Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Savage Lightweight Hunter

Just purchased a new Savage LWH 16 (stainless/synthetic) in .243 Winchester. Wanted a lightweight/compact & this surely fits the bill at (5.5) lbs. bare & (6.5) lbs. scoped. Haven't had chance to shoot yet as it's been cold & windy here in NW MI. Only concern so far the flimsy synthetic stock fit; barrel channel has large gap on right side & pretty standard gap on left side. Not pretty, but definitely free floated with no barrel contact. Forearm is kinda flimsy, but takes a lot of pressure to contact the barrel. Anyone have one similar? How's it shoot? Really don't care about the looks if it shoots!!! This is the first Savage I have ever owned, so no knowledge!

Is that weight actual measured weight or advertised weight?

Good luck with it.Being a Savage,I bet that ugly POS shoots.

That is actual weight! Scope is Leupold VX3i 2 1/2-8 x 36. Yep, it's an ugly Savage; just hope it shoots!

Great little guns, last year I purchased a 16 LWH in 223, right out of the box it shot well under an inch with Hornday lead free 35 gr NTX® Superformance, I switched to the 55 GR GMX® Superformance and two more sub-MOA groups. The little gun really shoots.

Now I also have one in 243 that I got here in the classifieds for a great price, I only tried one load so far Federal copper 80 gr ammo and it was just at 1" at hundred yards. I cant wait until I have time to do some reloading because I am sure the 243 is going to be another great shooter.

Good to know. I might need to pick one up for my daughter. I wouldn't fret too much about cutting the stock down a bit.

Word of caution on the scope. I ordered a set of low Talley's after I talked to a rep at Talley. Assured me they would work fine with the Leupold 2 1/2-8 x 36. Well, they fit the scope barrel (barely), but the power adjustment ring contacted the corner of the base. Had to grind the corner a little for clearance and touch up with black felt pen!

I have one in .308, but haven't had good enough weather to shoot it yet. You get yours on sale at Cabelas too?

I'm with you on not caring about aesthetics for this particular rifle, so long as it shoots. I have had one other Savage for many years - a 110 in .243 - and it is very accurate with most loads I've tried. The barrel was a little rough and hard to get clean when new. I went through the process of firelapping it, and fixed that nicely. Don't know if that's still an issue with this gun. Does anybody still do that?

I'm hoping to get in a little shooting this weekend, and if so, I'll let you know how it goes.

Got one in 7-08 that shoots the lights out mounted with a swaro z3. Light enough.

Damn, I hope this thing shoots! Love the weight & compactness. Hope my expectations aren't too high; I've been spoiled by my Tikka T3 .243 that shoots lights out with everything I throw at it. Shoots several loads under 0.5".

i prefer the dimensions of the LWH. 20" barrel, handy. prefer the blue/wood one to the stainless and tuppeware, though. the salvage is more "rough" in every respect to the tikka.

Ya, I like the wood/blue one too; but not for $150-$200 more!

I have one in 223. I have only had it at the range one time for a sight in and one three shot group. This is what it did.

The Savage isn't as pretty as her Ruger ultralight siblings, but she outshoots them...handily.

look at the Savage Ladyhunter then.
It is prettier.
My wife has the rifle and loves it.
It is same weight as the lightweight but stock designed for females.

I've gotta post my findings on here as I'm flabbergasted.

Picked up a Savage LWH 116 in .270 while Cabelas was having a sale thinking "ah, it'll be a great backup". Threw a cheap Nikon Buckmaster II i had laying around on it and Game Reaper mount. Picked up a box of Swift's "High Grade" in 130gr... it was on sale at the Sportsmans Warehouse and I figured it would be a good break in. This was shot 6,7 and 8 out of the gun.


Blown away.

I normally load my own, I'm hoping Swift will share their recipe!

I've got a Savage 14 in .250 Sav.,it doesn't disappoint !

That does NOT suck!

I got mine back at the first of the year, LWH 16 in 243. It shoots good. It seemed to like the 58 V-max and Nosler 55 & 70 Ballistic tips. Blue box Federal 80 grainers shoot OK to.

The recoil lug does not have a pocket in the plastic stock, just the pad area behind it where the front action screw goes through. I bedded that area and the action so that the lug sits tight in a pocket now and feel I gained some accuracy.

I also picked up a thin solid butt plate that needed very little fitting to short up the length of pull. Makes it even handier and the rubber pad doesn't grab my coat now.

I liked the milled receiver and fluted bolt so I thought it would make a nice action to build off of if I didn't like how it shot. May be a 25-08 Improved with a stainless fluted barrel in the future? Its fun to dream.

I'm not sure why I buy anything but a Savage. I'm tripping over myself right now and driving Darrik at Whittaker nuts over getting a new Kimber...and I was sorta dissapointed overall the day I took my 338WM 116 out to check the zero before this last hunting season and my first two shots did this at 100 yards...I'd have swore I had it sighted in for 1.5" high! Oh well.

Oh yeah, 200 grain Hornady Superformance SST's off the shelf.

Not at all! It was very surprising, I honestly expected ~MOA from the gun. If it had been 1.5MOA I don't think I would've balked a lot, but .295... Okay. I guess.

i need an option like this for my mod 16 ... great rifle, i just hate the floppy recoil pad and need a 1/2" shorter LOP.

Finally got a chance to shoot my .308 Light Hunter. Right off the bat, I shot three rounds into under a half inch at about 80 yds - all holes overlapping. That was with midrange load with 125gr TNT that I threw together. Later groups opened up a little as the barrel warmed. Haven't touched the trigger adjustment yet. Next time out,I'll try some 150gr SPBT.

That is great to hear FreeMe. These little guns flat out get it done. How was recoil?

They're the only Savages that interest me; kind of art-deco-ish with all the lightening cuts. So ugly they look good. I like the SS and walnut the best.

With the 125gr load, recoil was quite pleasant - although a little lively compared to my heavier 110 in .243. I shot a couple rounds of 150gr Rem green box too, and while the gun was slightly more jumpy, there was nothing uncomfortable about it. The recoil pad is soaking things up real well. I just had a light shirt on and felt like I could have shot it all day without getting sore.