Savage has left a sour taste in my mouth...

Everyone bear with me on this long post. Last year I purchased a brand new 7mm08 Savage Lady Hunter for my wife. This rifle is very similar to the Savage Light weight hunter series...most importantly to note is it has a wooden stock which does have metal pillars installed from factory which is a plus but it also comes with cheap plastic bottom "metal". My wife and I did the proper barrel break-in procedure and this thing just threw the ugliest groups with all factory loads we tried... 2 to 5inch three shot groups. I did the normal procedure of checking the scope, scope mounts, and bases. Nothing helped. Made sure the barrel is free floated. I changed out the bottom plastic parts for real metal. Nothing seamed to help. I contacted Savage and they had me send the gun in. They sent me it back in 2 weeks with a note stating it passed their quality control and they were able to get a 3 shot 1.5inch group. Even though 1.5inches is still terrible in my book, I would have been happy if I could reproduce that but I simply could not. We tried many different loads (mostly premium loadings) and different shooters to eliminate shooter error. Still could not get under a 1.75in group and I think that was a fluke as most the groups were still in the 3 inch range. At this point I said well it is either the barrel or the rifle stock needs to be fully bedded, not just pillar bedded and since bedding is a PITA and had no guarantee, I decided Id throw a custom barrel on there and if it still shot bad, then id bed it and likely have a very nice shooting rifle. If I bedded it first and needed to rebarrel it, id have to bed it again. Well, the custom barrel finally came in this past week. Put it on yesterday. Went to the range and sighted it in while doing the barrel break in which from this barrel manufacturer is 5-10 single shots with cleaning in between and then five 3 shot groups with cleaning in between. I only had time to do 6 single shots and then two 3 shot groups. Immediately, I knew the rifle was a shooter. The first 3 shot group printed .7 inches. The second one printed similar results. This was with the cheapest ammo I could find since I knew I would be breaking the barrel in and did not care too much about accuracy at this point. I'm sure the barrel will only get better as it continues to settle in. I still like savage rifles, but I will likely never buy a new one again. Ill just look used. For the price of a used one, you can throw a custom barrel on and have yourself a VERY nice shooting rifle for a similar cost of a new one.

It happens... I had a .308 Axis that just never could seem to do better than 1.5-2" even after stock/pillars/bedding. Every single other Savage I have shoots sub MOA, so it was a sticking point for me. And of course the .308 was the only stainless Savage I had had bought. I ended up putting on a different barrel and have not looked back.

Sell the old barrel, recover some of your money, and enjoy the "new" rifle. I think most shoot fine from the factory with the occasional misstep. And I like your idea of getting a cheap used one if you know you will just replace the barrel anyway. The barrel nut is your door to nirvana...

I had similar problem with my sons .243. Luckily I bought it from Davidsons, they had them barrel it. We havent measured the groups on it yet but at least we could sight it in. With the first barrel at 100rds some shots would be off paper..

I still need to send in a Cabelas 12FV 308. Im out of left adjustment and it is still 1/2 inch off. I am fearing that Savage will tell me the same thing and this time I get to pay for all the shipping. It might be cheaper to just re-barrel.

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Originally Posted by celltech

It happens... I had a .308 Axis that just never could seem to do better than 1.5-2" even after stock/pillars/bedding. Every single other Savage I have shoots sub MOA, so it was a sticking point for me. And of course the .308 was the only stainless Savage I had had bought. I ended up putting on a different barrel and have not looked back.

Sell the old barrel, recover some of your money, and enjoy the "new" rifle. I think most shoot fine from the factory with the occasional misstep. And I like your idea of getting a cheap used one if you know you will just replace the barrel anyway. The barrel nut is your door to nirvana...

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The sour taste does not come from having a lemon but from savages customer service. The just did not seem to care

If you go to the Savage FAQ they explain that sporter barrels are good to within 1 1/2in and target barrels 1 in. They also have a list of the ammo they use for testing. For the .308 it is 155 or 168 Federal Gold Medal Match.

My Axis in .223 started out as a 1 1/2in shooter and then got much better. Maybe if I had followed the Savage break in prcedure (also in their FAQ) it would have been better sooner (I did NO break in). At around 200rnd the groups went fro 1.5 to 1in. At around 500rnd they are down to 0.5 most of the time (if I am doing well that day). I wish I had broken it in properly.

I did break in my BVSS properly and it is still just underr 1in but not even 200rnd through it so far.

FWIW, the Axis (.223) still does not shoot well with anything other than match grade bullets. Bulk Federal bullets are 2" groups.

IMHO Savage finishing is a bit on the rough side so takes a bit to get everything smoothed up. The stainless barrel on the BVSS I also figure is a bit 'tougher' so will take a bit more work to get smoother.

Would other brands be better? Maybe, maybe not.

FYI, there was a video online (sorry I did not bookmark it) that a guy with a Savage used a borescope to determine when he had smoothed it enough. IIRC it took quite a bit of work with JB's to get it smooth enough for long range work.

I agree with the building your own rifle. I think that is why Savages gained in popularity.

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Originally Posted by charlie b

If you go to the Savage FAQ they explain that sporter barrels are good to within 1 1/2in and target barrels 1 in. They also have a list of the ammo they use for testing. For the .308 it is 155 or 168 Federal Gold Medal Match.

My Axis in .223 started out as a 1 1/2in shooter and then got much better. Maybe if I had followed the Savage break in prcedure (also in their FAQ) it would have been better sooner (I did NO break in). At around 200rnd the groups went fro 1.5 to 1in. At around 500rnd they are down to 0.5 most of the time (if I am doing well that day). I wish I had broken it in properly.

I did break in my BVSS properly and it is still just underr 1in but not even 200rnd through it so far.

FWIW, the Axis (.223) still does not shoot well with anything other than match grade bullets. Bulk Federal bullets are 2" groups.

IMHO Savage finishing is a bit on the rough side so takes a bit to get everything smoothed up. The stainless barrel on the BVSS I also figure is a bit 'tougher' so will take a bit more work to get smoother.

Would other brands be better? Maybe, maybe not.

FYI, there was a video online (sorry I did not bookmark it) that a guy with a Savage used a borescope to determine when he had smoothed it enough. IIRC it took quite a bit of work with JB's to get it smooth enough for long range work.

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I did follow their break-in procedure. The rifle has currently ~200 rounds down the tube so not a small amount. And yes, I did know about their 1.5inch rule on their sporter type barrels. That being said, we tried premium ammo, budget ammo, and even some reloads (I routinely work loads up for my competition rifles so this is not knew to me.). I would have not been happy with 1.5inch groups BUT I would have dealt with it . Like I stated above, the best group we got was 1.75 inches and I think it was a fluke as most groups were in the 3 inch range. This is a 7mm08. It actually makes me sick to think how much money I spent on ammo and time to try and find a load that worked. This is my 4th Savage so I am not at all against them up to this point as my other 3 were good shooters. My issue is...they sent the rifle back stating it hit their so called 1.5inch limit which we could never reproduce, and seemed very convenient that it was exactly 1.5inch group they were able to get. I think it is just stupid to think that you need to send 200+ rounds down a tube to make it accurate. Think of the money spent on just ammo and then your time at the range. Other companies now offer 1MOA guarantees and stand behind them (namely Tikka). If it wasn't for Savage's barrel nut design, which is why I like them so much, Id be buying Tikka's from now on. For me, I will never buy a new savage again. You can find used ones with Tupperware stocks in the 300$ range, slap a boyds stock on for under $200, and then purchase a nice custom barrel in the 300-400$ range and have a guaranteed Sub 1 MOA if not Sub .5 MOA gun for the same price of one of their higher end models like the one I purchased and still get a lemon. Again, just my two cents. If I ever went factory new, it would likely be a Sako or Tikka and they do honor their accuracy guarantees.

For whatever reason it seems Savage's 7mm-08 barrels are more problematic than those for any other cartridge.

I started reading your post and was thinking, new barrel. Of course, that is exactly what you did and now you are happy. Sucks Savage did not help. My .223 Axis was problematic and I should have sent it back to Savage. It was shooting terribly low. I put Burris Signature Zee rings on it to correct this. I found that to be a pain, because I had to use the most extreme inserts. Groups were crappy at first. Similar to Charlie B and his Axis, mine starting grouping better the more I shot it. Fortunately, my groups instantly improved just at or past 75 rounds and not at 200 like his. I was just starting to reload and thought it was me. So, like you, I bought some factory ammo just to see and it did not help. I really should have sent that rifle back. I even had to buy a second pair of Burris rings since I stripped the screw holes on one having to taking the ring caps off and on playing with the ring inserts to correct the low shooting. I have no idea why it shot so far off, but it shoots pretty good now.

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Originally Posted by NicfromAlabama

I started reading your post and was thinking, new barrel. Of course, that is exactly what you did and now you are happy. Sucks Savage did not help. My .223 Axis was problematic and I should have sent it back to Savage. It was shooting terribly low. I put Burris Signature Zee rings on it to correct this. I found that to be a pain, because I had to use the most extreme inserts. Groups were crappy at first. Similar to Charlie B and his Axis, mine starting grouping better the more I shot it. Fortunately, my groups instantly improved just at or past 75 rounds and not at 200 like his. I was just starting to reload and thought it was me. So, like you, I bought some factory ammo just to see and it did not help. I really should have sent that rifle back. I even had to buy a second pair of Burris rings since I stripped the screw holes on one having to taking the ring caps off and on playing with the ring inserts to correct the low shooting. I have no idea why it shot so far off, but it shoots pretty good now.

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Thanks for the comments. I do understand that every fire arm manufacturer can put a lemon out. It does stink that I got one. It just took me back that Savage was no help. I even ordered the bottom metal through them which was not cheap and I explained to them I did this to try and improve accuracy. I explained to them all the things I tried (different bullets, scopes, bases, shooters....etc) and that I was not a simple person complaining about a rifle shooting bad with cheap bullets or because I'm new at shooting. I did everything I could, with the exception of fully bedding it and their best response was...we were able to get a 1.5inch 3 shot group with our precision ammo so there is nothing we can do for you. Heck, I would have even split the cost with them on a new barrel but they wouldn't have it. From now on I will either save for more expensive rifles from higher end manufacturers OR I will build the rifle myself out of savage actions. No more off the shelf rifles for me.

Several years ago I bought a 116 in 260 an couldn't make it shoot no matter what I fed it. Even though it was out of warranty I called Savage and explained the problem and they told me to return it. After about two months they returned it with a new barrel, it was better but still only shot 2-3" groups. I was pretty disgusted and ordered a new 24" Shaw in 260. I followed Shaw's break in procedure of one shot and clean, 10X, shoot two and clean, 2X, shoot three and 2X. The load was the minimum load of H4350 and Sierra 120gr Pro Hunters and it shot way better than either factory barrel did, well under 1" at 100 yards. Now that the barrel is broke in when the weather starts to break I'll go through the load development to see what it'll do.

FWIW, I have several "Factory Savage" rifles, all orginal. I bedded them, and tweaked the trigger. They will shoot sub MOA any day of the week.

The 7mm08 seem to be the hardest to dial in. I tried one, a custom, spent a lot of time and money trying to dial it in, but gave up.

Savage is still the best way to go unless you go "Full Custom".

JMO, Dennis

I love being able to find used Savages in LGS's dirt cheap. Attitude around here is "if it ain't a Remmy 700 action, it ain't worth crap". Shops turn up there nose at Savages and usually buy em cheap and sell cheap. Makes my day to pick up a Savage for $225 OTD.

Cheap and gun stores don’t go together around here.

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Originally Posted by justinp61

Cheap and gun stores don’t go together around here.

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Ditto.

Rule of thumb around here is new price plus 50%....minimum.:p