I used to be a die hard Remington 700 shooter until I got the chance to shoot my son's Savage in 300WSM and his buddy's Savage in 338 Lapua at the Williamsport 1000 yard range. I was extremely impressed by the accuracy of both rifles. Both are bone stock and all three of us were hitting clay pigeons
tossed on the berm behind the 1000 yard targets, and his buddy isn't even that good of a shot (sorry Will). When I got the opportunity to pick up a Savage action to do a 6BR build I was all over it. I've been checking out a 6BR forum and some posters seem to go out of their way to trash Savage. From their comments I doubt they have ever shot one, so I can't figure out what they have against Savage. All I can come up with is they are ticked off because someone's Savage that was built in a guy's reloading room for $1200 can equal their $3000 full blown custom. Any ideas?
Either they hate the aesthetics of the action and barrel nut, or hate the feel of the bolt lift.
Or they have to somehow justify the money they spent on a custom action, or having their 700 trued.
A Savage action certainly isn't the nicest feeling in the world, but it is one of the most versatile...and right near the very top in providing value.
The action and the barrel nut are kind of clunky looking. That was my biggest objection to a Savage until I shot a couple of them. They are very accurate but they are not an especially pretty rifle.
Last edited by Tokimini; 03-11-2014 at 10:53 AM.
While choosing between both Rem and Savage for a nice target bolt gun, I noticed the price difference right away. I wanted something that came with a precision tactical stock, 24" fluted,threaded barrel. Anything rem had to offer was $4-500 over what Savage offered.
I agree with the rest as far as the mechanics of the bolt lift. Rem,s (to me) design of there bolt system is better. But at the end of the day, my Savage does exactly what there high dollar rigs do at 1/3 of the price.
Life is tuff.....its even tuffer when your stupid
{John Wayne}
It's like my old man says when looking at race engines. "All that chrome just looks good, it don't perform" LOLOriginally Posted by Tokimini
Me, personally, I never paid attention to the barrel nut or anything like that. I don't care what a rifle looks like as long as it performs, which is what Savage does. But to give feedback to the OP, I think you answered your own question twice in your post.
They bash savage because in statistics of winning benchrest matches only one person campaigned a savage in a national shoot.They(cuustoms) definetely have an advantage at being a stiffer action with a longer tenon to support the barrel and the bolts are way more shooth in operation etc etc etc . In the end it is what you want to afford and I enjoy my savage's and thats my story and I am sticking to it.
Willing to give back for what the sport has done for me!
It's all about bragging. Who they had do their custom work and how much they paid for it. Then comes the big kick that they only had to wait 18 months to get it back or more. They wear those things like a badge of honor. I don't get it myself. I would rather shoot mine than have it collect dust on a shop's shelf. Not bashing anyone that wants to do that and has the finances to do it. Just not what I am into. I shoot animals and targets but not for a living. If I did it for a living then I would have the best I could afford. But to this day no one has thrown down money when I shoot a small group with my clunky, ugly looking Savages. Ask the next guy that says a Savage is ugly what hand guns he owns. I bet 90% will say a Glock. Go figure.
They dump on Savage because in the past Savage built some serious junk and haven't until recently outlived that reputation. Now they need to upgrade their rifles and get rid of the crappy plastic stocks on so many of their models.
How would you have the rifles "upgraded"?
I agree on the stocks, and think the Accustock is a HUGE improvement over tupperware.
I've had experience with several Remington's, including my Grandpa's 700 22-250. I don't like the way the back of the bolt looks on a Remington 700, it is at a sloped angle that doesn't line up with the bore. Remington factory throats are way too long, and also the Remington 700 short action seems smaller and not as solid as a Savage action. However, I am a fan of the Remington 40X series rifles and hope to have one in .222 someday.
Boiler
all they have to do is make the dang forearm stiffer, they flex too much, just add thicker plastic ribs or even install a boyds laminate.
Biggest gripe I've seen or heard is that they are ugly. One person said he had one umpteen years ago and it would not shoot so
he would never have another. Any manufacturer can put out a lemon once in awhile, but he wouldn't acknowledge a Remmy ever
being a bad shooter. As for the ugly, I have three stainless VLP's and stainless 10MLII, all with laminate stocks, and no one who
had seen them have referred to them as being ugly. They all just happen to be shooters, too. However, the 10MLII now sports a
PacNor .458 barrel.
I think some of it is the "high dollar" boys have others do their work...most know that the Savage shooters, in large part, do all their own work only limited by tools at hand. Snob appeal is everywhere.
Haters gonna hate!
There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
+1
Mostly just ignorant, occasionally just arrogant. I thought the remington was the "only" rifle until I learned otherwise.
Then I figured out the simple (at home) tricks to make a savage even better.
Now days I am fazing out my rem 700s and win 70s in favor of the vastly superior savage. Who would of known versatility in a rifle action could be so useful? Any savage owner that has worked on one or waited months to get a remington re-barreled. That's who.
Some guys like to hide the mechanics under the hood or faring. They take pride in disguising the machine. I wanna see the engine, the heart of the thing.
I walk up to a rifle rack and scan for the barrel nut, the most beautiful and functional part. The rifles in the rack that do not have one just get ignored.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/ruger_HM77R_hawkeye.htm
Some may bash Savage but you will never read a critique of a Savage rifle like this negative critique of the very pricey Ruger Haweye bolt rifle.
You guys think y'all got it bad try being a H&R Handi-Rifle fan!
I am a gun fan. I like all kinds of guns. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Each is built for a certain purpose. The only kind of gun I don't like is an unsafe/broken gun.
From my experience, the biggest variable in a gun's accuracy depends more on the person behind the trigger.
BW
That is why I went with a Savage for this build. I re-barreled my Rem 700 myself using a short chambered pre-threaded Shilen and did the finish chambering with a hand reamer. I had a blast doing it, had the rifle done in a week and the results were spectacular. I could not find a short chambered pre-threaded barrel in 6BR for a 700 action so I got a Savage. It is just so cool to be able to do this yourself and not have to wait 6 months to a year for a gunsmith to get around to you.
I like my HandiRifle in .243 with wood stock. I like the breakopen action
I might be dumping on Savage if my new model 11 shoots like my first Bmag did. My nephew has a Axis in 243 that is nothing special but plenty good for hunting whitetail deer
I bought a Savage FVT .22LR that put a sour taste in my mouth. I went through a summer of getting sent parts, wasting ammo, and finally getting a replacement rifle that was much better.
I'm really happy with my 10 FCP with the HS stock and the loggerhead mod. Happy enough that I bought a Model 11 in 7-08 and put a boyds stock on it. Still have not shot the 7-08 but I expect good things.
I like the barrel nut system. I like to tinker and DIY, I can do that with a Savage bolt action.
One thing I forgot is that they are jealous of the nut. Try telling someone to do a remage swap,some guys go biserk. The other real problem for them is the lousy trigger system that savage has never tried to improve. You cant hang a jewel to a savage and really end up with a good safe trigger.I dont like the triggers but I can live with that.I just use sss,rifle basix and a 3 screw on hunting rifles or even the accutrigger.I have interest in all guns including remmy,winchester,H&R(got a 45/70 with the jap barrel and it really shoots),fn's,colt,rock river,mossberg etc etc etc etc etc . If you love guns you love them allperiod IMHO. I love savages despite the trigger system and I will continue to build them up and have alot of fun.
Willing to give back for what the sport has done for me!
I couldn't stand shooting my nephew's axis until I installed a Timney trigger, the Savage trigger was far from smooth. The accutrigger models seem to be smoother than the models that don't have it in my experience
Dunno what all the gripes about triggers are about. The only Savage rifle I've ever fired is my 12-F with Target Accutrigger, but I love it just the way it came out of the box!
Savage 12 6mmBR adjusted trigger to 8oz
Whats not to like.
Forgot to write the powder charge, 28.3 Varget
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