Savage 11 - please give me buying advice

Hello all,

i have been interested in a 7mm-08 rifle and investigating some rifles for a while now. I was planning on buying new but last night I encounter a listing for a 300 dollar Savage 11 in that caliber that the shop lists as "Good (70-80%) Condition"

No photos so I don't even know what kind of stock it has. It has a 22" barrel.

This price means it's a rifle I can buy for this deer season instead of waiting another year.

What should I look for? Plastic vs metal magazine, receiver quality (barrel can be upgraded next season if need be right?), is the stock on these replaceable in time so damage there is also not relevant?

i have no bolt action centerfire experience so I don't know what configurations the 11 has been in or what it means to be center feed stagger feed etc. What I know at this point is Savage is a good name and the rifle caliber I want is on the shelf at what might be a good price.

thanks for any help!

I called and was told it has the AccuTrigger in a synthetic stock.

IMHO, at this point in time, the action on that rifle is worth $300. This assumes that the 20 to 30 % wear is routine and to the stock and finish. Depending on who the seller is, I suspect that even that price may be negotiable, based on the way it is listed.

With the current climate of prices going up, we are hard pressed to start the "Savage Adventure" for less than $300. And believe me, it goes up from there.

That's the best advise I can give you with out actually seeing the rifle.

Good Luck ... Good Shooting ... Jim :-)

Like Jim says, the action alone is worth the asking price. So long as the action is in good condition, it is easy to replace a stock, a barrel, etc. Great source of parts is Ebay, and a great source of information is this forum. The Search tool is invaluable. I'm not sure exactly when the accutrigger came out but it was rather recent.

AP

I have two Savage 110's, 30-06 & 270. Hunting in my area with the longest shot being 250 yards (rare), It's all the rifle you need exactly like it comes out of the box. My 270 with Factor Ammo shoots 1" groups @ 200 yards, what else do you need for hunting?

My 30-06 is about the same way. These guns I take in the woods and I don't care if they get scratched or what ever. You can beat the factory Savages for the money and accuracy. Personally, I would stay away from the AXIS, just my personal opinion.

Dennis

Both are Tupperware stock rifles. Put a decent scope on it and go hunting.

^^^What Dennis and everyone else said. If you want to improve it over time, it's easy and fun to do. Watch out, though, it can get addicting. :)

If you get it and decide you don't care for it for some reason (I can't imagine that, though), you can easily sell it for you have in it. Not many sports or hobbies you can do that.

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Originally Posted by foxx

^^^What Dennis and everyone else said. If you want to improve it over time, it's easy and fun to do. Watch out, though, it can get addicting. :)

If you get it and decide you don't care for it for some reason (I can't imagine that, though), you can easily sell it for you have in it. Not many sports or hobbies you can do that.

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X2 sounds like fair price. Look at egw or Dnz mounts the ones that come with them suck.

Yep, other than center-feed/stagger feed, or trigger type; all savage actions are the same.

You do want the more desirable 9.5 twist.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

You do want the more desirable 9.5 twist.

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Robinhood, 9.5 twist, are we looking for a certain bullet "RPM"? Very curious, why not a 9 twist or 10 twist?

This has come up several times in the last few weeks, and I am wondering. Nothing wrong with it, just looking for an answer. Is it more accurate or ?

Have a great day,

Dennis

I got the rifle!

It is in an accustock with accutrigger. I do believe the previous owner never disassembled and cleaned it. It is cosmetically almost mint but the barrel crown does not have defined rifling so I suspect it may need to be rebarreled. I cleaned copper out of the bore for hours.

The accutrigger, my first, is amazing.


I will post photos and accuracy results soon as I can!

My magazine looks like this but does NOT have the clip on it. There is a metal lever on the rifle stock that releases the mag. I take it this is good?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/177...-round-polymer

Sounds like a dumb question, are you referring to the bottom which is clearly polymer when people say bottom metal or axis style?

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...73a415e0cd.jpg

That is my magazine

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...997b194120.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...7b82b082e3.jpg

I have a Savage 11 in 7mm-08. What a great rifle. The area I hunt is pretty rugged, start out at 7200 ft elevation, hike down, take your animal and hike back up. Weight becomes an issue. I took the scope off the rifle and have a Williams firesight. I much prefer this rifle to packing my 110 in 30-06 with its scope. I am not sure of the weight, but, I think it is at least 1-1/2 pounds lighter.

The other thing is I love the caliber. Even in the lighter rifle, the recoil is very mild. Really helps me with my accuracy. I hunt axis deer, goat, pigs and feral cattle with no problems.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...18b7f50325.jpg

First group - 3 shots .7"

Great! Looks like you're off to a good start. Factory ammo or reload? What chemicals & tools have you been using to clean Barrel?

hey Doc, for the $300 i think you made out really great! and it shoots good too, can't beat that deal.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by gotcha

Great! Looks like you're off to a good start. Factory ammo or reload? What chemicals & tools have you been using to clean Barrel?

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I shot 139 grain American Whitetail Hornady loads (which is the Interlock bullet). I plan on shooting 5 boxes of these in order to have brass for reloading.

I cleaned powder with Hoppes 9 on a jag on a Tipton carbon fiber rod and then brushed with brass brush and used Montana Copper Killer. I ran a copper patch every 15 minutes for over 3 hours before deciding to stop cleaning copper.

After my only outing with the rifle so far, 1 patch of Hoppes 9 , brass brush 5 round trips, 5 patches of Hoppes, two dry patches, 2 patches of Hornady One Shot, 2 dry patches.

Congrats. I don't think I would even look at the crown if it shoots like that. I'm assuming that target is 100yds with factory ammo, right? You oughta be shooting "one holers" once you get comfortable with that rifle. You got a winner.

Congratulations! In my opinion, you made a great deal on a good hunting rifle. For your information, in case you consider aftermarket upgrades, it appears that you have a late model short action, detachable magazine, center feed, bottom bolt release, with the Accu-stock. Your rifle has a standard bolt head (.308/7-08/.243 family). It is sized for a small shank barrel.
The reason that Robinhood brought up the 9 1/2" twist is that it will stabilize the heavier 140 gr. bullets much better than the older 1-11" twist versions did. I would be reasonably certain that yours is the 1-9 1/2" version.
If it's shooting under an inch already, and you are happy with the scope, I would not change a thing. I would check to be sure that the scope base and ring screws are all tight. Also check that the action screws are tight. That stock is better than the typical "tupperware" models that we frequently complain about, because yours has an aluminum bedding and stock reinforcement block-hence the "Accu-Stock" name. If you like it there is no need to replace it.
If you get the urge to spend more money on it, I'd first look at replacing the scope rings, bases, and the scope itself, in that order. But as i said, it's a good hunting rifle as-is.
Another bit of advice, if you are using strong copper solvents such as Montana, do not use a brass brush. The solvent will attack the brass and leave false signs of copper in the barrel, as well as ruining your brush. I'd suggest a nylon brush, or just a patch saturated with the copper solvent. Use the brass brush with the Hoppe's.
Good luck and enjoy your new toy!

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Originally Posted by barrel-nut

Congratulations! In my opinion, you made a great deal on a good hunting rifle. For your information, in case you consider aftermarket upgrades, it appears that you have a late model short action, detachable magazine, center feed, bottom bolt release, with the Accu-stock. Your rifle has a standard bolt head (.308/7-08/.243 family). It is sized for a small shank barrel.
The reason that Robinhood brought up the 9 1/2" twist is that it will stabilize the heavier 140 gr. bullets much better than the older 1-11" twist versions did. I would be reasonably certain that yours is the 1-9 1/2" version.
If it's shooting under an inch already, and you are happy with the scope, I would not change a thing. I would check to be sure that the scope base and ring screws are all tight. Also check that the action screws are tight. That stock is better than the typical "tupperware" models that we frequently complain about, because yours has an aluminum bedding and stock reinforcement block-hence the "Accu-Stock" name. If you like it there is no need to replace it.
If you get the urge to spend more money on it, I'd first look at replacing the scope rings, bases, and the scope itself, in that order.

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Thanks very much for the advice and comments!

I do really like my rings and scope (Burris Zee Signature and Vortex Viper) especially for my hunting rifle purpose but I am sure my 5 dollar weaver bases could be upgraded. I torqued rifle action screws to 30 in-lbs after firmly seating the recoil lug and the scope rings and bases are all torqued per manufacturer specifications with Torx screws.

I think my first upgrade in the future might be a fiberglass / composite stock if I find that the current stock doesn't let me shoot to same POI when slung up, which I haven't tested yet.

That was about 5/8" 3 shot group with the American Whitetail 139 gr ammo but I am going to shoot several more groups this week to find out what a realistic average is. I am purchasing dies and components and plan on starting off with my once fired Hornady Brass from these rounds and the same bullet for developing the first loads. I have never reloaded before so I am going to start off "by the book" with my Lyman 49 regarding COAL, and doing an OCW test with regards to the charge weight increments. After i get to a load of reasonable accuracy I can learn about measuring distance to lands which is step 2 of OCW tuning. I am fairly hopeful that with the Lyman 49 COAL I can find a load plenty good enough for hunting regardless. The Hornady ammo from factory had a deviation of up to almost 90 FPS when I shot over chrono (not on paper) which is one reason I am sure I need to handload to obtain consistency.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...2314fac0df.jpg

Well, Doc, I will say this for you:

You got a great deal, you have obviously done your homework in regards to expectations with loads, rifles and the principals of load development. If, when you're "done" with load development (are hand loaders ever "done" with load development?), you can get these kind of results consistently under different environmental conditions, etc., you will have a heck of a deer rifle. My guess is you do. :) Have fun with it.

Full disclosure - my groups have been terrible since that first 5/8s group of 3.

I had cleaned it to bare metal before that group , and have done so since that group, with two radically different results. My plan now is to not clean copper again until I have fired a few dozen rounds to see if it comes back together.

if yours does not have the clip you can get 10rd mags from Savage for it. I just replaced my bottom plate with one from Savage on my Model 11 VT and bought two 10 rds mags for less than a bottom plate from a 3rd party vendor. I cut the clip off the original mag and it works perfect in new bottom plate.