New Rifle or upgrade my own?

[NARDhunterRP]

Wanted to hear some differing thoughts on what I should do. I currently have a savage AXIS II in 6.5 Creedmore, with an older Nikon scope on it. It's a hunting rifle, and it shoots pretty good groups actually. The trigger and stock is meh, as well as the scope. I am wondering if it would be better to replace the stock, scope, rings, and trigger on my current gun, or does it make sense to just buy a whole new rifle? I am always trying to save a little bit if I can too.
I am thinking of more of a budget build for an all-purpose big game hunting rifle if I were to get a new set up, but would also want to take the "buy once, cry once approach in that budget build. let me know different thoughts. TIA

 

[hereinaz]

Axis is not a platform to build from long term. Best to buy something new, even if it is a used Tikka. There are nice REM 700 clone types if you want to go that route.

Is there anything that has your eye?

 

[Cherokeeguide]

I currently have a savage AXIS II in 6.5 Creedmore

I am wondering if it would be better to replace the stock, scope, rings, and trigger on my current gun, or does it make sense to just buy a whole new rifle?

I don't mean to come across as an elitist prick, but no matter how much lipstick you apply to a Savage Axis II, it is still going to be a Savage Axis II. If you ever want to move it on down the trail, it isn't going to be worth more with the lipstick applied than it would be without it.

Sell it and buy something that you'll find to be more personally satisfying.

I am always trying to save a little bit if I can too.

How much did you save by shopping from the discount bolt-action bargain bin? I'm guessing you didn't really save a whole lot, given your apparent desire to replace the stock, scope, rings, and trigger, or just buy a whole new rifle.

I am thinking of more of a budget build for an all-purpose big game hunting rifle if I were to get a new set up,

That sounds like the same kind of thinking that leads people to believe that buying a Savage Axis II makes economic sense in the first place.

It doesn't.

Owning a firearm is potentially cheap, thanks to things like the Savage Axis, the Maverick 88, and the Kel-Tec P-17. Actually using a firearm never was, is not, and never will be. The real cost of shooting sports isn't in the hardware. It is in the metal you send downrange through it, and all of the costs associated with doing that. Those costs don't change if you do your shopping from the discount bolt action bargain bin. You pay the same for licenses, tags, range fees, ammunition, and everything else involved with recreational shooting as someone who spends over $2,000.00 on a new Winchester Model 70 Super Grade does.

Instead of thinking about how much your firearm costs, think about how much it actually costs to engage in anything other than the most casual use of one. Nothing about using a firearm recreationally is cheap and those costs have only gone up in my five decades as a licensed hunter. Do you really want to spend what it costs to hunt deer, elk, and pronghorn in western states, so that you can use a Savage Axis II while you do it?

Maybe you do, but if I'm going to spend what it costs to put a rifle to use, I'm going to a rifle worth spending that kind of money on, and that rifle isn't coming out of the discount bolt action bargain bin.

 

[Deere_Man]

The only upgrade worth doing to the Axis is new set of mounts and a decent scope. But if the Nikon holds zero, no need. Just keep it as a spare and buy a new setup.

 

[coyotekilla]

Axis arnt terrible at doing the job they are made for. That in my opinion is being an occasional use, inexpensive, disposable rifle. If your a guy that only hunts deer in his home state the day after Thanksgiving with the family cause its tradition and leaves the rifle alone the rest of the year, they do the job.

Now, if you want something with a little refinement, something you can build off of, they arnt the right choice. For that id steer you towards the savage 110 w/ top bolt release, an older rem 700, a bergerra, a howa 1500, or my favorite, a Tikka t3x.

Buddy bought an older t3 243, used in a shop 2 weeks ago, for 500, think it came with a cheap scope too. He swapped the scope, and we have taken it to the range 2x. It flat out drives tacks. He shot 5 you could cover with a dime completely, handed me the rifle and I repeated it save a flyer that jumped an 1/8th of an inch. That little gem gives his full blown target rifle, rem 40x w/ a Douglass a serious run for its money.

Well, that's what id do, id buy another that has good aftermarket support and build a fine 1 off that.

 

[Pheasanthnter1]

For the Axis, do a M carbo trigger upgrade kit, prefit from northland, boyds or oryx stock/chassis... then have fun.

Otherwise, used tikka, rem 700, or even howa mini

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[NARDhunterRP]

Appreciate the replies- some of the routes mentioned were ones I had in mind- between tikka, begara, hogue and weatherby.

To preface- I actually didn’t buy this actual gun that I currently own. It was a gift- have been using it to hunt when I’m not bow hunting over the last 8 years. So it’s finally time to upgrade in some way shape or form. I don’t want to be “gun broke”, and Mae sure I have money for gas, tags, and applications- which is where the budget part comes in.

It sounds like I should do a new rifle set up… DARN…

 

[Mtndawger]

Look at it this way: if you make the right upgrade choices, whether they be new components or a whole new platform, you might actually have fun going out and shooting it. That in turn feeds a desire to go hunt with it. And to become more proficient with it. It may add a whole new dimension to your life.

 

[bnewt3]

I think im going to break from most of the conventional thinking somewhat.

You say what you have groups pretty well. Do you trust it for the longest shot you might consider? If not, then you need something new as IMO it doesnt make financial sense to try and get it there.

If you do trust it then I dont see any reason to get something new, as already mentioned, if your scope holds zero and works for your hunting, why change? If the scope isnt ideal, then youll need a new scope whether its this rifle or a new one, so get a new scope.

However, the thing that really matters are your goals for it.

What do you want out of your ideal rifle? X.X MOA @ XXXyds? Certain weight target? Length target? increased shooting comfort?

Then think about where your current rifle falls short. Is it reasonable to expect that your rifle can meet those goals, given the limited aftermarket for the Axis II? Are you going to have to make significant concessions in your choices and it still doesnt meet those goals?

The aftermarket for Axis II is sparse. IMO theres no reason to, for example, put an aftermarket stock on it if you cant get what you really want and instead have to put something less desirable on it because its all thats available.

One of the biggest reasons a huge percentage of the rifles sold today are Tikka and R700(& clones). They have huge aftermarket support so people can make them exactly the way they want.

Thats quite a bit of rambling but I hope you get my point

 

[bnewt3]

Do you really want to spend what it costs to hunt deer, elk, and pronghorn in western states, so that you can use a Savage Axis II while you do it?

There is no direct correllation between the cost of a rifle and its accuracy. There are trends, it is certainly more likely that you get a shooter when you pay more, but it isnt a guarantee.

Savage has a longstanding reputation of making shooters. They tend to fall short in other areas, but delivering a bullet where you want it is THE job and they are known to do that. There isnt a single animal that cares what launched the bullet.

 

[WhoGarrDen]

What's wrong with it again?... Ive read your posts and replies and there doesn't seem to be any reason to change at this time.

Chop length a little, add threaded muzzle and a suppressor and you might find it to be a whole new gun that you love.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

I don’t want to be “gun broke”, and Mae sure I have money for gas, tags, and applications- which is where the budget part comes in.

You still seem to think that you'll save money by cheapening out on hardware. The only people who really save money doing that are people who are the most casual users and who don't really need a general purpose hooved-game rifle, anyhow. They're the people for whom their rifle is their biggest expense.

Here's a photo essay illustrating the reality of hunting in most of mule deer country:

In order to do this:


Or perhaps this, too:


You will need to use routes like this:



So, you'll need something like this:


Or this:



.....in order to use things like these:



The rifle in the photo immediately above is a Browning A-Bolt II Medallion in .257 Roberts. I won it in a raffle on $100.00 worth of tickets. In essence, it was free.

But using it costs exactly the same as using this:



I bought the rifle above when I was 19 back in 1984. It cost the equivalent of $1,350.00 in 2026 money, even back then.

That wasn't my biggest hunting-related expense that year and if you're planning on engaging in the kind of hunting where you actually have a real need for a general purpose hooved game rifle, it won't be yours, either, particularly if future plans call for hunting BLM or Forest Service land somewhere in mule deer country. A lot of that, as mentioned previously, involves vehicle travel on "most difficult" routes, so in order to make use of ANY rifle out in mule deer country, you're going to need a vehicle that can handle the kind of routes you're going to need to use.

I don’t want to be “gun broke”

If shopping outside of the budget bolt action discount bargain bin is going to make you "gun broke" now, then......

So it’s finally time to upgrade in some way shape or form.

....probably isn't as true as saving toward the goal of buying a rifle worth spending "use cost" on is.

Look closely at the photo of the Ruger No.1 Single Shot. I took that photo in 2024. I bought the rifle in 1984. I spent far more on using the rifle over the four decades that I owned it than I spent in buying it new.

That's the kind of economic reality that you don't seem to "get."

Owning a rifle is potentially cheap. It doesn't get cheaper than a free to you Savage Axis II. Using a rifle never was, isn't now, and never will be. That being the case, my argument is that you'll be better off budgeting for the goal of buying something truly satisfying than spending what t costs to use a rifle on the privilege of using something that you "settled for" based on price.

With a quality item, there is no "coulda woulda shoulda" involved. The sting of the purchase price fades and you're left with genuine satisfaction and pride of ownership across decades of use, in which you will have spent far more to use a quality rifle than you'll have spent in order to buy it.

But, it's your money. Buy whatever trips your trigger.

Personally, I'm not spending $10,000.00 on a Jeep, and spending another $10,000.00 on another Jeep I had to put together myself, in order to hunt with a rifle like a Tikka that's half the cost of something like a controlled-feed Winchester Model 70 that I'd get more satisfaction out of owning and using. If I'm going to spend 20 grand on vehicles so I can use a rifle, I'm going to use the rifle I really want and not something I settled for because it was a cheaper option.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

There is no direct correllation between the cost of a rifle and its accuracy. There are trends, it is certainly more likely that you get a shooter when you pay more, but it isnt a guarantee.

Savage has a longstanding reputation of making shooters. They tend to fall short in other areas, but delivering a bullet where you want it is THE job and they are known to do that. There isnt a single animal that cares what launched the bullet.

The point isn't whether some discount bargain-bin bolt action is as accurate or even more accurate than something more up-market.

The point is "They tend to fall short in other areas" but cost exactly the same to use as something more up-market that doesn't.

It is true that there isn't a single animal that cares what launched the bullet, but that's not the point, either.

The point is that I care, because I'm the one paying for the license and the tag, the travel costs to the hunting area and back, and I'm the one paying for the kind of vehicle I need in order to use any hooved game rifle out in mule deer country, and the camping gear I need to use in order to stay in that country until the tag is filled. None of that is cheap.

THAT is the point; that it costs just as much to use a free Savage Axis II as it costs to use a $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 rifle, and nothing about those costs are cheap to someone who truly has a use for a general-purpose hooved-game rifle.

Some people are okay with spending tens of thousands of dollars on the low range four-wheel drive capability and camping gear required for hunting public land in mule deer, elk, and pronghorn country, so they can use some bargain-bin rifle when they get they get there, even if such things "fall short in other areas."

That's not how most avid hunters applying for multiple hunts in multiple states tend to roll, though.

 

[ProRoad]

well, ya. I had the same question as the OP last year. now I have a new big game rifle and 2 ARs. This week I drew a special tag that only allows iron sights, so guess what? I am back to my proven, 50 year old 30.06, just without the old scope, and its beautiful and I'm excited all over again. It really comes down to the tag you draw, if at all. Go get a new rifle, it's the start of a new love affair!