Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Your thoughts please

What does everyone think of the Savage Safari rifle in 458 Win mag? It is a control round feed blind magazine fed bolt action, and looks and feels very nice.

AC

Accurate junk.............

AD

Allen,



Why do you say it is junk?

AC

The same reason people call you a troll. It's obvious.

Chuck

Chuck,

The Savage Safari I handled the other day looked like a very nicely put together factory rifle. The fit was well executed and the action and barrel were well finished. I find it difficult to call it "junk". I asked the question to attempt to get some feed back from actual owners of the aforementioned firearm.

I am also intrigued by the comment "accurate junk". It is junk then because it is accurate, or is it junk because it was not "remanufactured" by some big name gunsmith with a correspondingly inflated price tag?

AC

AC, I'll make you a deal that you can't refuse...........

Tell us the countries you've hunted in Africa, the safari companies in Africa you've hunted with, the names of the PHs you've hunted with in Africa, the rifles you've actually used, a photo of you on safari with one of the PHs you name (we've got one photo of you to compare already) as well as your real name, and I'll answer all your questions without hesitation.

Supply us with that information, we'll check you out, and if you turn out NOT to be a troll after all, we're in business, and we'll NEVER question you again.

Try to fake us out -- duck, dodge, and act like the phony I suspect you to be, and I'll never have anything to do with one of your posts ever again, and I'll campaign my a$$ off to have you banned from this website for all time.

And I'll go one step further. If you're a legit African hunter after all and I'm wrong about you, I'LL leave The Camp for all time and never return. If you prove to be a phony or can't answer my questions -- all of them -- in a straight and forthright manner...... YOU LEAVE THIS WEBSITE, NEVER TO RETURN.

How 'bout it? Do you have enough guts to play for keeps or not???????????????

AD

Allen,



So in order for me to get an answer on this site I need to provide proof that I have been to Africa????

Now what does any of that have to do with the Savage rifle I asked about, really? I think it has nothing to do with the rifle, but it does have to do with wounded pride and bruised egos.

Here is a counter offer, ignore me and I will ignore you. Of course you are probably good friends with the owner of this site so you can undoubtedly get me banned without any difficulty whatsoever. So go ahead if it makes you feel better.

AC

And a dodge once again. Now go away please.

Why do I have to go away? I agree with Allen it would be very nice if truth could be discussed here instead of seemingly baseless opinions. So to make Allen happy, and hopefully to make him more comfortable, I will tell the truth about myself (it really isn't painful to me even if many may think otherwise).

I have no experience hunting anywhere, let alone Africa! To be completely honest, those African critter scare me crapless (they must all have kevlar skins and hyper-alloy skeletons after reading all the information on how hard they are to kill). I have recently gotten interested in firearms (that would their ownership and operation), particularly the larger "African" kinds. Most of my "knowledge" about firearms and their "effectiveness" comes from reading stories and my participation in a roleplaying game called "Twilight 2000" (which is a very good game, read realistic simulation, by the way).
Now Allen, I am a pathetic loser and have admitted it. Pray tell, why the Savage is a piece of "accurate junk....".

I really just want to learn about what it takes to be a successful African hunter, since it is by far the most challenging hunting there is (and I wanted to start at the top).

AC

i like savage rifles and have shot alot out of the few i have over the last 8 years. that said if the extractor on the CFR Savage is the same as the standard rifle than there are some potential issues. while i have not had one break they have on different ppl at inopertune moments on hunts. thogh the average person can fix them with no problem if they are carrying the spare parts. personally i prefer the tried and true Mauser type system(Mausers, Ruger Mk2, P17, Winchester Pre64/Classic ect) if i was going ofter critters in africa

If you aspire to become African hunter, you might want to start by moving out of your mother's house!!!!!!!!!

rattler,

Thank you for the insightful comments with regard to the potential problems with the extractor! Excellent input, and thanks again.

Poot Peak,

Then I must be on my way to becoming an African hunter, as I have moved out of my mother's house. Any other pearls of wisdom?

AC

i wouldnt call them problems per-say, its just the only part of the savage design that has me worried when you start talking about critters that can bite back. personally, i see nothing wrong with going after DG with a single shot if it suits your fancy. but if your going to use a bolt gun there are better choices. i plan on doing a 416 Taylor on the Savage platform to decide if i like the cartridge but if i take it hunting im it will be used on deer, speed goats or elk. not anything that can bite back. for my normal hunting around here, nothing wrong with a Savage.

please note i have never handled the CFR 110 type Savage, not much call for them in NE Montana, so im not exactly sure how the extracter is set up. im just familiar with their PF 110 family of rifles and the lever action 99's.

If you have to ask about Savage quality, yet can afford an African safari, you do indeed still live at home. Run along little boy. Flinch

Flinch,



The Savage is not a cheap rifle, it cost as much or more than a Winchester Safari rifle does (MSRP > $1000) and far more than the CZ rifle do. I asked the question as I have no first hand experience with the Savage product. I see many people here ask similar questions about other products, so why do you take me to task?

If I lived with my mother, so what! It would allow me to save money over living on my own wouldn't it.

AC

I have owned a number of Savage rifles, and have never had a failure to extract. I do not own the rifle you speak of.

Everyone seems to "know someone who knows someone" who has had an extraction problem with a fill-in-the-bank-with some-name-other-than-wincheapster.

I have had zero problems with Savages, or Remingtons.

David, like i said it has never happened to me and im not saying their arent potentioal problems with any of the other rifles i mentioned. hell i love savage rifles, i have a 110 in 270 and a 10 in 223 and have an 11 in 260 currently in transit to me with plans on buying another that i can convert to 416 Taylor for the hell of it just cause i have the dies for that cartrige sitting on my shelf. hell if im not hunting with an "old shooter" im generally hunting with a Savage 110 family rifle. like i said in my first post i have not personally seen the CRF Savage, but if its extractor is the same as the PF 110 i, personally, would rather have thatlong claw Mauser style extractor if i was going after someting that could seriously bite back but that is just my opinion.

hell ive sheared of part of the sear on one of my P17's by working a realy sticky safety(this was the fault of a idiot gunsmith, not the rifles design). you can have problems with any rifle

rattler

"you can have problems with any rifle "

roger that.

That's the basic, honest truth of this entire thread.......

The Savage 110 series was introduced in 1958 as a lower-price bolt-gun alternative to Winchester, Remington, Weatherby, etc. In order to achieve lower production costs, Savage resorted to numerous sub-assemblies, assorted potmetal/junk parts, a needlessly complicated mechanism, etc. -- much like Browning did years latter with its Japanese-built BBR and A-Bolt series of rifles.

And Savage did a lot of things right along the way, including an excellent, precise, effective headspace system, good barrels, etc. So part of the bottom line about Savage is the reasonable price, plus it's American-made, and it tends to shoot well. For the guy who only wants a reasonably-priced rifle that shoots, and who doesn't understand or doesn't want to understand anything else, Savage is his huckleberry.

But the other part of that bottom line is that numerous sub-assemblies and a host of semi-junk parts do NOT a quality rifle make, nor do such features (plus a puny extractor) represent the zenith of bet-your-life-on-it reliability for the African bush.

The simplest, most reliable, and most effective bolt action mechanisms contain the fewest parts, and they're built from the best materials. When is comes to bolt guns, the Mauser 98 and the Winchester Model 70 have set the African standard for generations, and unless he's packing a double, those rifles are what you seen in the hands of African professional hunters all across Africa. None of them carry or recommend Savage! And in recent years, the excellent Ruger 77 Mark II and CZ have also come on very strong with clients and PHs alike.

If you want something that's sort of reasonably-priced for playing 'Bwana' at the range, day dreaming at home, and for busting milk jugs, etc., with a big bore, a Savage 458 ought to be OK. If you're REALLY going to hunt Africa, and actually hunt the stuff that can fight back and bury you, you can do a LOT better. If you can afford to hunt African dangeorus game, you can afford to spend more for a better rifle!

This isn't the place to step over a dollar to pick up a dime.............

AD