Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles tell me all about Savage rifles.

I have never been attracted to Savage rifles. The aesthetics basically left me holding my nose but I've sighted in a couple of scoped Savage rifles for friends. It always pissed me off that they shot so well with that cheap flimsy plastic stock.

I have an older friend from church who is completely new to guns. He just bought a Savage Long Range Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor with the Accustock and asked me to help him get it set up for target shooting and hunting. That Accustock impressed me in how it takes a cheap plastic shell and makes it completely serviceable. Well,I got to reading up on Savage rifles and now I'm intrigued. I've seen at least one high end custom action that also uses a floating bolt head and a barrel nut to make those two accuracy increasing steps easy to accomplish.

Just how good are the Savage Long Range Hunter rifles? I wouldn't mind owning a long range gun in 6.5X284. From just a quick study it seems like a cheap way to get started. Let's even go so far as to say a guy shot out and replaced the barrel with a premium grade barrel,and maybe even a nice McMillan stock. Is there anything in the Savage action itself that makes it just not worth spending money on,other than not having the bragging rights of a big name custom action?


Take another example of their Light Weight Hunter action that is milled down to reduce weight. Is there any reason not to put one of those in an Edge,maybe even with a premium tube? Yea,I know you would have a lot of money in a Salvage,but aside from just the name,on its merits only as a tool, would it be as good of a tool and maybe even a more accurate one because of the floating bolt head and barrel nut design?

I've noticed other people touting the floating bolt head too. I get it, the lugs can both seat. But here's a question: What guarantees that the plane of the bolt face is perpendicular to the centerline of the chamber?

I always turned my nose up too. I bought a Hog Hunter because it has a threaded barrel. It was 350.00 dollars. The first load I tried shot really well.

I have two of the M-10 FCP-SR rifles. Both shoot great also. Both are 6.5 Creedmoor. Accurate rifles for the price. Any price really!

Must be sumpin' - they seem to be consistent shooters.

I have been enjoying my lightweight hunter synthetic/stainless 6.5 cm this hunting season. It was consistent at the range sighting it in. The fluted bolt is a bit rough in the action at first. Nothing a little work on the sharp action edges couldn’t fix. Savage are just reliable and good, not expensive or great though. I don’t know if I will ever shoot out the stock barrel. It does get warm fast at the range, when shooting more than 3 shots. Mine helped me fill my tag for a California blacktail buck this season.

Salvage has came a long way.....current production LRH series are a good way for a guy to get into the LR shooting game

I've been messing around with Savage actions & custom barrels nearly 20 yrs........my first Savage..bought on a dare was a 223 around 1998

10FP Police rifle......ugly tupperware black stock...blind magazine.....3 screw factory trigger...20" matte blue heavy barrel...4.27 action spacing

man did that sucker shoot ! Older 110's were LA....even in SA cartridges....Now Savage offers something for all shooters......but still ugly to some

I use the Target action on my last 4 builds....p/dog rigs......20 Practical...20-222.....223 AI.....6.5x55 (pic) usually Pac Nor barrels......also have got

some buddies into swapping barrels......you have many options for Savage aftermarket parts & on the shelf SS match barrels now...Northland

Shooters Supply even offer machined barrel nuts & lugs..with a barrel nut wrench...action wrench & barrel vise you can easily switch tubes...the newer

smooth barrel nut need a newer wrench..or a Dremel..cut it off & replace with older knurled style nut..custom bolt handles also add a cool look too...

One thing to remember..Savage has two barrel shank sizes......small the most common.....large shank on their target action series...along with some

older 'M' series actions from the early 2000's.....pic is my 6.5x55...28" Pac Nor tube...6500 Bushy 4-30 glass....Choate stock......Target action..........

weighs 18#.......not your typical carry gun........WSM's were also large shank actions.......

http://northlandshooterssupply.com/

as a gun dealer for many years those Savage rifles shoot very well just out of the box. myself I own many savage rifles all shoot very well. matter of fact I have a new savage 6.5x284 in the weather warrior . that 6.5x284 savage I have is probably the most accurate standard out of the box hunting rifle I have ever shot ,it has a 24 inch barrel,nice clip and I will be using it in Montana Thanksgiving week .

Like a Volvo, ugly but good.

Savage is notorious for rough barrels, at least the cro-mo ones.

If you use it like a tool then you will probably be happy with it. If you are thinking you can put lipstick on a pig and make it look like Kate Upton, you will be disappointed.

I have owned several of the 10/110/16/116/112 series of rifles and I was never happy. It was always a compromise. They were good shooters except one heavy barrel 308. The old stagger feed caused me some problems while hunting. I thought I had chambered a round and it didn't pick up anything. The center feed seemed to help since I never had it had it happen with one of them. It's a safe action. If a primer blows or you over charge it, you will probably be ok. I always hated the ergonomics and lines of the damn things. They are fugly at best. They always seemed to balance wrong for me and the bolt had lots of slop. Plus there are way too many parts on the magazine, bolt release, and trigger/safety. I am not an engineer, but surely there would be a simpler way to do it. The barrels on all of mine were very rough except an old 7mm08 I had purchased. Resale is terrible. You will be lucky to get 50% back on your investment. If you like to tinker with rifles there will be plenty of aftermarket stocks, barrels, etc. In summary, it wasn't for me, but I would never look down my nose at someone who had one.

They are ugly and they are getting more expensive every time I turn around. I personally don't care for them, but have friends that love them. The best attribute to a savage is they are damn accurate rifles, but horrible in aesthetics and ergonomics...

I have been hunting for 7 years now with a Savage 10 in 308. Its the most accurate rifle i own. Every year, go to the range, shoot 3 bullets and they are damn near touching. I have the weather model with the stainless barrel and syn stock. Its light enough, handles recoil well. I would buy another (if i needed one) today. They are fantastic rifles for the money. Mine does NOT have any roughness on the barrel or anything and when standing up next to my Win M70 or my Marlin X series they all look the same to me. Savage is know for their accuracy and my rifle proves that to me.

To be explicit I was writing about roughness in the barrel.

I recently bought a LWH in .308. Have only tried one load, Nosler with 165 gr BT, about 1.25 inch groups at 100 yards

I play with them, and this is my latest project pulled from a different post. I really don't own a factory Savage rifle, I use them mainly to try cartridges that the factory isn't offering. I've pretty much replaced everything I could on this rifle, even have an aftermarket trigger waiting to be dropped in when it gets home.

IMO Savage allows the average guy to try things without huge gunsmith bills. Just purchase a couple of tools and you can swap barrels on your own and set the proper headspace. Don't get me wrong it still isn't cheap to play with a Savage, but you can do it a lot cheaper than I did.

Savage 10 action reprofiled by Steve Field
PT&G Parallel Recoil Lug .187" ground down to fit Accustock by Steve Field
SS X-Caliber #3 contour 1:7 twist 5R
Rayhill Bolt Handle & Bolt Lift Kit
Prairie Ghost camo WTP on Accustock
Tan Cerakote (Steve picked color not sure the exact one)
Barrel & Bolt fluting by Twisted Barrel











Glad I waited to go with the Cerakote color until I got the stock back. Steve talked me into waiting as the applicator he sent the stock to had never used that print before. Based off the pattern I had picked off the online sample, the Sage Green I chose for the metal would have been a serious mistake.

Don't Drink the Savage coolaid, to late your Hooked!!!!!!! ha ha ha join the Party n enjoy, my 270 wsm md 14 American Classic, looks as Beautiful as my Remy bdl delux,, funny theres no ruffness in her chrome moly bbl ,she'll stand toe to toe with any of my Customs and shoots just as Great with my proven handloads, 6.5 creedmores beware .....bou ahaw bou fricken dee du....lol Savage ROCKS

Get a Powerball ticket.

I own 3 Savage centerfires and love them. Two LWH that after rebate cost me about $450 out the FFL door and an 11 Prairie Dog Hunter that I bought for $280 from Cableas. All of them are silly accurate. I like them.

If.......you wanna bench gun.........stationary p/dog rig........no worried about weight........usually 18# when complete.....

Savage s/shot target action is where to start.....Accue trigger with lighter springs........about 10 oz.....

You'll be $2K in components w/decent glass........Pac Nor tube....

OK,serious question. What does it really matter if the barrel is rough if it shoots well? Does it just mean that I will have to clean it more often?