I am curious to why some of you are as fond of Savage as I am? I’ve been a fan since my first high power rifle purchase when I turned 18yo. For years it was simply what I knew. But as I gained experience, other factors took over & my fondness became genuine appreciation. For me, I saw & loved things in Savage that so many hated. Barrel nuts & floating bolt heads were always a “good” attribute in opinion. I’ve been listening for YEARS, that one MUST have a “qualified” gunsmith(whatever that is), work on any aspect of your firearm. Otherwise it WON’T be accurate, and will probably be dangerous, yadda, yadda. Well, ok. I also heard for years that Knifesmiths make the BEST knives with forging. Uh, huh. Thing is...when one studies metallurgy for years & years then starts making their own knives with modern, high speed & high alloy steels, one soon comes to realize that most of what Knifesmiths have been perpetuating for the last couple decades is 100% BS! But I digress. An experienced knifesmith can make a fine knife, so to can an experienced Gunsmith make a high quality firearm. But that doesn’t mean they are the ONLY ones who can. And just because a rifle doesn’t have a traditional shouldered barrel, does not mean inferiority...in accuracy, repeatability, longevity, etc. I would hope most here believe that. Thing that gets me is seeing some CUSTOM Action & rifle makers, NOW using their own proprietary BARREL NUTS & Floating Heads, then their rifles ripping out 1/4moa groups with BORING regularity. Oh....I guess they are GOOD characteristics now, right? Huh... I liked ‘em both on my ARs & saw the benefits from ‘05. Oh well.
Another big thing for me, but not for many, is the Accutrigger. I am in love with it. As modified by ME of course. Given a choice of any firearm WITH or WITHOUT a “Safe Action” trigger, I will always choose the one WITH!
Lastly for me I guess IS a point of loyalty. The Savage 110 is the LONGEST running continuously produced rifle in the United States, passing the Winchester model 70 in recent years. The Savage 110 IS America’s Rifle to me!
For me it’s the ability to swap barrels and set headspace without a reamer or lathe. They tend to be a little more accurate out of the box than similarly priced rifles also. I now have a heavy barrel on all of them except the super lightweight 30-06 I hunt with. It has the lightest Tupperware stock I could find and I cut the barrel down to 16.25”s This particular rifle also does time as a 270,308,25-06,6.5 creedmore and once was a 300 rum.
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Value for the money. Accuracy. I like the tang safety.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
Dave,
I also have a love affair with my Savage bolt actions.
I bought my first Savage .308 10 FP in 2008.
It shot great right out of the box and it shot so well that 4 of my range buddies bought their own Savages and had the same results.
I am now on my 7th Savage.
Two .308s, three 6.5mm CMs, one .223, one .22.250. They all average under 0.45 inches with 5 round groups at 100 yards.
The best averages under 0.295 for over 700 groups, four average under 0.400 inches, and the two .308s average under 0.440 inches both for over 500 groups.
The best rifle has its top 25 loads averaging under 0.250 inches. Three of the rifles have their top 25 load averages under 0.285 inches and the other two have their top 25 loads averaging under 0.360 inches. The average group sizes are just about in line with the calibers.
I admit that I just don't handle the .308s as well as the .223s and 6.5mm CMs.
Everyone of the Savages shot great right out of the box and all but one still do.
I also am a big fan of the Accu-triggers.
Six of the Savages have Target/Varmint triggers - all set at 2 lbs.
I have one 12 LRP that came with the Precision Target Trigger (red blade).during the same session, I messed up with whatever I shot second.
I adjusted the precision trigger so it didn't feel all that different from the others (1.2 lbs was the lightest I could get away with) and the problem of shooting it with another rifle went away.
I replaced the barrel in my first .308 Savage after 6,500 rounds.
The barrel was replaced by Savage and I had them put a fluted match barrel in it to replace the original factory standard bull barrel.
The new version shot better than the original version when I got it back with the new barrel.
Compare that to my Remington 700 which I bought because of the reputation of the Remington action.
The action was great but the rifle as a whole didn't live up to my accuracy expectations when I bought it new.
It took a new trigger and a new stock to get it to shoot accurately but it never shot as well as my Savages.
I also have a Model 70 and two CZs and they shoot well but not as well as the Savages.
That's why my last 5 rifles were all Savages and my next one will be too.
What hooked me was the the ability to swap barrels and bolt heads to get you the caliber of your choice.
I think I have 5 and have had a few more but not one of them has the same barrel it came with new. Barrels and stocks will get me exactly where I want to be.
Found a few things out over the years and how to get around the rough spots. Biggest thing is that the Savage won't work with a little short round when it comes to feeding and extracting. Pulled a little hair figuring that out but that problem pretty much taken care of.
The 10s and 12s are where I have my fun. No need for a 110 or 112 except my 110 V "J" series (the inbetweener) that got me hooked in the first place.
Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man, that he didn't already have.
I have a love/hate relationship with my savage rifles. They are great for messing around with- learning how things work, and switching barrels and bolt faces around to try different cartridges. Also, I would feel bad about treating my other guns the same as the savages get treated. The trigger is pretty decent- and much safer when people adjust them down lower than they should be.
But, other than barrels the aftermarket is pretty poor- and kind of hit and miss with how many small changes that savage has made over the years. And the fit and finish is just not up to par. As mentioned above- some custom makers are using savage features.... but they are doing it right. Savage continues to do "good enough" work- and not really address issues that they know that they have. Accuracy is usually very good.... but when dependability is truly important- very few people chose them.
I like the modular design. Also left handed models are available. The new impulse is user changeable from right to left hand. Since the woes of Remington, Savage is one of the better choices in a new factory action.
Savage's selection of left-hand models and cartridge options are what drew me to Savage - well, kinda. Initially it was their 10ML smokeless muzleloader in/around the fall of 2000 when I was looking to purchase my first muzzleloader and the smokeless powder aspect of it was a big plus for me. Once I started looking more into the 10ML is when I discovered their wide selection of left-hand options.
Prior to that I'd never even heard of Savage as growing up it was Remington (shotguns) and either Marlin or Ruger for rimfire rifles. There wasn't much need/use for centerfire rifles here in Ohio back then (or even now really) as there wasn't much of a coyote population at the time and the only other thing you could use one for was groundhogs. My dad's philosophy was along the lines of "If it's not a nuisance or something you're going to eat don't waste a bullet on it." Suffice to say the only "target shooting" I did as a kid was limited to a handful of clay birds now and then and a few shots on paper before hunting season to make sure the rimfire was still sighted in, and it wasn't uncommon for a box of 50 rounds of 22LR to last a year or more.
That said, my loyalty to Savage has waned a bit in recent years simply due to what WhyNot has pointed out above. I've been running this site for 20 years now, and the same complaints about Savage rifles that I was hearing back then are the very same complaints we hear about today...
Cheap plastic stocks - the newer AccuFit and AccuStock synthetic stocks are better than the old tupperware ones, but they're still made out of the same plastic as milk jugs and have way too much flex to them.
Heavy bolt lift/timing issue - Why Savage hasn't bothered to address this one is beyond me as to fix it is as simple as a slight adjustment to the program code for the CNC when cutting in the lug ramps on the action and the cocking pin ramp on the bolt body.
Feeding/ejecting issues - I doubt Fred ever imagined that his Extractor/Ejection Improvement Kits would end up being a hotter ticket item than his Competition trigger was back in the day.
Limited aftermarket options due to constant changes - Savage continues to shoot themselves in the foot year after year as they insist on making small and often unnecessary changes to parts making it all but impossible for the aftermarket manufacturers to support their rifles with products of their own.
At this point I don't have to worry too much about finding something else more suitable or up to my standards as I pretty much have all the guns I need (and more than a few I don't) and I've gotten any issues they might have had sorted out so they're good to go. I'm not enticed by new cartridges that offer little to no advantage over an older go-to cartridge, and with newer guns being made with more and more plastic components each year I'm more than happy with my "older" guns with all metal parts even if it means having to carry and extra pound of weight around in the field.
"Life' is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." ~ John Wayne
“Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” —Mark Twain
Accuracy, price and versatility. What's not to like?
Semper Fi
Sgt USMC 66-72
Not counting the 300 Savage 99 in the vault, I'd rather use the Mod 70 Winchester
or the Ruger 77 in the vault. I'm only interested in the single shot Savage PTA's
for competition and my wild cat work. And of these, the barrels are mostly shouldered.
only my fire forming barrels still use a nut, so I can do a quick change at the range.
I will be picking up a beater Axis action just for fire forming. I've been using a old
Remmy 600 for that work.
Keeping my bad Karma intact since 1952
As previously stated, the ability to swap barrels, either for the same caliber or different. You can swap barrels on other brands, such as Ruger's RAR & the R783, which I've done. One thing I've noticed since these swaps were made is the rounds are a bit more difficult to single feed due to the tighter/smaller ejection port on the RAR & R783 as compared to a Savage action. Easy solution is to find a load that works at magazine length which I've been able to do (20P & 6x45). I've swapped one barrel on a Savage 12 action, converted to 6BR Norma from a 22/250, so no bolt mods needed. Loading the rounds is much easier since I use one of Fred's sleds in all of my Savage actions, it's just easy to do. I've got a total of 5 FV12's, one is now the 6BR, so I've got options available to me if I desire a different caliber. I'm not a fan of the "big" calibers and the related recoil, so I can wait for sales or one to pop up that somebody decided they didn't want.
A range buddy buys the high end guns, and works up very accurate loads for them, I can come close to his accuracy for less $$ but I really think most of the accuracy issues are related to my reloading skills and gun control, which I need to improve on to get to his level.
Accuracy out of the box. I've had several Savage 10s, 110s over the years and even a Stevens 200 custom varminter. All except one early Axis .223 have been exceptionally accurate out of the box. I am not the type of person who has any brand loyalty. I go with what works. Savage however has consistently worked for me. Last year my wife won an Axis .243 in a VFD raffle. I immediately dumped the cheap glass and put on a better scope. This was the newer model with ergo stock and upgraded mag catch. Far superior to the earlier versions. I worked up a load for groundhog hunting and this rifle is a woodchuck killing death ray. I am making 300+ yd shots that my buddies with custom 700 based guns and Tikkas are missing. I tend to favor Savage because without accuracy, nothing else matters. This is a 1/4 MOA rifle that retails for a bit under $400. How do you beat that???
When the bolt lift on a Savage is as good as my Remington XP 100, myself and a LOT of other folks will be VERY HAPPY.
And the T&T never did it for me. Been there, done that and wasn't impressed, but at least I did it and am speaking from experience.
All the "bolt lift kits" in the world won't make a difference. Still a Savage in operation.
Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man, that he didn't already have.
+1Still a Savage in operation.
DIY!!! But the trigger system sucks. I have 5 actions and 10 barrels, 4 of the actions have aftermarket triggers and none are under 1 1/2 #. Makes BR a challenge.
I discovered Savage because of my father. I have his 1st gen 110 (30.06). Its my go to rifle for everything except home defense. I have found that the ol' gal is accurate to 750 yds and i've taken hogs with it at 500 yds using factory loads I forget brand and weights.
The gun is probably capable of longer distance than 750 yds I am its limiting factor.
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I got into them because of the modularity, ease of changing barrels etc, and the accuracy. I like to tinker and do my own work as much as possible. I have changed shouldered barrels too but it requires more time/work/tools. Not a huge deal but the barrel nut makes it so much easier. They're often not perfect, but usually a little tweaking and maybe some parts changing and they can be made reliable. I have also had other brands that had problems as well, not just Savage.
Factory savage parts
Factory loads
12x scope
That’s all
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Cheap and accurate. And Walmart has a heavy barrel Axis in .223 that followed me home. :)
Got the 12BVSS after that. It is not the rifle I thought it would be for the reasons above. But, I know I can put another barrel on it when I want to change caliber.
If I were recommending or buying one now? I'd probably look elsewhere. Maybe a Ruger RPR, or a target type AR.
Darn i love when Savages follow me home but that has not happened in a long time.Originally Posted by charlie b
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Yep. If not for that heavy barrel variant that Walmart commissioned I'd probably have Rugers.
I had a Mossberg Patriot .308 as a fun plinking rifle for steel and general farting around. Father's day 2020 I was given a Savage 62f. It was my first .22lr. I was so impressed by the quality and reliability of it I started researching the Brand. When the opportunity came up to choose a gun for my birthday, a 110 in .308 was the easy choice.
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Thank you for sharing that D. Nice little story, and what a great picture there.
Value, shoot great out of the box, but don't have one in the original configuration it came in due to the fact i can work on them changing barrels bolt heads etc. plus they don't dull a band saw blade like a Remington........have/had 223, 22-250, 243, 6MM Competition Match, 7-08, 284, 308
6CM
Pretty much sums it up for me. My Storm XP in 223 is my one and only rifle, which I`ve thoroughly enjoyed "getting to know" at the range in preparation for predators. As such, I really can`t compare it to others . I do think it would be nice if Savage would/could address the issue of the necessity for a small block and tackle that`s necessary to lift the bolt handle to cycle the gun after firing ( an exaggeration...but only a small one! ). Other than that, really like the gun.
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