For all you Savage haters

T

TMD

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And for some of you Savage fans who are griping about the changes they made to the new model 10fcp-sr. Yes they removed the muzzle brake, changed out the Hogue stock for their own Accu-stock, and switched from taking AI mags to their own mags but for $700 out the door and a $100 rebate making it a $600 rifle I have to say its a heck of a bargain.
I picked it up a few weeks ago, mounted a Vortex Viper 6.5x20 scope on it that I had laying around and tossed it in the safe. Well a few days ago I finally got to shoot it. After zeroing the scope at 25 yards I set up one at 100 yards. The target on the right it from them. The 3 shots in the center that aren't marked are some 168 grain HPBT's from Ultramax, some cheapo ammo I had laying around. The bottom left is 168 grain Hornady A-Max. I thought this was pretty good and was quit happy considering I had a 15mph tail wind. The I pulled out some 180 grain blems I had loaded for my .308 AR's . I picked these up a few months ago for like $12 a hundred and thought they would make for some cheap plinkers in my AR's. Best I can tell from the looks of the bullets they look like Remington Accutips. Anyways in a 16" barreled AR they aren't worth a bean. Best I was able to get was about 1.5" @ 100 yrds after trying 3 different powders and a dozen different loads. Well I aimed at the center again where I shot the Ultramax's and was amazed that I pretty much put 3 rounds in darn near the same hole. I figured I better quit while I was ahead. Well this morning I went back out to see If I was just dumb luck. The target on the left is from this morning. This time I had about a 10 mph cross wind and still managed to put all 3 rounds within a 1/4".
Now its time to load up some 220 grain subsonic loads and attach the suppressor.
 
Savage isn't the prettiest or best finished rifle around, but most of them are indeed accurate.

I own only one Savage, an Axis stainless in .223, that reliably groups three shots in the high .2's/low .3's at 100 yards. I should mention that the stock has been replaced with a Boyd's, I did a trigger job, and I was shooting my best handloads to get those groups. With factory match ammo and in the factory stock was right around 3/4 moa. The handloads shoot so much better because they can be loaded out near the lands which gives me an OAL of 2.400". SAAMI max OAL is 2.26". Long chamber throats seem to be a very common thing with Savages for some reason and cause some of them not to shoot factory ammo all that well.

I'd much rather have the accu-stock on that rifle than the Hogue. I'm not a fan of the rubberized overmolding and the forend is flimsy on them as well. The accu-stock is actually decent for a synthetic in that price range. I don't care for detachable mags, but it goes with the territory on law enforcement weapons and most Savages. I like your scope choice, hard to beat a Vortex Viper for that price range.

It's hard to load an inaccurate .308 win round when using Varget (or RL-15). The case and powder are practically made for each other IMO. I might have tried 168 gr Sierra Matchkings instead of A-Maxes, but that's a matter of opinion.
 
You got a good shooter, congrats. After years of hating on Savage because of their looks I finally picked up a Precision Carbine in .308 Winchester last year. It is a great shooter too and I'm finding that I no longer think how ugly the rifle is, but rather how pretty the groups it prints are!
 
I might have tried 168 gr Sierra Matchkings instead of A-Maxes, but that's a matter of opinion.
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I'm sure the Matchkings would do well in this gun with its 24" 1/10 barrel. I only used the Hornadys because it was an old box I had with only 6 rounds left in it. I have a butt load of .308 bullets in different weights between 110 grain and 220 grain for my .300 Blackouts and will probably load up some 220 grain subsonics to see how it shoots with my AAC SDN-6 suppressor.
 
I have more than my fair share of Savage rifles. They are definitely worth the money. All of them shoot well(eventually). I built my latest 1K bench rifle off a Savage B.R. action. Having said that, I only have one Savage rifle that came with a decent composite stock. It was a McMillan stock. The rest of the stocks flat suck the hind dangley thing on the utter. I have 7 or 8 Savages that came with laminate stocks. They are first quality stocks that perform at the highest level. However, Savage composite stocks are a bad joke. My .338 Win Mag weather warrior ripped itsself out of the stock. Good thing I did not get hit with the barreled action when it broke loose.
 
My first rimfire, 50 years ago now (maybe 51 or 52!), was a Savage bolt action. Sill have it, refinished the stock once, has a 4X Weaver on it, almost since I got it. Can't count the number of squirrels it has got through the years.

I bought my second Savage earlier this year, .17HMR, stainless, w/thumbhole stock and a Nikon 4 to 12X Prostaff on it. Good looking gun, though I have yet to shoot it.

On my "bucket list" of guns is a Savage that for the longest time, I thought it to be one of the ugliest guns. Today, a Model 99 in .250 Savage is one of my most desired guns.

Sounding like an old phart, so enough is enough.
 
It's funny how often my response to guns is like movies--the ones that get bad reviews by the public are often the ones I end up liking the most.:) (and vice versa)
 
I don't hate Savage rifles, I just don't like factory Savage rifles. I prefer just to have the action and then put it together the way I want. I've never had a complaint with how they shoot and I still own several a couple even have factory barrels still on them.
 
I just bought my first Savage its a 308 11 VT heavy barrel I got from Dicks for around $550. I bought it to turn into a 6.5 Creedmoor. I shot it with the 308 barrel on it just to see what it could do before I put the 6.5 Creedmoor barrel on it and I must say it was well below 1 MOA even with the s h i t t y stock stock. Anybody want to buy a Savage heavy barrel 308 barrel with about 30 rds down the pipe let me know.....:)
 
I have one, a .243. Don't remember the model but it sits in the safe. Can't touch the RAR .243 I replaced it with
 
It's not that I "hate" Savages, it's just that their lines don't have the visual good looks of say, a Remington 700. The Savage 10/110 is the AR of the bolt action world-the LEGO bolt rifle. The home gunsmith's pet.
I have a pair of Savage 25/06's that I wouldn't part with-they are true, consistent cloverleaf shooters. One is a factory HB and one has an aftermarket(did it myself) 24" sporter weight barrel. Both have after market triggers.
There's just a lot one can do with/to a Savage. The problem is the accumulated cost of these home mods. Soon one has the price of a higher dollar factory rifle stuck into a dead end rifle. If it suits YOUR needs/desires, that's fine. If not, you're never getting the money back. On the other hand, you have only more $$ to lose in continuing to mod the platform by changing calibers/barrel profiles/stocks.
 
Agreed--but savages are one of the easiest and cheapest rifles to home mod. Last year I was in financial dire straights--so bad that I did the very last thing I wanted to do--sell off a bunch of firearms. Some very nice guns of all types were sold--but of all the ones I sold I miss my home-job axis 308 the most. Excluding the scope I put less than $400 into it and the guy I sold it to doesn't want to sell it back to me--he tells me his range buddies also admire how well it shoots.
 
Mobuck said:
The Savage 10/110 is the AR of the bolt action world-the LEGO bolt rifle. The home gunsmith's pet.
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Anybody know why? It's because of the floating bolt head. Many cuts on the Remington have be perfectly aligned and slop free to get good accuracy. This leads to accurizing, "sleeving" and even bushings added to hold the bolt in alignment.

The most accurizing you can do to a Savage is to lap the lugs and recut the bolt face. Most don't need that.

A new barrel on a Rem 700 requires significant machine work to headspace well. A savage requires a good barrel and gages. . .well, really a GO gage. . . .and a barrel vise, nut wrench, action wrench maybe.

So, in a few words Savage design is better.
 
The simplicity of the Savage design shines when/if you want an odd caliber or just to swap out an wore out barrel, (lots of take off barrels for sale). For me that came from the desire to acquire a 338-06 rifle. Love the caliber and very versatile!
 
B&C just came out with a stock to fit the Savage 10's with a DBM set ups. I bought one for my Precision Carbine, got it in and mounted the rifle to it. Major upgrade to the gun, it fits much better than the Accustock did. I'm waiting on it to be dipped in a Tree Bark pattern. When it comes back, the metal will be sprayed in a DuraCoat WWII OD Green. Mount is being replaced with a DNZ Gamereaper. Still trying to decide on replacing the glass with a Trijicon or SHV or keeping the 4200 I currently have for it. I'm also kicking around replacing the factory DBM with a CDi kit.
 
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