I'm curious if any of you have noticed savage quality going down? I've never been a savage guy personally, but always heard they were very accurate. So I've been developing loads for my grandsons new 308 shooting 165/168 gr bullets with variety, 4895, 4064 and I cannot get this rifle to shoot. I have adjusted the bedding and the trigger, along with seating depth, etc....and I'm only getting 1.5" groups at best. Did he just get a Lemmon?

Honestly, the one I owned wasn’t a very good shooter. 1.5 was about typical.

I have Ruger Americans, Thompson center venture and compass, Remington 783, and even a marlinxs7...... All of which will shoot a minute moa or better. This savage is driving me bat [bleep] crazy

It may not be a lemon per se, but it is bordering on non typical Savage behavior. I have shot 2 different savage rifles that were almost as bad as your grandson's rifle. One was a 270 win and the other a 30-06. With the 270, it had a bad crown, my buddy sent it back to savage and they replaced the barrel. Excellent CS in that case. The 30-06 was a pain in the azz. One of my co-workers bought a trophy hunter package rifle and he said the best he could do was 3" with the rifle at 100 yards. I told him I could get it to shooting better for him, so I took it home and proceeded to work on it. The first thing I did was pull the cheap azzed bases and rings off and threw them away (literally). I threw on a good set of bases and rings and loctited everything down. I checked to make sure his barrel was freefloated well enough and relieved a couple spots in the stock. I also adjusted the trigger down to and even 2.5 pounds. I then started a little load development and took it to the range. Just about every load shot into moa and printed nice triangular groups. Honestly, I was not used to that big of a group from a Savage bolt action rifle. I just assumed since it was a 30-06, maybe that was some of the reason. However I have some Winchester model 70 30-06 rifles that shoot 1/2 moa (for 3 shots) at 100 yards easily. I brought the Savage 30-06 back in to the guy at work with 6 targets I had shot that were all centered on the bulls eye (orange dot) and right at an inch even. He looked at it and said, "Hmmm, I was expecting better". Obviously some guys watch too many youtube videos or something and have an unrealistic expectation of what a $300.00 package rifle can do accuracy wise. Funny thing is, he took the rifle home and fired off some factory ammo and brought back his targets that were 2" now, instead of 3". I told him, "he needed to work on his shooting skills....Because that is a true moa for 3 shots rifle"....

I don't think one rifle shooting 1.5 MOA means the whole company is taking a dump.

I don't either. Lately I've been buying a lot of savage rifles and they have all be great. I have one 6.5 creed in the line-up for next to buy. The only thing I did notice on that rifle was the bolt was a little rough (when you worked it), as compared to my other savage rifles.

Not a owner, but I was looking at getting one...

The safety mechanisms seem hit & miss on functio when comparing several guns...

I went to a retailer that stacks up 20 rifles on a table and it seemed like something wasnt right with many of them.

The worst was the scoped rifle packages made no effort to even align the reticle vertically. You have to wonder what goes wrong when you can get the obvious visual things right.

Probably the lowest guy on the totem pole mounts the scopes.

I have had several, but do not have any now. I had a BVSS in 308 which I could not get to shoot much under 1 inch at 100 yards. After 200 rounds of handloads and some factory I threw in the towel. For a heavy barrel it should have done much better than that. My guess is the barrel was the culprit, but I sold it and moved on from it.

I had a 30-06 that stayed at 2"-3" not matter what load I tried. I bedded the action with Devcon and floated the barrel generously. After that it stayed consistently under 1".

My son bought a LH Savage bolt in 300 Win Mag about a dozen years ago.
With no tweaking, it is scary accurate with factory 165 grainers.

I have two. Accurate, but nothing that will knock your socks off. The fit and finish on both is garbage. On one if you slam the bolt home hard, it dumps the magazine on the ground. You get what you pay for.

forget where i read this, maybe the accurate shooter page ... in a .308 if it wont shoot with 41 g of 4895 and a 168 SMK, it aint right. my salvage .308 wouldnt shoot worth a crap until i tried that load (or mebbe it was 3031). then all of a sudden it dropped to sub-MOA.

i really like the salvage lightweight hunter platform, but only when its on sale ...

My 9 year old put 3 inside 1” @ 50 yards with her pink Axis. First 3 CF rounds she ever fired.


We happy.....

Thats cool. I think i heard stick did the same thing with his. Of course he couldnt hit the egg though, bless her heart..

The three bolt guns I have will shoot an inch or less.

I have 3 a M110 of 1 st year production 30-06, M111 Chieftain in 243, and a M110 WLE in 300 Sabage all of them are good shooters. BSA1917 which model you buying in the Creedmoor? MB

[quote=Magnum_Bob]I have 3 a M110 of 1 st year production 30-06, M111 Chieftain in 243, and a M110 WLE in 300 Sabage all of them are good shooters. BSA1917 which model you buying in the Creedmoor?

Model 10 i believe, but i think its a special run. Ive looked everywhere and cant find the exact model to compare it to. Looks like a predator model, with detachable magazine, heavy tapered 22" barrel and cryptic camo stock. She's pretty sweet looking. I can almost guarantee, it will shoot better than my new Tikka, with minimal load work-up. Its also only $400, which seems like a great deal.

Just my opinion...A sound design if you can get past the appearance but their qc has gone to [bleep]. Sounds familiar huh? The barrels are amongst the roughest I’ve ever looked at and the actions are pretty cheaply put together. Rough barrels can still shoot well though they foul badly and are tough to clean.

I’ve seen many world class target guns built off the actions and changing a barrel is a snap for all but the most bam handed

I have one, a 16 in 250 Savage and the thing is stupid accurate no matter what I run thru it.

Sorry to hear about that, that can be so frustrating. What rifle is it? I have a Stevens 200 in 22-250 and an axis in 223, they both shoot under half inch with minimal load development. I few of my friends have gotten axis line guns in 243 and their results have been the same as far as outstanding accuracy. Your 1.5 MOA does not sound normal to me, have you tried Varget powder by any chance? Scope is locked down good? Good rest while shooting? Sorry for your frustration, it sucks I know. I put a Boyds stock on mine but it shot the same with the BB gun plastic stock, Savages are shooters from my experience.
https://imgur.com/Ds5rKme

Thanks BSA I been thinking about a Creedmoor, my 260 just don't like any of the 120-130 gr range bullets so I think I'll shoot the barrel out of it with 100's and rebarrel to Creed. There is getting to be a whole lot of good shooting lower priced models chambered for the Creed so I been wondering about going that way. MB

I own mostly Savage rifles. I just picked up a 7-08 but before I shoot it, I need a base, rings, and a scope.

My purchase before that was a model 110 (new to me) from the 80's chambered in 270 win. Factory (Winchester and Hornady) was giving me 3 inch groups. My reloads (130gr NBT and Hornady SST's) gave me 1" groups if I did my part. The load data I used came from the Hornady reloading manual. Thinking I had finally found a dud, I took it to a smith to have the barrel checked out. He said it looked like it could have been a safe queen since the 80's. Still stumped by the groups, I referred to the Nosler reloading manual. The OAL was different (apologies I don't have those numbers with me right now) and when I adjusted it I started getting half MOA groups.

I also purchased a box of factory Fusion 130gr ammo as a back up for a hunt (ran out of time to reload). That factory box shot as good as my reloads.

I would say try a box of Fusion just to see if your groups improve.

Have a great day!

HaYen

i have one of those. such a mild, easy shooting cartridge. if only more people knew ...

Probably a lemon. Did you call Savage?

Probably a lemon. Did you call Savage?

How about the quality though. Many sa they are accurate but what about quality? My guns can shoot 2" @ 100yds and plenty good for Wisconsin. I never shot anything past 100 yds. Does the case jamb like mine does in my Savage 12FV? I hate the fact that I can't feed a bullt from the magazine. It is nothing but a single shot anyway cause with the bull barrel it never leaves the bench anyway. As for accurate , it's a .223. I dont think it is all that accurate . I can put 5 inside. .8" - 1" @ 100 but that is not all that accurate . It could be me a little but I have done than with older Remington 700 so may times with plain Jane bullets , so i dont think it is me.

All of mine must be excellent then. No feeding or extraction issues. You may want to send yours in, and have them look at it. With your accuracy and feeding issues, it may be related, like the mag box isnt in the stock right or bound up. All of my savage rifles also shoot into .8 moa, very consistently. Its almost too easy. Thats also 10 shot groups. I havent even bothered to work up a load yet in my 223 predator, as it shoots my AR load into .8 moa religiously. The other 2 (6.5 creedmoor and 22-250) have been far easier to shoot sub moa 10 shot groups, than my new Tikka 6.5 creedmoor, or any other rifle ive had, to be honest. I really dont mind that they are "ugly" when they shoot this well.

I have a Savage 116 .30-06 that will shoot anything I feed it, some ammo groups under 3/4" on a good day. I bought that gun in 1996, and it's a great rifle. I bought a Savage 11 Trophy Hunter XP last March in .260, and that thing is picky on what I feed it. So far I've only gotten about a 2" three shot group at 100 yards. I have since changed scopes and mounts. I put Talley lightweights and a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10 on it, but have yet to shoot it since then. I have noticed that the action on the 11 is not near as smooth as the 116. I think if I start reloading for it, it will be a good tight shooting rifle.

+1

10 shots into .8 is incredible. Ive seen rifles with custom cut rifled barrels that wouldn't do that.

Just out of curiosity do your savages tend to copper foul badly? The ones I've looked at with my bore scope pretty much all had very rough bores and id be curious if that would cause excessive fouling.

IMHO a rough bore has little to no correlation to accuracy fwiw

The thing I really really like about the Savage guns is how easy it is to screw on a new tube. Im hoping that the REMAGE barrels that are being made by a few makers start to catch on with more companies. Ive already got a couple of worked over 700s and that would make my life soooo much easier.

Thanks Quak. Funny thing about my 12fv, is it was fouled terribly, when I bought it. It was a new in the box rifle too, but it looked like it had atleast 200 rounds through it. It took a lot to get the fouling out the first time I cleaned it. I used sweets 7.62 a couple times and then finished with shooters choice. I have almost 1000 rounds downrange with that rifle now, after shooting it since around october. It cleans up real nice now, with minimal fouling. However, the beauty about these savage barrels is they keep shooting great even after many rounds downrange between cleanings. They don't have to be super clean to shoot good. They actually shoot better after they are fouled pretty good, which is strange for me, because my winchester model 70's are just the opposite. They shoot excellent when clean, but accuracy degrades after it's really fouled.. I can show you pics all day long of how well my savage rifles shoot, but how about I show you my most recent target. I shot this yesterday, after mounting my new SWFA SS 16x on it. The first 10 shot group I shot of the day is on the left. Now, when I shot that target it wasn't snowing. Then when I shot the orange dot on the right, it was snowing hard. I could barely make out a glimpse of the orange dot at times and didn't take my time. The first group, is what i was after, to confirm the new scope is good and the rifle not damaged after dropping it a couple weekends ago (long story):


Generally the rifle shoots like this:


Here's one of the more recent targets I submitted here in the "moa all day long challenge":


My model 10 predator is pretty bad azzed too and shoots lights out:

And my Stevens 200 that I put into a Trophy hunter stock, my buddy gave me:




I'm running cheap azzed scopes on these too, nothing fancy or high dollar. I paid $100.00 for the Weaver on the stevens and $200 for the burris MSR 223 on the predator. All in all, I'm pretty happy with these salvages...

Lately I've been working with a Tikka T3x superlite and that thing is a beautiful rifle because of its weight and function. However, it's only a shade lighter than the Stevens 200 22-250. When both rifles are cased up and I pick them up, I can't tell which rifle is in which case. The weight is that close between the 2. The Tikka has a very nice bore and cleans up better/easier than the Savage rifles, but only by a couple patches. The Tikka also didn't shoot as well as the Savages out of the box, and still doesn't as a matter of fact... More load development will maybe allow it to drop below moa. I hope..


I'm not complaining though.

Holy [bleep] that is some great shooting! I certainly would NOT complain about any of those groups! That is funny about your experience with Winchester as mine is exactly the same. Both with USRAC guns and BACO guns. I hope nobody takes offense to this as I know the BACO guns are supposed to be so much better but I have to be honest...I think the barrels they use are absolute junk. Ive owned three of them (all supper grades) and they were the roughest bored, fastest fouling, and hardest to clean guns I've ever owned. I use a borescope pretty religiously and I sold them as a result. My USRAC guns also had very rough bores but they were all made pretty close to the New Haven plant closing and that was somewhat of a known issue.

Beautiful guns all of them and I really liked them. I just could not get the barrels to calm down and stop copper fouling. They literally would look like copper mines after as few as 20 rounds and i tried bullets of several different makes to see if I could find any that didn't foul as badly.

Great to know about your Savage barrels not fouling and cleaning up easy. Id be willing to bet its because they are button riffled and any manufacturing marks left are in the same direction as the bullet traveling down the bore. It would make sense that after they settled in a little they would smooth out nicely. IIRC Remington used to use button rifled barrels but switched to hammer forging sometime in the late 80s or early 90s or so I've been told. Ive had it both way with 700 barrels. Some seemed to never foul and were finished pretty well and some were absolute copper magnets that required a lot of work and/or polishing and were as rough as a corn cob. Ive got 2 newer ones in 270 that have 5R rifling which are supposed to be easier to clean. They are the best finished Remington barrels I've ever owned and they do clean remarkably easy. My guess is that its due to newer tooling as they haven't been making 270 5r barrels for very long. They both shoot very well...averaging 3 shot groups under an inch with their preferred hand loads but they defiantly don't shoot as well as your rifles above.

@BSA1917Hunter. Very nice groups. Stellar rifles.

Thankyou buddy. I'm enjoying the heck out of them... I also look forward to burning up a barrel, so I can put a good one on and see what they can really do..

Thanks Quak. I hear you on all accounts. Good post. I've seen some terrible BACO barrels as well. One of my buddies fought a 300WSM Extreme weather tooth and nail. It was horrible. The best he could do with it was 3" 3 shot groups when it was new. It was also a copper magnet. I told him to send it back to Winchester, but he didn't want to. He knew it was rough and decided to just shoot it until it settled down. Him and 2 other guys shot that poor thing like they were trying to melt the damn barrel. I guess they put around 200 rounds down the tube in one sitting. I was not part of that ordeal, thankfully. He said he could actually watch the groups shrink as they kept shooting it. He says the rifling isn't as "sharp" as it once was, but at least it shoots better now and doesn't copper foul nearly as bad either. I told him, he should have just bought a fire lapping kit instead. I don't condone that type of treatment to ones rifle barrel, but I'm glad it worked for him in the end. That EW shoots moa 3 shot groups now, believe it or not...

I have four Savage rifles. A Model 11 Prairie Dog Hunter 22-250 that is half MOA. A heavy barrel 17HMR that goes half MOA from time to time but is easily sub MOA. I have a Lightweight Hunter in 223 that will go 3/4 with its favorite ammo. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor that with only testing 2 loads is MOA. That's with 3 shot groups at 100.

While your 1.5 is not what I expect of Savage, it should be more than adequate for deer hunting.

That's a bad bet. Button rifling unfortunately does not have that characteristic.