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Thread: Savage Axis and the "Stone Soup" farytale; thoughts on "upgradeability."

  1. #1
    Theranthrope
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    Savage Axis and the "Stone Soup" farytale; thoughts on "upgradeability."


    Two years ago, I was a really, really, good boy and Santa left a Savage Axis under the tree for me (a lefty, 30/06, no scope).
    I haven't been as excited about a firearm as I have been for my Axis in years; not so much for the stock rifle was out-of-the-box, so much as the sheer -galaxy- of possibilities in upgrades there are for it; where is it a "gestalt" (A German word which roughly translate to: "a thing which is worth more than the it's individual parts") which has a potential which is low enough to drive off more "serious" shooters (with bigger pocketbooks); while allowing an average-joe like me the potential to buy a sub-MOA-class rifle on the "installment plan": I can buy a useable -stock- rifle, ralitively cheaply, then buy and install each subsequent item and upgrade, while still have a working rifle during actual the accurization process, without breaking my meager budget. Thus, I think of my Axis as a modern parable for the old fairy tale "Stone Soup":

    Please bear with me, while I explain...

    The Stone Soup fairy tale, as per Wikipedia: "is an old folk story in which hungry strangers persuade local people of a town to give them food. It is usually told as a lesson in cooperation, especially amid scarcity"

    Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry travellers. Then the travellers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making "stone soup", which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavour, which they are missing. The villager does not mind parting with a few carrots to help them out, so that gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all.
    The thing is the Axis, while an inexpensive rigle, is merely "good" out-of-the-box, but by no means "perfect" (To be honest: the stock trigger is too heavy and the stock er... stock is a wibbly-wobbley plastic piece of... er... -offending matter-.). However, if you want to spend time, effort, and money on you Axis, based on on my own experience, but what people are saying here on this board, over and over again:" You get what you pay for" with this rifle; which is an inversion of Ol' Comrade Kalashnikov's: "'Better Than' Is The Enemy of 'Good Enough'”; however as an red-blooded American: "...I can get .3-MOA now, but if I spend $300 more, I can get .2-MOA! Can I settle with just... 'good enough'!?".

    Going back to the version of "Stone Soup" I remember as a kid:

    "If we only had some carrots..." / "If the stock trigger wasn't so heavy"
    "A villager says: I have some carrots in my basement!" / "I'll do the $1 'Bic' mod, or get an AccuTrigger."

    "If we only had some potatoes..." / "If the stock stock wasn't a wibbly-wobbley plastic piece of -something unpleasant-!"
    "A villager says: I have some potatoes in my pantry!" / "Order a Boyds stock ...with EXPEDITED SHIPPING!"

    "if we only had some cabbage..." / "Weaver rails..."

    "If we only had Salt..." / "Tasco/Weaver/Millet/Nikon O-rings..."

    "If we only... Pepper..." / "Tasco/Bushnell/Vortex/Sightron/Nikon/Leopold scopes... (depending on budget.)"

    "If only... seasoning..." / "Bull-Barrels/Pillar&Bedding/Slings/Bipods/Muzzlebrakes/Camo/Everythingthing-Else-Under-the-Sun..."

    "If... ect..." / "Custom loads.... Ect..."


    I'm not saying that the Axis is the "PERFECT" rifle, far from it, not so much as: it is the "perfect" potential blank canvas to express yourself as not only a shooter, but as a amateur gunsmith/armorer; as a chance to show off your talents in both fields!

  2. #2
    Basic Member
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    Dec 2006
    Location
    SE Tennessee
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    609
    I see that I am not the only one who has drunk the Axis Kool Aid. When they first hit the market I said I would never buy one, but as soon as they announced a left hand model I was like, "Hmmm." I used my employee discount and bought the only left hand model in the store inventory, a .270. The barrel was removed and sold to a friend who had a Savage 110 with a rusty, pitted chamber. Right now it is wearing a .243 barrel while I decide what to do next. Like you I did the $1 trigger mod, but I am not really satisfied. Probably a Rifle Basix trigger after deer season is over. Wish I could do it now, but my car just puked the timing belt so I can't afford it. Since I have a short action barrel on it at present, I am thinking Boyd's short action lefty in Nutmeg.

  3. #3
    savage2014
    Guest
    Nice story and very truly resembles the Axis story. At least mine came with accutrigger preinstalled which I really like. Just installed a weaver rail, and put the scope that it came with for now. Well wait what boxing day brings...

  4. #4
    Edzzed
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by LHitchcox View Post
    I see that I am not the only one who has drunk the Axis Kool Aid. When they first hit the market I said I would never buy one, but as soon as they announced a left hand model I was like, "Hmmm." I used my employee discount and bought the only left hand model in the store inventory, a .270. The barrel was removed and sold to a friend who had a Savage 110 with a rusty, pitted chamber. Right now it is wearing a .243 barrel while I decide what to do next. Like you I did the $1 trigger mod, but I am not really satisfied. Probably a Rifle Basix trigger after deer season is over. Wish I could do it now, but my car just puked the timing belt so I can't afford it. Since I have a short action barrel on it at present, I am thinking Boyd's short action lefty in Nutmeg.
    You will like the riflebasix trigger, Did one for my Axis .270 Yu'll also like the nutmeg color but take a look at their applejack color. Here is mine in nutmeg

  5. #5
    Basic Member daddyusmaximus's Avatar
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    Oct 2014
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    Indiana
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    Looks nice. I just ordered a stock from them, also in Nutmeg.

  6. #6
    Steverino
    Guest
    Mine is a lefty 7mm-08 and I'm getting a Boyds as well. I was leaning towards the Nutmeg, but haven't completely made up my mind yet. Can't wait to take it to the range.

  7. #7
    Basic Member 03mossy's Avatar
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    Minnesota
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    686
    Nice comparison of the stone soup. An entertaining read. When I start my 22-250ai later this winter (already have barrel) it might just be on an Axis.

  8. #8
    Basic Member
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    Jul 2014
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    WA state
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    67
    My recent purchase was a .243 Axis. It's out-of-the-box stock, except for the $1 trigger fix (went from about 6 pounds to about 3 pounds). After shooting semi-autos at larger targets (18"x36") for years, this is my first bolt-action, and I'm still learning about the proper technique for small groups. Even so, I can consistently get 3-4 shot groups of about .7" at 100 yds. I'm astounded at how much the accuracy technology has improved for inexpensive rifles like this over the past 30 years! I know that if I wanted to get accuracy like that even 15 years ago, it probably would have meant spending a lot of $$$.

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