I am fairly new to the site, but am a big fan! I just wanted everyone to know that I bought my first rifle, a Savage 14 308 Win. I was looking for a 30-06, but the price was right and I pulled the trigger. The gun is beautiful and I have mounted on top of it a nice 2.5-10 x 42 Nikon Monarch, which I purchased off this site. I can't describe how awesome if feels to finally have a rifle to add to my collection of shotguns. I am going on my first elk hunt next year in Colorado and was concerned that the 308 wasn't enough shell, but I am going to the range tomorrow to get her driving tacks. I think a good shot with a 165 grain pill will do wonders for elk. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know. Cheers! Steve.

Congrats!!!! Hopefully we will have a convert on our hands in no time . Practice quite a bit with your 308 and by next year you'll be good to go on those elk with that 165 gr. load. Watch out for some of the guys here, they will try talking you into running some 130 ttsx's though . Either way, when you put one of those pills through the boiler room the elk won't know what hit him..

Congratulations!

Welcome to the Fire! Sounds like a pretty good rig to me.

Kudos and a 308 is more then enough for an Elk, don't let those 30-06 and 270 guys tell you any different!!!! I even had a 270 once, I killed everything from squirrels to Cape Buffalo and AK Kodiak Bears on the charge with it and a few elephants quartering away from me with disastrous results, DRT. After that I fiqured all that 30-06 stuff was just campfire talk.

The 308 is a great caliber and those Savages are known to be very accurate!
Congratulations!!!

Super caliber! Congrats. I am sure there will be many more...

Way cool and wellcome to the fire!

A fine choice! A .308 in a 1950's vintage Savage 110 was what my dad did most of his hunting with.

Another soul lost...

Welcome to the Loony Bin!

Congrats and welcome to the Fire! I must warn you, within 3-4 years you'll have a gun safe full of rifles, a reloading press, all kinds of bullets and powder, and then you'll convert to true Loonyism and start buying dies for rifles you don't even own...

Isn't that the truth!!!! I hope he is single or has a very understanding wife, just sayin......

You did well. I have a couple of friends that repeatedly and handily take elk with 308s. I almost bought a 308 for my elk rifle, but wanted to have more recoil (and higher priced ammo), so I went with a 300 WSM.

Great purchase; I think the Savage 14/114 is the best looking Savage series produced since the Savage Model 99 lever action.

And, I think you are the first guy I have read about on this site to buy one. That .308 will do OK on an elk....

That's hilarious...

308? You can roll with that for a while just fine.

Congrats on your new toy and I wish you success on your elk hunt.

Don't worry about the .308 being "enough gun" - just pick your shot and put one in the bread basket.

Welcome to the insanity of the rifleman fraternity. You made a great choice on a rifle and optics. I wish you much luck. I will caution you, that you will probably end up like the rest of us, on a life-long quest to own and shoot the perfect rifle. Have fun with that!

Welcome to the fire. Always glad to have another Iowan on board. And a great choice of rifle and scope. I love Nikons! Own eight camers (I think), some binocs, and a few scopes by Nikon. They all work as advertised.

congrats. lets see a pic of the rig.

Another Howdy! You can't beat the .308...period.

Thanks for the interest guys, I'm charging my camera batteries and will soon have pics up. I am a southpaw, so my lefty rifles were limited to Tikka, Ruger, Savage, and Remington. I liked the looks of the 700 CDL, but didn't like the looks of the price tag. Tikkas, I understand, shoot well. I hadn't heard a complaint about Savage's accuracy, and the Ruger never really tripped my trigger, so to speak. I just took my time, looked at my options, and decided the Savage 14/114 was my best option. The wood is beautiful, the fit and finish I would rank up there with anything, the trigger is GREAT, and I can't tell you how well the thing shoots... mainly because I am rained out currently in Iowa and it's driving me crazy! Again, pics will be up soon, before dinner I reckon...

Hmm....I'm still in search of that "perfect" rifle. I'll let you guys know when I find it

Very nice rifle. Who said savages are ugly???? I'm pretty sure it will shoot as good as it looks, it's a savage after all.....And you're a lefty. Bless your heart, Nsaqam will be happy

If you never bought another rifle and scope their would be nothing you couldn't do. Welcome, nice choice, congrats, and good luck. By the way you'll buy more, LOL.

Good luck, Guy

Ain't that the truth...

That is a VERY nice looking rig you got there!

thats a nice little rifle.

Lefty eh? Should have gone with the .300 Savage in that case.

Very nice. It looks to me you may need a raised cheekpiece to get your eyes up to the scope with a proper cheek weld. Hold the rifle and close your eyes. Mount it naturally without thinking about it. Hold it there and open your eyes. I'll bet you end up looking under the scope. If you are seeing the crosshairs clearly, you are good to go. If you need to raise up, you will need something. Guys who use them call them stock packs. Some guys will make their own out of whatever they have laying around. Allen makes an inexpensive one. I have used an Allen butt stock cartridge carrier with some padding under it to get me up where I needed. I also have a Blackhawk stock pack on my long range rifle with no padding. It depends on how much you need. Try something temporary until you find what works. What ever you do, use something soft, that stock is too nice to mess up.
You may also be able to use lower rings to drop the scope a bit. That may get you enough, or at least help. In my opinion, most gun shops guys don't think about the scoope height. See if your shop will fit a lower set of rings for you. Just make sure the bolt does not hit the objective bell. Most who mount a lot of scopes will remove the bolt prior to setting the rings. That way you don't forget to check.
Good luck and keep us informed, we love to hear stories, good or bad!

Great looking rifle. I've never owned a Savage, but hear they shoot well. Also, good choice on the rings and bases. I much prefer Weaver-style bases and Burris Z-rings to windage adjustable set ups.

That rifle and set up in .308 should cover most big gam hunting in the world.

Congratulations on catching the fever....careful though, they have a way of multiplying.