What's wrong with a Savage?

[Fatcamp]

I had a Boyd's on a Model 10. It was pretty nice.

 

[Fullquiver]

I own 3 Savage rifles and they all outshoot any Rem 700 I've ever owned, I've owned half a dozen 700's BTW.. Matter of fact I have a very inexpensive Axis II that is the most accurate factory configured rifle I have ever owned.. I also have a second hand Savage 110 in 270Win that shoots 5 shot groups at 400 yards consistently right at 2.5 inches.. I also own a Savage 10 in 308 Win that will shoot 10 shot groups into 3/4 inch groups with boring ease.. None have experienced any kind of issues and have been used in extreme conditions of cold,wet, dirt and dust. They're ugly as a stump but very faithful superbly accurate rifles, that have many rounds down their tubes. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one..

 

[roosiebull]

Helped sight in a cheapo axis in 06 this fall, and its as accurate as any custom gun Ive seen. So I bought a .270 ultralite and it is also lights out, out of the box with factory ammo, 1/2 moa. They are kind of clunky actions, plasticky uninspiring stocks and arent pretty looking but the 3 savages Ive spent time with shoot better than most can take advantage of...for the money they kick ass.

My thoughts too... lackluster ugly guns, but they are great shooting rifles. I have had a few, currently I have a 17, wife has a lw storm, and I have the ultralite, nothing bad to say about them, all shoot great, mine has a really smooth action... for the money, they are a lot of rifle

 

[nobody]

My experiences and conclusion are as follows:

1. The big draw to them used to be "they shoot so good!" When they were really popular, they were the only good shooting "cheap" gun on the market. Even then, they shot better than most base model rifles on the shelf that cost much more. Then the Accutrigger came along, and the normal dude could get an easily adjustable trigger on their gun. So they gave people good accuracy and a decent trigger without having to spend custom rifle money. Now, every gun on the shelf will shoot just as well, even the other "cheap" ones, and almost everything nowadays has a factory adjustable trigger. So the two things that set Savage apart are now no longer that special. Every gun on the shelf shoots as good as or better than Savage with usually a better trigger. A Howa 1500 shoots just as good, is a MUCH more solid gun, and has a better 2-stage trigger, for the same price.

2. I've seen lots and lots and LOTS of magazine issues recently. There are 5 or 6 on the shelf at work at Sportsman's that take a considerably ridiculous amount of force to get the magazine just to "click" into place. You have to wiggle and smack and jar them to get them to go into battery. Lots of guys will say "well, it's a cheap gun, so maybe you just need to shave a bit of material off with your pocket knife or something to get it to engage." Ruger and Winchester and even the Remington 783 have the magazine engagement figured out at the same price, why is Savage given a pass? Also, I've seen lots that won't feed the first shell from the magazine if the mag is full. Once the first one is fed and the magazine isn't completely full anymore, they work fine, but a full mag causes issues.

3. I've also seen the same ejection issue that other people mention. It's like the ejector isn't aggressive enough to toss the shell out completely, causing jamming problems.

Bottom line, the things that used to set Savage apart no longer are special, and their other issues are significant enough to not overlook. Even their upper end stuff just feels... clunky compared to other brands. They're just not as refined, in my opinion. Because they're not so special anymore, they're lost in a sea of some really really awesome rifles. Now is not the time to blend in with the bolt action game, it takes a lot to be special. the Savages, from what I'm experiencing, just aren't special enough to set themselves apart anymore.

 

[robtattoo]

I want to disagree with all of that so much. But honestly? I just can't anymore.

Since Ruger came out with their American line & Remmy ditched the godawful 777 in favor of the actually really good 783, its hard to favor Savage anymore, based purely on accuracy for cheap. Winchester maintain their mid range, mid price, mid accuracy niche, concentrating more on the higher end traditional market & Mossberg are...well... good at shotguns I guess.

So much innovation/copying Savage has recently gone into the sub $400 market that Savage really no longer stand out & the new Accublerch stock is as ugly as a mud fence, I don't care who you are. The Edge & Axis created & perfected the market, but haven't managed to keep pace with other manufacturers refinements & that's a real damn shame.

Savage also have the problem of 'Market Confusion'
Model 10/11/12/14/16, 110/112/116etc all in Lightweight Hunter, Lightweight Storm, Predator Hunter, Hunter, Bear Hunter, Hog Hunter, Prairie Hunter, Long Range, Tactical, Tactical Long Range, DMSRVVL, DVLTRSVP ad nausium. Quite frankly they make so many aaaaalmost identical guns, rather than sticking with say, 4 or 5 models, they've actually confused AND saturated their own market.

 

[coloradoan]

Savage has a few things going for them versus the competition. Small things but they're meaningful to me. They have very good recoil pads, better than the pads on Tikkas, Sakos, Mossbergs, or Rugers. I think their ugly new stocks are pretty nice ergonomically. I have a friend who has stiffened up a older Trophy Hunter XP stock and turned it into something pretty nice.

Also, and I am not an expert in rifles by any means, but I have read that the Savage Model 110 action one of the best actions on the market for protecting a shooter in the event of a case failure, along with the much-maligned Remington 700. Obviously there's no substitute for safe firearms practices such as wearing safety glasses, but I appreciate the extra layer of protection when handing a rifle to a loved one.

Back to the original question, I'd like to hear from someone who has installed the extractor/ejector kits and put them through the ringer. I'd also like to hear more about the feeding problems that are apparently pretty common.

 

[Fatcamp]

My ejection problem was if I worked the bolt any faster than slow motion the case would drop back into the action. I googled it and figured out what it probably was, called Savage and they sent me a couple small parts. Disassembled the bolt and installed them. Could work my bolt normally and moved on.

That is actually the rifle above in the Boyd's stock when it was stock and in .308. Rebarrelled to 6.5 and sold shortly after. It never shot real well in .308 no matter what ammo I tried. Still have a .223 and the Cannon.

 

[Apollo117]

Quite frankly they make so many aaaaalmost identical guns, rather than sticking with say, 4 or 5 models, they've actually confused AND saturated their own market.

I fully agree with this. Very few aftermarket parts manufacturers want to make a new stock mold, etc when Savage changes the action screw spacing or bolt release location every decade. And I don't blame them.

However, I do believe Savage is trying to rectify the problem of having 1,001 model numbers. They are moving away from the two digit designation for short actions and three digit designation for long actions. Most of the newly released rifles are all "model 110" regardless of short or long action.

I grew up shooting a lot of Savage rifles. My old man still has a lot of Savage rifles that he can still out-shoot me with. However, Savage rifles are not what I look for when buying a new rifle these days.

 

[Fatcamp]

Actually, thought of another one. Bought a 12FV in 6.5 from Cabela's. They are such a pain in the ass. Wouldn't let me put the bolt in the gun in the store. When I got it home the action was absolutely horrible. Horrible. So rough as to be almost unusable. I worked the action 1000 times to try to loosen it up but it wasn't tight, it was just bad. Sold it to a local Savage nut along with all my spare parts and stocks. After that experience I was done with them. Too many good options to deal with shitty QC like that.

I had forgot about that.

Had a Tikka for a few years now.

I bought that rifle for my wife and she just hated the action. Went to look at Christensen rifles a couple weeks ago and 3 of 5 had actions that bound up if you worked the action. Hard pass.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Nothing, they are affordable and accurate. I’ve seen lots of animals fall to them and I keep an older lightweight hunter with the kuiu stock in my truck.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I have a brush hunter 375 Ruger that I still have not fired yet. I got it a few weeks before all the covid crap started happening almost a year ago now and it’s sat around ever since.

It actually seems like it will be a cool moose rifle if I can ever find components to load for it, I don’t even have a single box of 375 Ruger Ammo to get brass from.

 

[wind gypsy]

A dude had a new heavier barreled model in a chassis at a shooting class I took this summer with a number of issues. Was brand new at the start of the class.

Action screws were loose. Pic rail came loose during the class. Headspace was jacked up, wouldn’t chamber most factory ammo they tried. The instructor went on a tangent about how many junk savages they come across.

The actions are the deal breaker for me. I see no reason to use a rough, fugly action with a long history of ejection issues and minimal aftermarket support.

I do think their Tupperware accustocks feel great for the price point.

 

[Newtosavage]

Savages aren't for everyone. I get that. They can sometimes be a little finicky or unfinished, or whatever. But I've yet to own a Savage (and I've owned about 10 now) that wasn't an MOA shooter or better.

My LW Storm 7mm-08 is a friggin tack driver, even with it's pencil-thin 20" barrel. It's just stupid accurate.

And once you get to know Savages, they are easy to work on and easy to get parts for or modify to whatever you want. I guess you could say the same for Rem 700's because they have so many aftermarket parts, but you ain't gonna rebarrel a Rem 700 in your garage with hand tools unless you get a Remage barrel, and then you're just copying the Savage.

Savage came out with so many innovations that have been copied now. You gotta give them credit. Barrel Nut. Accutrigger. Accustock. Accufit stock. All being copied or going to be copied.

Just get the original and be done with it. Plus you know it's going to shoot well.

To me, Savages are the "Jeep CJ" of the gun world. Sure, they need some TLC, but the folks that use them don't mind and those who don't use them, probably don't have any business owning one in the first place.

 

[Newtosavage]

Ejection. My wife has a lady hunter in 308. It ejects different brass with varying degrees of effectiveness. Chucks some and drops others back into the chamber. Fixes seems iffy. Throw some not easy to obtain parts at it and hope for improvement seems to be the consensus.

I've seen this too. I look at my extractor and ejector on my 1960 vintage 110 and wonder why on earth Savage ever got away from that design. That 61 year old rifle will shuck brass into the next county.

 

[Newtosavage]

I called Savage and convinced them to mail me the bolt parts. Worked like a charm afterwards.

I wonder if anyone has ever called Remington or Winchester or Tikka and had them mail bolt parts. Prolly not.

 

[Flightmurse]

The savage 110 series is like the Glock of hunting rifles. It is a boring design that is clunky, but it tends to work and shoot really well. I have had 7 savages now and I have never had trouble getting sub MOA with handloads, with one (a .223 FLCP-K) would shoot into the .2's consistently with 69gr SMK's. Once you start changing out barrels on them it gets really fun.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

My savages have all shot well and never needed an after market extractor/ejector kit. The factory ones do wear out and then you will get the extractor dropping the case back into the action but 10 dollars in replacement parts and you are good as new. The extractor and ejector in a savage is like wiper blades on a car, it’s a consumable item.

 

[Altoonabcm157]

I wonder if anyone has ever called Remington or Winchester or Tikka and had them mail bolt parts. Prolly not.

Remington, tikka and Winchester are not immune from having to have a part replaced from time to time. There are mechanical components in rifles and when used they wear out. The only way no parts wear out on a rifle is if they are never shot.

 

[Fullquiver]

I wonder if anyone has ever called Remington or Winchester or Tikka and had them mail bolt parts. Prolly not.

Lol. Yeah I don't think Remington would be interested in mailing a new barrel for the 2 1/2 moa one that came on a particular 700 ADL that I used to own..

 

[Gseith]

I have a couple of the Axis models. The 30-06 shot great out of the box, very accurate.
Due to the flimsy stock and and safety I stopped using it. In cold weather I struggled to slide the safety off quickly.