Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Tell me about Savage rifles

I have had several over the years and currently two of the Stevens 200s which are pretty much the 110 pre accu trigger. I will agree they are not as pretty as the 77 ,700 or model 70 but they are not ugly in my eye. Actually I find the bolt smooth and the ergonomics are good IMHO. The tang safety is very well placed. As stated all of mine have shot well. My friend bought a stevens 200 after shooting mine and we sort of joke that we are glad we bought our other r files first as its sort of hard to justify buying a more expensive rifle for a hunting gun.

My two most accurate rifles are savages, both of them M12 BVSS's that I use for prairie dogging. In addition to being accurate out of the box, they're real easy to swap barrels on, both of mine wear aftermarket barrels now.

You can complain about the looks, feel, finish, etc., but they flat out shoot better than any other factory rifle out there.

If she was ugly she looked good at the time.

Ugly... used to be cheap (used ones are often still cheap)... a little bit klunky. I have four of them. My 204, 22-250, and 243 shoot very well. My 270 is somewhat picky. I like 'em and will probably own a few more in my remaining years.

BINGO!

I have several of them from 223 thru 30-06, but think that they are ugly and building on them with expensive accessories, McM stocks, name brand barrels, etc., is the parts gun equivalent of polishing a turd. I will state for the record that my $1K 260, McM stock and Shilen barrel, is a real sub-MOA rifle with the right guy behind the trigger.

I have an old pre-accu 110 I bought here as a 270 (read: DONOR). It has been a 338-06, 243, and is now a 223. I love the flexibility of the platform, that old trigger was excellent when tweaked by a professional, and they shoot the lights out.

My buddies got Stevens 200s; one in 06 & one in 308. I worked up loads for em and it was simple. The 06 is an honest sub-moa rifle and the 308 close to that, both before trigger jobs.

They won't win beauty contests but that is why God made Paul Mauser!

If I wanted one rifle to kill everything I'd likely do a pre-accu 116 in 06 w/ medalist stock. They just work and keep on working.

I highly recommend them to the man w/ 1 rifle as well as to the tinkerer who wants to experiment w/ different cartridges.

Sir,
without starting a pissing contest I might suggest that a more accurate statement might be that they shoot better than any other factory rifle out there at or near their price point. I've owned several Savage rifles and 13 different Coopers. IMHO the Coopers will hang with the Savages any day, and they are also a factory rifle IIRC.

Best

GWB

This Savage is neither ugly nor clunky.

In fact the factory 3 position tang safety on the Savage 110/10 et al is the best design out there bar none.
To me, the vaunted M70 safety is the epitome of clunky.





Savage 116 with 24" 8 twist 5R Rock threaded nutless, Stockade BH, EDGE stock, custom BAS, Leupold 2.5-8x36 in two rear S&K's.
My only complaint is that this rifle as pictured weighs in at 7# 3.3oz which is 3.3oz from where I wanted to be. A VX-2 Ultralight in TLW's would get me there but I'll heft the extra 3.3oz for a while at least.

It's too bad they don't make the bolt release bigger. I like to be able to hold it down with a scoop shovel if the need arises.



Travis

About 14 yrs ago I bought my first Savage on a dare...a plain Jane 223 FP...Tupperware stock HB...pre Accue trigger of course..
it was a shooter outta the box..after playing with the trigger..re crowning..etc...rough barrel..yes you bet...Savage has come a long way since then.....factory barrels still rough normally....easy fix...screw on a custom tube...I have especially liked the s/shot action varmint rifles Savage offered...have used them on p/dog table guns in these calibers.
20 Vartarg
20 Practical
20 BR
223AI
6BR
6XC
6.5x55
My most two recent builds have used the Target action as shown in the pic...target trigger w/14 oz pull..large shank...solid bottom s/shot...20BR & 6.5x55 using Pac Nor 28" heavy tubes..Vortex PST glass..
Also currently using a couple full camo Savage guns in 22" med heavy tubes in 223 & 308...good looking field guns..accurate & dependable....rough barrels tend to smooth out after 200 rds or so...Savage rifles..good bang for the buck...along with Tikka's

As they say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and to my eyes, the only appealing CF bolt action that Savage has yet to make is the first/original Model 1920.

If my pool of available actions, both factory specs or to build on, was limited by being left handed, I might view the Savage 110 series differently, but I'm not and I don't. Actually, to my eyes, the Marlin X guns are the more attractive next generation of the Savage 110 series, IOW they represent what Savage could have done to improve the esthetics of the 110 Series, but didn't.

The 1920's are cool and were forward thinking but they were truly ugly to my eyes.
That L shaped slot for the root of the BH is just plain ugly. Looks like a Type 38 Arisaka.

I like it too.

YES, that's NOT ugly. Pretty good for a S.





Now that just ain't RIGHT.

Savage they're like mopeds and fat girls, fun until your buddies see you with one.

Seriously, I've enjoyed my journey with the barrel nut. I've got to try different rifles I couldn't get in a factory rifle without paying the price for building one through a gunsmith. I tend to think of them as the erector set of the rifle world, anyone who can read and follow instructions can work on these with a minimal amount of tools.

Luckily I'm right handed but for the lefties out there, I can't think of a whole lot of options in affordable rifles you pretty much have Remington, Ruger, Tikka, and Savage. If you're lucky you can find a LH M70 Classic that isn't going to cost you a kidney to purchase. Other than those you are pretty much stuck with custom actions.

I do wish Savage rifles looked a little better, and you can clean them up some by going nutless and modifying the BAS like nsaqam did. That said they will never look as good as a M70 or M700 to me, but they are functional and accurate and that is never a bad thing.

I have the ultimate in polished turds, coated, premium barrel, Edge stock. It still seems like a car covered in primer but with real nice wheels and tires.

Comparing a Savage to a Tikka is like comparing a Chevette to a Corvette.

As noted previously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For people who have few available options, lefties, the Savage 110 series is probably a good, less expensive, option. For people who have many available options, non-lefties, the Savage 110 series is still a good, less expensive, option, but since they were introduced, I have preferred to do my budget builds on Marlin X gun actions.

The partially split rear receiver bridge has a practical application, as it allows the root of the bolt handle to function as an auxiliary locking lug. It also reminds me of the Japanese Arisaka action and was probably copied from that design.

Only shot one "newer" Savage a model 12 varmint in .22-250. The first load I worked up for it with 55gr Sierra Blitzkings shoots one hole five shot groups. The accutrigger on the varmint models adjusts down to 1.5lb IIRC. I was impressed. With the exception of the crappy Tupperware stock on some models, and the model 25 walking varminter for purely aesthetic reasons, I like Savages, although I love the 700! The next gun I buy will likely be a Savage, whether it's a .204 or .223 is another discussion.

FWIW, the only other "Savage" I've shot is Dad's old JC Penney Foremost 6400 aka Savage 340 .222 Rem. It still shoots decent despite a god awful trigger. I've used it to shoot pdogs as recently as last year, some around the 300y mark. Not bad for a $75 rifle he bought new in the '70's.

Go feel out a few different makes/models in your caliber of choice, choose the one that feels the most natural. I don't like the feel of Tikkas but there is nothing wrong with them Per Se.


"The choice of a rifle is as much a matter of personal idiosyncrasy as the choice of a friend."-President Theodore Roosevelt "African Game Trails"

Ha Ha Ha, Man am I TEMPTED to steal that for a sig line!!

There you go, I state simply that both Tikka and Savage offer LH rifles and suddenly I kicked somebody's dog. I sure as hell wouldn't consider a Tikka a Corvette either, maybe a Cavalier nothing fancy but does get you from point A to B.