Savage 110 thru 116 action strengths

[sharpshooter]

What are you referring to when you say "single piece" action? Every receiver I've ever seen is a single piece. As far as strength, they're all built strong enough for their intended purpose. Stiffness is a relative term....stiff enough for what? I've never had an issue with an action not being stiff enough.

The current IBS 1 mile 5 shot record was shot by Tim Lambert on 10/04/03 at Pella Ia. The group measured 10.938. Tim also won first place at the NBRSA 1000 yd Nationals by setting a new 6 target agg record of 8.964. That summer he also garnered the VHA longest shot award by hitting a prairie dog at 2155 yds.
And now you're wondering what did he do it with?..............

a 7mm WSM screwed on to a 2002 vintage Savage flat top single shot action.

[BrushyHillGuide]

Let me see if I can address the Original Post. I'll say, up front, that I own Savage rifles as well as some full custom rifles built off custom 700 clone actions like the Defiance Deviant Tactical and the Bighorn TL3. First of all, I think that the 'single piece actions' you're referring to simply mean that the rail on the top of the rifle is actually part of the action rather than a separate piece that's mounted to the top of the action, using "mounting screws" to attach the rail section. Having an action that is milled out of a single piece of metal, including the integral rail, serves 3 purposes: it stiffens the action and it guarantees that the base for your scope will never come loose and it's in absolute perfect alignment with the action. The reason "precision" rifle builders favor these custom actions is for the incredibly tight tolerances that they are manufactured to; and the resulting "trueness" of the action. The capability of an action, any action, to produce consistent accuracy is directly related to how "true" the action is. "True" means that every face is square to every other face - for example, the bolt face is square to the receiver face. When a precision builder uses a factory action he'll check the action and then machine it to make it as true as possible- to try and squeeze as much accuracy as possible out of the action. Savage actions are usually pretty good but they still usually need some truing. The cost for this service can run $250-$500. High end custom actions do not need to be trued. If they are not absolutely true, the manufacturer would immediately replace the action.

The stiffness of an action is important if you're trying to get the utmost accuracy out of your rifle. If you think it isn't important, try adding 10 pounds of torque to your front action screw (it won't harm your rifle) but leave the rear screw alone. See how your rifle shoots. This will cause your action to bend ever so slightly (assuming your action screws were torqued properly to begin with) and it will not shoot as well. The stiffness of a custom action adds to its ability to provide more accuracy than a factory action.
All that said, is a custom action necessary to build a very accurate rifle? Absolutely not. My absolutely stock Savage 10/110 Predator Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor will shoot some factory match ammo consistently in the .6s and consistently in the upper .3s with handloads; and I'm still working to improve those. However, my new full blown custom Creedmoor (built on a Defiance action) shoots factory Hornady 147gr ELD-X consistently in the low .3s! I just picked it up yesterday so I haven't done any load development for it. I'm pretty confident I can get it to shoot in the low .2s or upper .1s. To me, the expense was worth it but for a lot of guys that improvement isn't worth the expense. It all boils down to what your goals are and what you can afford. I spent 2 years squirreling away money and buying components to build this rifle. All the while, happily shooting my Savage better than a lot of guys' custom rifles.

The Savage action has always been popular with some precision shooters because of the barrel nut method of attaching a barrel. This allows guy's to do a lot of their own work on their rifles. Particularly in recent years since high quality barrel makers have begun offering Savage compatible barrels. While there have certainly been records set and top ranked shooters using Savage rifles, there are very few top ranked shooters, in any discipline, shooting Savage actions any more; and the number is still dwindling. There will always be pros shooting them - as long as they sponsor shooters. However, most serious competitive shooters are using one custom action or another. Tikka actions have also gained widespread popularity because of their out-of-the-box trueness. The Savage barrel nut has been stolen to produce the "Remage" system - using a Savage style nut on Remington and Remington clone actions. Recently the West Texas Ordinance "SwitchLug" systems has been introduced which allow shooters to swap barrels with ease, right at the bench, with nothing more than your hands and a Wheeler Fat Wrench - no vices or anything. These types of systems are eliminating one of the traditional appeals of Savage to the precision shooter.

Please don't take my comments as a slam, in any way, on Savage - they aren't. I own, shoot and love several Savage rifles. I hope I answered the OP's original question. A good gunsmith can take a Savage action and make it shoot like most any custom but the cost approaches a custom action; so many guys just go straight to a custom. The Curtis Axiom is under $1k and works as well as any other custom. Most shooters, though, aren't interested in building the most accurate rifle they can and there's nothing wrong with that. Savage produces rifles that are more than accurate enough for most shooters. IMO, it's like cars - some guys drive a Mustang 5.0 and some guys drive a Mustang Shelby 350GT. The Mustang 5.0 is as fast as most guys want to go with handling characteristics that meet or exceed most guys' abilities and desires at a price point that they can afford. Some guys want that 'extra' that the Shelby 350GT provides and they're willing to pay the price. Neither guy is 'cooler' or 'better' and both of them can go get groceries or take their ladies out on a date; but in a head-to-head race, the guy with the Shelby is going to have an edge. That's the difference between a rifle built on a Savage action vs a rifle built on a full custom action.

FWIW - "Gunwerks" is a ripoff. You can get what they offer (or more), for less money, by choosing another builder. They charge for their name and TV image, but don't provide more value. They are all about the hype at a premium premium price.

Sorry for the extraordinarily long post!

What are you referring to when you say "single piece" action? Every receiver I've ever seen is a single piece. As far as strength, they're all built strong enough for their intended purpose. Stiffness is a relative term....stiff enough for what? I've never had an issue with an action not being stiff enough.

I was totally confused by the OP as well, for the same reason. Then the thread digressed into a Savage love fest instead of addressing the issue raised in the OP.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wbm]

What are you referring to when you say "single piece" action? Every receiver I've ever seen is a single piece. As far as strength, they're all built strong enough for their intended purpose. Stiffness is a relative term....stiff enough for what? I've never had an issue with an action not being stiff enough.

I didn't quite understand the multiple piece thing either. Cool about the old flattop. To me one of the better ways to find out about different actions is to look at equipment lists from competitions and check
out the they are using.