Quote Originally Posted by Rifleman51
Savage retooled with new CNC machines about the time the Accu Stock came out. If you have numbers on the bottom of the tang, your rifle was made on the new equipment.
The tollerences on the new rifles is much better and more consistant than on the older models.

They use the numbers to keep track of how many cuts have been cut with each cutter so they can be changed out before the cutter gets dull. Other manufacturers don't keep anywhere near as good of track of the sharpness of the cutters in their CNC machines.
If your rifle is an older model, that may explain the difference.

The new bolt faces are really parellel and seldom need truing, the old one's usually needed truing.

Cutos to Savage for upgrading equipment during the resession. Just one more reason the Savage is the best mass produced rifle available.

John K
Savage doesn't manufacture the bolt heads, they are a contracted part. They have changed slightly in design, but they are no better or worse than before. They are still polished in a vibratory tumbler and have dished surfaces, although I have seen some on target actions that have had the lug surfaces ground. They still have tolerance, but .015" is a bit big, most of the time they won't vary over .005".