4runnerman said:
I take it from your user name your into Toyota's correct? If your into off roading you do modifications to your vehicle to make it perform better don't you? Why would you want to give up that ability in a rifle just to save a few dollars? That isn't what is adding up to me at all with your passion over the Axis. The OP may not be able to get a Remington ADL package for $40 more in his neck of the woods but, he may have not known to look.
Another thing you are telling the OP is that if he buys an Axis rifle he will be accurate with it. That just isn't true, how many of the people you out shoot at the range with the Axis really have the skills you do? Besides I'm sure you hand load to tailor your ammunition to your rifle, how many of those guys you see at the range are using the best quality ammunition for their high dollar rifles? I found most of them bought a high priced rifle thinking that was all they needed to achieve a high level of accuracy, they don't do the work necessary to shoot at a high level of accuracy they just expect it.
Truth be told I don't know of a bolt action rifle being made today that won't beat the accuracy of a stock commercial production rifle of 10-15 years ago. Every rifle company can put out a "Lemon" once in awhile but for the most part the majority of people who buy any new rifle are satisfied with its performance straight out of the box. For those who aren't there are options with a bottom end Remington M700 that aren't there with a Savage Axis.
For those few who develop the skills to shoot to their rifles potential. Then $200 to upgrade your $300 rifles ability is a lot cheaper than buying an $1000 rifle especially if you are sticking with the same cartridge. Seems to me it adds up as well as sticking a lift kit and bigger tires under your Toyota to make it go more places off road than ever before.
I wish someone would have told me to spend the extra money and buy a Jeep CJ or Wrangler instead of buying my cheap old Commando, trying to upgrade that was real expensive as everything had to be modified to work or custom fabricated. I paid $500 for it probably spent well over $2K upgrading the suspension, ignition, fuel system, exhaust, wheels and tires and in the end sold it for $800, some lessons are learned the hard way.
As far as the M40 and M24 sniper rifles that our US Military uses. The action at the heart is the same M700 bolt action that you or I can buy off the shelf at Wal-Mart. The Marine Corps builds their rifles at an armory in Quantico, while Remington was contracted by the Army to build the M24. Marines use a short Action M700 and the Army a long action. What I said was the action used by the Military is the same M700 action we can buy, I never said there wasn't upgrades done to the rifles. I said as well, that I hoped the M24's that Remington put together get a little more attention to detail than the standard assembly line rifle, because our men in uniform who use them deserve that at the very least.