OK this is long but I think I covered all your problems with the Savage Platform. It may seem like I beat some parts to death but I was only trying to be specific.
I'm not surprised as to your experience. In my post above when I said the Savage too was once looked upon as a second class rifle, I was going by what I had learned of Savage from my 7 Rem. Mag. Not a real big bore. But I've heard some horror stories about the Savage Accutrigger. I'm afraid that knowing what I do now about the Accutrigger, if I would have bought a Savage with one of those I would have probably eventually taken it off and put a Timney or Rifle Basix on it, in fact I might have done it right out of the box.
That's what I did when I bought my used 110 off a Gun Broker auction. I loved the rifle but that cheap ass trigger had to go. I put a Rifle Basix on it and haven't looked back since. It wasn't an Accutrigger but I felt the standard trigger, which it was, also was very lacking and heavy to boot and I wasn't able to adjust it lighter safely. It's a simple design but maybe a bit too simple. The basic Savage Trigger group is not my favorite aspect of Savage. The Rifle Basix cured that and made it the most accurate rifle I own.
Savage makes great small and medium bore guns but if I want a Large Bore, I wouldn't trust that Accutrigger AND I'm not a fan of their basic trigger group either. I wouldn't worry about a Remington, Winchester, Ruger or some other trigger designs but I just don't have a lot of faith in the Savage Accutrigger OR their basic trigger group and that would be one of my primary improvements to one is replacing it with a solid aftermarket design. The Accutrigger seems like a delicate part for a hard recoiler it seems to me and the standard trigger is too simple and rudimentary for a safe adjustable trigger group. But the rest of the Savage is very solid. Their barrel nut which permits easy head spacing on the assembly line and their floating bolt head make for a very accurate rifle right out of the box.
Other than the factory triggers offered, I have no problem with a Savage rifle. I also think, from my experiences with Mossbergs, that they would also fill the bill. They are a solid design. Maybe they're not a name used by jet set hunters, but for us blue collar type's, for my part anyway, they're more than adequate.
As for the scope base screws shearing off your Savage, now that's not a Savage specific problem. That can and has occurred with several scope mount bolts that hold the bases onto the receiver with other rifles other than Savage that used two screws holding the bases . It depends on the size and weight of the scope too. The inertia developed on a hard recoiling shot, especially with a larger heavier scope, can shear some two screw set ups off.
However, I believe its more due to the toughness of the screws used than the number of screws used. I've got a couple of hard recoilers that utilize good Leupold bases and screws and have never had a problem with the basic two screw set up. But some of the cheaper hardware you pick up at Wally World might not be up to the task.
I had a similar problem with my 7 mag. Although it didn't shear off from recoil, one of the cross bolts that held the claw mount to the base mount broke, I think caused from over tightening. But the bottom line there I suspect was cheap hardware. I doubt that a better quality bolt would have broken.
As for your sights falling off you didn't state whether the bolts broke or they just got loose. If they broke off look at my statement of dealing with broken base mount bolts. It could be a common problem if they broke off. If they just got loose, you might just use some sort of thread lock.
As for the stock, I know that the bolt spacing was changed when Savage did some modifications to the action a few years back. But if you want an aftermarket stock you have to be specific when ordering one. There should be correct aftermarket stocks made for your rifle. But you have to be specific when ordering.
Many brands of rifles make synthetic stocks that are thin and tinny sounding, including Remington for one. I too used spray foam to fill the voids inside two Remington synthetic stocks. As for recoil pads, Ruger has sold many rifles with a thin hockey puck recoil pad that did little to soften recoil and as far as I can see, their only real purpose was to insure the rifle wouldn't slip and fall over when stood against the wall. It's not uncommon to have to change recoil pads on new rifles. I still stand by my statement that Savage overall, other than their trigger group, is a solid platform and so is the Mossberg.
Last edited by Filaman; 02/22/20.
