# savage inferior?



## briguy (Dec 5, 2005)

After poking around on here and other forums reading about the out of box accuracy and overall quality of savage, I had decided to order a model 16fhss(synthetic stock and stainless barrell with a hinged floor plate) chambered in 308. However, I told someone that I know to be knowledgable about rifles about my decision to buy a savage. he told me I couldn't go wrong with remington, browning or weatherby, but he thought savage was inferior to these brands. Can anyone give some thoughts on this?


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## 1shotWonder (Oct 10, 2005)

as ive said many many times before, savages look boring, but will shoot with the best of them any day of the week. its true that you cant go wrong with rem. browning, or weatherby, but you will pay for them(especialy for the ones that say weatherby on them) Id say stick with the savage and you will be very happy with it, but if you want to spend more money and get the same results, go with something else.


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## Kiwi98j (Sep 6, 2005)

Inferior as it relates to quality is an interesting subject - especially when it comes to commercial grade bolt action rifles. I tend to see"quality" not so much as in the way the rifle looks or feels, rather in the depth of the design in meeting its intended function. So you can see why I appreciate the Savage centerfire bolt action design.

My sense of "prettiness" objects to the barrel nut as something that looks to be "inferior" and shouldn't be there but as I look "under the skin", I see that the barrel nut is the most secure means to lock and align the barrel to the receiver while allowing for headspace adjustment and to provide for an indexed recoil lug. The ability to set the chamber headspace to match the sizing die is a definite advantage in the search for handloading consistiency for accuracy and for brass life.

On the surface, the pinned bolt head looks to be an "inferior" method of holding the cartridge casehead in place as the round is chambered but with a closer look, the floating bolt head design allows for true self centering of the cartridge in the chamber and for complete locking lug contact without the need to disassemble and precision machine the receiver after the action has been barreled. My tactile sense of feel would like the bolt raceways to be machined rather than broached but precision machining of the raceways does not add one whit to the function of the rifle. The same is true of that ugly cocking pin sticking out of the bolt body - I just don't see another practical method to achieve the industry's fastest lock time that contributes a large component to inherent Savage accuracy without resorting to exotic pin and spring striker materials and, as a bonus, allows for critical firing pin protrusion adjustment with simple hand tools.

I think quality is best defined as making the best with what you have and in this regard Savage is a quality piece.

Lipstick and rouge and a nice, silky smooth surface makes you feel good but tells you little about how it's going to perform when the time comes.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I like my Remington 700P. It shoots ragged hole groups, but after I spent $200 aftermarket lapping the locking lugs, squaring the action, setting the barrel back, rechambering to minimum specks, and recrowning. Don't get me wrong, I would do it all over again. However, I wouldn't have put any money on outshooting a Savage right out of the box, and some may shoot better now. Performance is my measure of quality, and although I don't own a Savage I do know they are quality.


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## TN.Frank (Nov 12, 2005)

I know we're talking bolt guns but, I'd take a Savage 99 lever gun over just about any other rifle on the market. The reason that I don't own one is because they're hard to find and they're expensive when you do find one in nice shape. The Savage bolt guns are as good as any other "regular" bolt gun, i.e. Remington, Winchester, Browning. As for Wetherby, they're in a class by themselves and the price reflects that. I had a buddy that had a Savage in '06, it shot well. He sold it and bought a Remington, it shoots well too. You can get a lemon in anything, guns, cars, whatever. Go with what you like and don't worry about what everyone else says. Bottom line is that you're happy and have confidence in what you shoot.

:beer:


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

If you want accuracy and dependability out of the box, you cannot top a Savage bolt action with Accu-Trigger. Without putting any more into it other than a good scope, it will flat out perform.

So will an out of the box Tikka, but it will cost several hundred dollars more.

I'm a Remington guy and love all my 700's, but I'm the first to admit they require a trigger job and need the barrel floated to match a Savage's out of the box accuracy.

Another positive aspect of a Savage is the ease which they can be re-barrelled. This can easily be done at home by the hobby gunsmith. All that is required is a special wrench and a set of go/no go gauges for the caliber. Midway even sells the kits with new barrel, wrench, and gauges all in one package...


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## Scooter (Nov 4, 2005)

I would realy question the knowledge of this person that stated that a Savage is of lesser quality. If guilty of anything it may be just a lower price. Weatherby on the other hand is guilty of charging too much for what a person is getting. With them your buying an expensive name with the rifle. As far as Remington is concerned great rifles I own many but of better quality than a Savage I don't think so but that is me. Browning another great rifle and of very good design but again your buying into the name also. Ask your knowledgeable friend as to how many supper accurate rifles are built of a Weatherby receiver vs a Savage everything I have read states that the Savage is more accurate by design than the Weatherby. It has to do with the locking lugs on both the Weatherby wich has 9 is next near to impossible to lap into 100% cantact and to true the bolt face vs the Savage wich has 2 or 3 and 100% cantact trueing of the bolt face is possible.


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

I would say get the savage.


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## Dave_w (May 25, 2005)

"The only interesting rifles are the accurate ones."

I just got my first big-bore rifle, a Savage 10FP-LE2 chambered in .308. Out of the box, the accuracy was wicked. The stock is ugly, but it works, and will probably get replaced with a MacMillan anyway. The trigger is sublime. The bolt is nice and crisp and easy to work. The gun just plain old handles nice.

As far as hunting rifles goes...Savage is equal with Remington, et al. Because you don't need to be terribly accurate to kill a deer, unless you're doing it at extreme ranges. All you need is to be rugged and reliable.

But I like to target shoot, and that means I need the lead to go roughly where I point. That means that, dollar for dollar, Savage wasn't just at the top of the list, it was the only thing I really considered. Sure, you can get a lot more aftermarket parts for your Remington 700, but if you're doing a build-up, why start off by paying more for a gun that's maybe 1 MOA when you can get a Savage and start with 1/2 or even 1/3?

In a perfect world, I would've bought a Sako or a Tikka or a Steyr or something else that costs a thousand bucks, but I don't have that kind of money. That, and am I really that good that I'd make use of that kind of acuracy? Probly not.


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## juggernaut (Dec 31, 2005)

I agree with T N Frank


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

If you want a pretty gun, take your buddies advise. If you want an accurate gun buy a Savage.

I too have heard all the accuracy claims over the last few years about Savage Rifle, and had to see for myself. I did not buy a Savage, but rather bought their inexpensive brand Stevens. The Stevens Model 200 is a plain jane Savage sans AccuTrigger and a different color synthetic stock. I picked mine up at Sportsmans Warehouse in Fargo for $259.99, added Warne Rings and Bases and added slightly used scope I bought from a buddy. All totalled I have $425.00 invested in this Rifle.

Now I do not nornally shoot a Rifle as it comes from the box. I am super fussy about triggers so I found instructions on the net on how to tune the old style Savage Triggers. After about 1/2 hour I had the little bit of creep eliminated and was able to adjust the trigger pull to a super crisp 2 3/4 pounds. (Yes there is an adjustment screw for the weight of pull).

I then totally cleaned the bore as is my usual procedure with a new Rifle, and after it was clean I then polished the bore with Flitz Bore Polish (which I think on this Rifle Barrel was un-necessary as the bore was so smooth), followed by a thorough cleaning once again to remove the FLITZ.

After mounting the scope I then headed out to sight it in. I initially zeroed it at 30 yards, and when I moved back to 100 yards the first two shots at 100 yards were touching (shouldn't have looked through the spotting scope as I pulled the 3rd shot an inch low, knew it when the gun went off). All in all I fired 6 - 5 shot 100 yard groups that day using Ultra Max Commercial Reloaded Ammo with 55gr. Winchester Pointed Soft Point Bullets. The largest group was 1" and the smallest just a hair over 5/8".

I am normally a Ruger fanattic, but the way this Savage / Stevens shoots from now on every time I consider a new Rifle I have a tougher decision to make.

Buying a new Rifle is a personal thing (well at least to me). Most shooters know what they want / like in a Rifle, and I think a person should buy the one that appeals to them. What I mean buy this is Fit, Finish and the Features they want in a Rifle.

Good luck in your quest for a new Rifle.

Larry


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## nitelite18 (Dec 12, 2005)

Since we are giving our opinions I'll through mine in. I have always been a remington man. I've never had a bad lemon nor have heard one. Remington is my preference but from personal experience ANY gun will do for you. If you have access to reloading there is no reason why a gun would perform less than expectation. All guns prefer diff. ammo. It is a fact. If this is a hunting weapon than you don't need a tack driver. all you must have is the ability to hit a 4 inch circle on command if you can do this you've found your gun. If your shooting competition your wasting yhour time with any of the brands mentioned above. YOU need a competition grade gun. Practice is what seperates guns from others. If you practice and shoot often any quality gun will be perfect. And as for savage accuracy being inferior I think that is an operator malfunction not machine.! :sniper: Good shooting


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## HARRY2 (Jul 26, 2004)

I dont think you can go wrong with a Savage, just try out the Accutrigger and compare it to a Remmington.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

With advise like that I would question how much this person actually knows about rifles. I have owned many different makes of rifles and to be honest I was prejudiced about Savage rifles too. Although I had never shot one I thought that they were cheap and terrible, mostly due to the advise from "people very knowledgeable in this area". In 1995 I joined our departments Special Operations team, in 1998 I made sniper and was issued a new Savage Model 10 Tactical, the predecessor to the current 10FP. At first I was disappointed, I wanted a Remington. As I broke the rifle in I started to see the accuracy potential, the more I shot it the more impressed I became. So much so that when I decided to build myself a long range rifle I chose a Savage 10FP with the accutrigger. I will shoot this rifle against any factory rifle, in fact I have won competitions against Remington PSS's and even beat one guy shooting a $3000 custom.

Don't let anyone tell you that you have a substandard rifle, it may cost less than the others, it may not be as pretty, but it will, in most cases, outperform or at least perform as good as the best of them pretty rifles.

:beer:

huntin1


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

Does your expert know that 1/2 of Weatherbys guns are made in JAPAN?

Savage is fine;Tell your friend to stick it where the sun dont shine.

(im proud of that one...a good bit of verse if i dont say so myself :lol: )


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## briguy (Dec 5, 2005)

mr.trooper said:


> Does your expert know that 1/2 of Weatherbys guns are made in JAPAN?
> 
> Savage is fine;Tell your friend to stick it where the sun dont shine.
> 
> (im proud of that one...a good bit of verse if i dont say so myself :lol: )


Which one do you want stuck where the sun don't shine, the advice or the weatherby?


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