purchased on Ebay, has a lever type type released, which I assumed is a Savage upgrade (I asked Savage but have not heard back from them).
The second magazine lever would not lock in because it was not seating deep enough in the Boyd mag well. It was very, very close so I shaved some wood and got it too work but it's not as smooth as I'd like. I found a company on Ebay that posted a picture of the original magazine but when I received the mag it was the lever type. My last hope for a flat lever release is Savage but their store picture does not show the release lever.
In addition to the A22 rotary magazine, the trigger is gritty and the trigger pull can't be adjusted lower than 4lbs. Putting the rotary magazine, gritty trigger and trigger pull weight aside the following are the shooting results with this rifle shooting 10 shot groups. 50 yards = 1.37" 7X's/ 99. At 75 yards = 1.76" 2X's/98, I didn't have time for 100 yards.. Bottom line is despite the 3 annoyances, my A22 is a very accurate rifle - accuracy is what it's all about.
Some folks I shoot with suggested I sell the Savage and by a Ruger 10/22. They'd like that because the A22 out shoots the Ruger's at every tactical steel match. So, would I buy another Savage A22 - YES. Would I buy another Boyd's "at one" stock - YES. The reason being that after spending a number of hours fooling around with the fitting process I know what has to be done to make the rifle/stock/magazine combination work.
Don G
Tucson, AZ
