Have you tried any handloads to try and tighten things up? I have never been happy with factory rounds regardless of quality or price. They just never shoot as good as ammunition tuned exactly for the rifle. That being said another $300 for a quality barrel may fix your issues and the great thing about a savage is you can have a custom rifle in about 10 minutes with the barrel nut set up. No need for machines and hours of work and way cheaper than the alternative.