Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Savage Axis

Apparently Walmart has just lowered selected cals (223, 243,308) to $198, saw several.... I know, I know, they're junk, but for a backup, bad weather, etc... how can you beat a sub $200 rifle, that has a pretty good rating for accuracy....?

Junk? Hahahah. OK. I love when people show up to the range with 1200 dollar rifles, 1100 dollar scopes and proceed to shoot 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards.
It always leads to the old tried and true "well that is a dead deer thats for sure"....yeah ok. The axis is a serviceable rifle, far from junk. Yeah the action is not the best but I have yet to see one that is not reliable and hasn't shot amazing. Junk is the X Mark pro trigger that came in my Remington 700 CDL and ADL tactical 223.

Three different loads, pick a powder, pick a good bullet......

https://imgur.com/hvRaUVO

https://imgur.com/VcjfgWQ

What he said.

Went to my local Walmart yesterday and they several of them have for sale in 223, 22-250, 243, 308 and 30-06. I thought about picking one up in 22-250 just to have it.

I have helped friends sight in several with moderate priced scopes attached, They shoot pretty good. I wouldn't be hesitant to take a 300 yard shot with any of the ones I shot. 300 to 350 is about as far as I shoot deer and hogs anyway. A friend of my took one in .270 on an out of state elk hunt and came back with a freezer full of meat and a large set of antlers.

They aren’t junk.

They are manufactured to be hunting accurate and reliable at a price point. The stocks are cheap plastic and there is no elegance or high focus on fit and finish.

But they work and can be very accurate.

If I saw an Axis in .243 for $200ish it would definitely follow me home.

I don't care for the looks of them...though by the sales of Ruger Americans most shooters have no taste anymore anyway
Nor, does it seem anyone who works at Savage

The axis' that I have been around have all been very very accurate

Are these Axis, or Axis II models?
Some months ago, I bought an Axis II in .223. It was packaged with a cheap scope which I immediately removed, and mounted up a Burris scope. It is used as a truck gun, for opportunities at a coyote or two on my farm.
With factory, Fiocchi .223 ammo, loaded with 40 gr. V-Max bullets, this rifle shoots sub- 1/2 MOA groups with ease. The Savage Accutrigger really helps, and is a vast improvement over the triggers on the original Axis models.

I have one and it shoots very well. The trigger sucks. Ed k

My grandkids have them. Them SOB’s will all shoot 3/4 groups. Lots of high dollar rifles won’t shoot that well.

These are the old non accutrigger ones

That is certainly a factor. The ones I was talking about have accutriggers, I got an Axis II XP in 223 for 340 bucks after a rebate. I figured I would take the Weaver Kaspa off it and put it on a .22. I still have not taken the Weaver off, it has held up just fine. I have heard that it is simple to fix those triggers down to 3lbs with some spring coil removal. I would buy a non accutrigger model in a heartbeat for 200 bucks.

I agree. However, most ugly men/women eventually find a wife/husband and live happily ever after.

My son has an Axis model, in .270. He replaced the factory trigger with a Timney. Huge improvement.

I have an Axis and think that it is an ugly, but accurate, rifle. I don't care for the ergs of the pistol grip, it doesn't feel right in my hand, so it ranks near the bottom of rifles that I would want to own.

I still think that the Marlin X guns were the best entry-level center-fire rifles that I have seen or owned during the 21st Century. They looked good, they shot good, and they were easy to swap barrels on. Win, Win, Win.

Agreed. I have a Stevens 200 that I put a rifle basix in and it made it a different rifle.

I have an older axis 223 that is very accurate with factory ammo. Had a gunsmith lighten the trigger to 3lbs and have never had a problem. It wears a leupy vx2 3-9×40 and kills deer and yotes without fail. I wouldn't hesitate to get an axis if my grandkids needed another rifle.

Had one of the early models.
Trigger was proly 8#.
Yanked spring, put in button head screw and slid diff spring over.
$2 and it had a decent trigger w overtravel much reduced.

Had to stiffen forend w epoxy, make a cheekpc (stock is junk, ergs suck too).
Was a good shooting rig, ugly as hell and still felt like crap.

Dumped it and got a 700 ADL synth. Had to do minor mods to it. Like it way better.

I currently own three of them. Two have aftermarket .257 caliber barrels by E.R. Shaw, and shoot extremely well. The third is a 308. It shoots MOA for five shot groups. All three have aftermarket triggers.

My nephew in Georgia has an Axis is 270. When I visited him, I installed an aftermarket trigger. He doesn't handload, and shoots Winchester 150 grain Power Point factory ammo. He regularly puts five shots into an inch. He has killed a pile of hogs and deer with it. He likes it just fine.

I haven't had a chance to compare the Axis to the Ruger American, so I can't say which is better. I believe Savage has gone over to 5 R barrels of late, and then now offer an adjustable stock. I have a recently made Savage 110 Hunter with 5 R rifling and that stock. Savage is not resting on their laurels.

Savage and accuracy go hand in hand...