Point of diminishing returns?

[swampy14]

I have a 20” savage axis in 6.5cm that I’ve owned for about 3.5years. It was the first rifle I bought myself and it has harvested quite a few animals. It shoots the Barnes 127lrx factory ammo between .75-1.0 moa as long as I do my part.

I put some money into as far as painting, bedding the action and a new bolt sleeve/handle. Weighs in at 7.8pbs ready to hunt. (Pic below of said axis)



This is where the dilemma comes in. I am purchasing a suppressor mid September and this rifle isn’t threaded. I had my local gun smith said they could potentially thread it but given it’s a sporter contour they need to see it first.

I’m on the fence about continuing to throw money at this versus buying something else that’s better suited and has more aftermarket. If I do consider something else it would be a new threaded tikka, a savage 110 trail hunter, weatherby 307 range or closeout Seekins (if I can find them by the time I can afford one)

 

[swampy14]

The only “upgrades” left that I could do to the axis is an MDT stock/chassis and a new barrel.

I’ve considered doing both those things, but those would put me in the budget to get a better rifle with better aftermarket

 

[RWT]

FWIW I am Moving off savage and rem700’s style into Tikkas and a Seekins. (I know Seekins is 700 style but with a flat action) Triggers have become a concern for me and Trigger Tech and factroy Tikka are much better than the Savage factory IMO. Additionally finding after market stocks for a savage is painful. Not all versions are supported. If it shoots that well I would keep it as you ALWAYS take 2 rifles on a hunt in the event one has an issue.
I would leave this as is. Then start the new build, but keep it in the same caliber. This way you only buy one type of ammo for practice and hunting.

There is nothing wrong with Savages and I’ve owned 6 in my time. I am down to 3 of them. I just want to move to a model with more options and improved features.

 

[Truck24hr]

Yep. I'm ok with the factory Tikka stock opened up, adding the vert grip and a cheek riser. For me, Tikka is the easy choice.

First thing if you buy the Trail Hunter is replacing that POS stock. If you do that, you're 150-250$ over the Tikka cost

 

[rookieforever33]

I love my savage model 10 in .308. But its heavy. I kept it and upgraded to another rifle in .308 as above stated. I kind of wished I would have gotten a different cartridge. It would be nice to have a different tool in the box that could also be used as a backup. Another benefit of 2 rifles is more shooting on range days. If the budget is tight thread what you have. But if you have the scratch maybe add a .223, 6.5prc, or 7prc to the line up.

 

[Vern400]

I just had a fatter barrel put on my 700 hunting rifle.
I could have bought a new basic rifle for the same money. But a new rifle wouldn't have had the feature set wanted. And I would have dorked around with it and spent more money. And a new scope. And mounts. And a sling. And a stock I like. And very likely a new recipe because I hand load. So I put all my money towards a fatter sporter length tube that's threaded and is highly likely to out-shoot the majority of off-the-shelf guns.

I guess I opted for simplicity. There's something to be said for buying a new rifle too.

 

[swampy14]

FWIW I am Moving off savage and rem700’s style into Tikkas and a Seekins. (I know Seekins is 700 style but with a flat action) Triggers have become a concern for me and Trigger Tech and factroy Tikka are much better than the Savage factory IMO. Additionally finding after market stocks for a savage is painful. Not all versions are supported. If it shoots that well I would keep it as you ALWAYS take 2 rifles on a hunt in the event one has an issue.
I would leave this as is. Then start the new build, but keep it in the same caliber. This way you only buy one type of ammo for practice and hunting.

There is nothing wrong with Savages and I’ve owned 6 in my time. I am down to 3 of them. I just want to move to a model with more options and improved features.

Yeah I’m probably going to leave the axis as is and put my money elsewhere. The 110 is better for stocks than the axis but not as good as tikka or rem700 clones.

 

[swampy14]

I just had a fatter barrel put on my 700 hunting rifle.
I could have bought a new basic rifle for the same money. But a new rifle wouldn't have had the feature set wanted. And I would have dorked around with it and spent more money. And a new scope. And mounts. And a sling. And a stock I like. And very likely a new recipe because I hand load. So I put all my money towards a fatter sporter length tube that's threaded and is highly likely to out-shoot the majority of off-the-shelf guns.

I guess I opted for simplicity. There's something to be said for buying a new rifle too.

I can see that too. But I think if I’m going to buy a second rifle it would be one I wouldn’t have to change much on it

 

[swampy14]

I love my savage model 10 in .308. But its heavy. I kept it and upgraded to another rifle in .308 as above stated. I kind of wished I would have gotten a different cartridge. It would be nice to have a different tool in the box that could also be used as a backup. Another benefit of 2 rifles is more shooting on range days. If the budget is tight thread what you have. But if you have the scratch maybe add a .223, 6.5prc, or 7prc to the line up.

I’m going to see if they can thread my rifle at least to get me through till I can afford something else. I wish my local scheel’s was closer so I could put hands on some different rifles before I bought one. Local shops are kinda limited.

I have a .223 in a gas gun, I have thought about converting my current axis to a different caliber but the 6.5cm covers my uses pretty well.

 

[Long84]

I vote to leave your current rifle as it is and buy a Tikka.

For what it's worth, I own a Savage 110 Trail Hunter Lite. The factory stock is trash, I replaced mine with a Stockys. The trigger leaves a lot to be desired.

I also own one of the new threaded Tikkas. Took it straight out of the box, adjusted the trigger, dropped it in a Stockys that I picked up used and headed to the range. It shot little 3 shot groups with boring consistency.