All,
To start I want to say I am not a competition shooter but have been around the block. I shoot quite often, I have one 2 semi-custom savages I built myself and one Remington 700. All shoot at 1MOA or better with factory ammo and will shoot close to .5MOA with my handloads. My wife is a hunter as well and currently uses one of the semi-custom savages. The problem is it is a bit on the heavier side for her to walk and stalk with (it weighs just about 10lbs with scope). We decided to get her the Savage Lady Hunter in 7mm-08. From what I can tell is this is just like the Savage American 14 series but with a cut stock that has a shorter length of pull and a higher comb which actually fits her very well. The problem is the thing Shoot something awful. We did the suggested savage barrel breakin and then shot 2 types of factory ammo. The best groups we got at 100 yards were 2inches without including the flyers. If you included the flyers we were getting 4-5 inches!!! I called savage up and they said send it in which we did. I wrote a note stating the ammo used, the barrel breakin procedure, the 3 and 5 shot groups. I also commented that the bolt knob had some rub marks from the factory (which we did not really care about but the customer service rep said mention it and they should replace it). Anyways, 2 weeks later we got the rifle back with a letter stating that the rifle shot 1 group at 1.25inches with their "premium" ammo and there is nothing more they can do. They also stated the "wear" mark on the knob is typical with use...This was a brand new rifle from factory...came like this and only had 2 ranges trips on it. Needless to say I called them back a bit upset. They said that the knob wear marks are typical with use again but I stated it came like that from YOUR factory. They then said ok they will send me a new one but there is nothing they can do about the accuracy of the rifle. They couldn't even disclose what ammo they used for their test. I know they do not have an accuracy guarantee but come on...2 inches without including the flyers is terrible in my opinion. And keep in mind that was the best 3 shot group. Forget about 5 shot groups. I am a long time Savage fan but have to admit this bugs me. You used to be able to buy a Savage and get typically right around 1moa out of the box for 3 shot groups. This was why I liked them.

Anyways sorry for the long rant. What I am really wanting to know is im thinking about bedding the rifle and once again going semi-custom and throwing a custom barrel on it. Before I put a custom barrel on it I want to see how the bedding job affects accuracy. It appears that the "bottom metal" in this rifle is actually plastic?!?!?! My guess is this would need to be replaced as I cant see the action screws being torque to 65in pounds (even though it does have pillars). Id think the plastic bottom metal would squish. I have no experience with these newer savages. Im used to the top bolt release kinds with the blind internal magazines. This one has an actually box magazine (also made out of plastic). Do I need to replace ALL of this which would be quite expensive? If so, what brands do you recommend? We simply wanted a rifle which would do 1.5MOA or better which I would have thought most Savages could do. What are all your thoughts?