# Savage Model 25 .204 review



## Savage260

After ordering this rifle in Feb, it finally showed up on March 14th. As soon as I got the rifle home I started seeing it's shortcomings. The bolt is very sloppy. After the trigger is pulled it moves around quite a bit, makes a good deal of noise. The release for the bolt is simply pulling the trigger, just as with my Savage .22LR. Too bad my .22LR bolt came out much more easily. I had to fight with the .204 bolt quite a bit to get it to release. The detachable plastic magazine is nice, but the cheap plastic release button, and flimsy release spring struck me as junk from the get go. Also the use of plastic for the bottom plate and trigger guard was pretty cheesy, in my opinion. I tried to mount a 6-24X40MM 30mmtube scope on the rifle, but the bases, included with the rifle, were way too high even with low rings. I had to buy low bases, then had to buy medium rings to get a proper fit. Finally, when I took this rifle to the range I found it would not chamber a round. I tried my reloads, made to max recommended COL, and also Hornady factory ammo. The bolt would not slide forward all the way. I took the rifle back to the dealer and he got the bolt to close about 20% of the time by slamming the bolt forward. I asked for a full refund, since I was unable to fire even one shot, including cost of the low bases, but as of today, have not received a single penny back for the defective rifle. 
The rifle looked and felt very nice, and with the cutbacks in quality, was very decently priced. I may have gotten a lemon, but this will give any one interested in buying the new model 25 some thing to think about before making a purchase.


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## varmit b gone

I'm probably going to get chastized for this, but "Typical Savage" I had a Savage in 270 and it was junk also.


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## Savage260

VBG, oh that was mean!!!! Not a typical Savage at all. I have a .22, 25-06, and a 7MM Rem Mag, and they all are great. I would put them up against my 22-250 Rem 700 any day. I am getting a new Model 12 BTCSS .204 on Friday of next week, and I am sure it will shoot well. I just think the Model 25 is Savage cutting cost too much and producing a product that lacks in performance because of it. Although, I never really got a chance to see it perform, since I never got one round down the tube.


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## Bore.224

When a new product comes out like a new model car or rifle in this case it is good to wait a year or two for the manufacture to get all the bugs worked out of the model!! I purchased a Ruger 10/22 magnum when they first came out with it and I sure had some issues with this Carbine. Works great now but I had to send it back 2 times to Ruger!! As far as Savage rifles go I got a modell 12 FV and it sure works good for me, I just got to get rid of the cheap scope that came with the rifle.


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## Hunter_58346

I talked to the guy at Gerrells yesterday and he got your gun back from Savage. The reason that it wouldnt close on your ammo?????? Your mount screws were to long..........  Thats what the letter from Savage said anyway


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## Hunter_58346

So did you finally get your money back???? If you did you were damn lucky,,,,,,,I dont think it was the dealers place to refund you the $$$$ Follow up and let us know


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## Savage260

Hunter, you are entitled to your views, but in this case I would say you are wrong. If I buy something from you and it won't work, it is your responsiblity to make it right. I was given the choice of getting a new rifle, (no thanks since I already waited 1.5 months for the first one) having a gunsmith try to fix the problem, (which again would involve a wait) or just getting my money back, which was my suggestion. After taking the rifle back, and being told I would get a refund, I had to call twice to "remind" the dealer to refund my money. I finally got the almost $600 back about 10-12 days after I brought the gun back. As far as the screws being too long, that makes no sense to me. The bolt closed just fine with no round in the chamber. If the screws were too long they would affect the closing of the bolt both empty or loaded, right? At least that is what happened with my 22-250 when I mixed up the front and rear screws on those bases. I spoke with another dealer who had to send a model 25 to a gunsmith for the same reason. The smith said there were small ridges on the bolt that were causing the problem. Any way, the bases and screws in question were purchased at the same store as the rifle, and were recommended by the dealer, so it seems to me to be absolutely correct that they refund my money. All's well that ends well. They got a nicely cleaned "perfectly functioning" rifle back, and I got my money back.


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## fungalsnowgoose

You were lucky you didn't have to go to the manufacture to get your money back. I've had great luck up at Gerrells with the stuff I've bought, and I can't believe Savage taking the gun and comming back with the excuse of the mount screws being to long if they weren't. If this were a common problem as you suggest it is then you'd think they'd have a recall, after all it does no company any good to purposely send out a defective product and blame the buyer if it's a design flaw .


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## Savage260

fungal, I didn't suggest any thing about this being a "common" problem, you did. Reread the post and you will see that I talked to 1 dealer, who had a problem with 1 rifle. Along with mine that makes 2. Hardly common. The bases and screws in question were not the same as those Savage puts on the rifle. Those were way too high, so I purchased different bases and screws at the advice of the dealer. Again, how can the screws affect the bolt with a round in the chamber, but not affect the bolt when there is no round in the chamber. I am not a smith or any type of gun expert, so if you can explain that to me, then I might believe it was the screws. I have had pretty good luck at Gerells also, I have also spent quite a bit of money there so I think they should take care of repeat customers. The only problem I have had was explained in my post. I had to remind them twice after the initial visit about getting my money back. I don't know about you, but to me that isn't good customer service. The first post was to alert people to a possible problem with the Savage Model 25 and my opinions on the construction of the rifle, and also to vent some frustration at having to remind some one to get my money back to me. As I said, all's well that ends well.


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## papajon61

Just in case anyone wants to change your Accutrigger out in your Savage model 25 the sav-2 from Rifle Basix wont fit the model 25. I belive they have used the trigger from there model 40 rimfire rifle.I talked to Bob at RifleBasix and think the SAV-RAT trigger will work.I also found the bolt to be difficult to work.It did loosen up some after I lubed it up alot.Also if the bolt is sticking check your safty this rifle has a 3 stage safty and if not in the right spot it may cause the bolt to stick.


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## thomas44

I just picked up a model 25 2 days ago in .223. I have mixed feelings. The plastic triggerguard and magazine are a little troubling, but the Boyds laminated stock and medium weight blued fluted barrel, along with tack-driving accuracy have pretty much won me over. I stuck a $65 Tasco varmint 2.5-10X40 on that puppy and had it drilling into an inch at 100 yards within 8 rounds ! I generally shoot 50 or 55 grain V-max ahead of either Varget or BLC2. I can't remember what I was shooting last night, but the rifle loved it ! I strongly recommend Savage rifles. This model 25 is my 6th Savage, and I'll be hard-pressed to ever switch to another brand.


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## Coyote Charlie

I own 3 Savages and have never had a problem, Model 10 Predator hunter 22-250, model 110 223 and a Model 12 FV in 204. I have been so pleased I am looking to buy a 308 in the 12 FV.


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## rlzman68

Nothing wrong with a savage. Matter of fact one of the BEST guns for the money you spend on them.


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## mr.trooper

My savage MKII will nail 20gauge hulls @ 100 yards every time.

Very accurate, functional, and easy on the wallet. :beer:


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## Savage260

I switched over to the Savage 12 BTCSS for my .204 and am very very happy with it. I have tried 40gr V-max, and Nosler BT's, 39gr BlitzKings, and 26gr Barnes VG's. I have yet to find a load or bullet this rifle doesn't shoot well. I decided on the 39gr BlitzKings for my PD hunt in Western ND this year, they and the rifle performed quite well. I had to pay more, but the model 25 doesn't stand up to the 12 in quality.


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## mr.trooper

Yea the model 25 has a funky kind of action. Id stick with the model 11 or model 12.


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## jgolden

i just purchased the model 25 .223 w/thumbhole stock new for $575...I'll have to repost once i get it dialed in. Hopefully this gun will be as good as it looks. Putting on a nikon 3x9 40mm prostaff w/BDC reticle...I'll let ya'll know how it does.


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## Unknown909

I also recently purchased a model 25 thumbhole and here are some observations:

Positive:
-The rifle is well weighted
-The stock is very solid (as opposed to some synthetic stocks that can flex quite a bit) and one of the most comfortable stocks I've ever used. In my opinion, this is the big thing that would set this rifle apart from competition in a positive way.
-The long holes in the stock ventilate well and don't really make the stock uncomfortable at all
-Before the weapon is fired, the bolt operates fine, but then again, this has never been something that bothered me so I may not recognize something that would bother someone else.
-The bolt is easy to remove and smoothly slides out
-The safety is spring-loaded and makes a satisfying click when it changes position
-The accutrigger is nice and shoots smoothly

Negative:
-It's a little awkward picking a rifle up with the thumbhole, but this is really more of a target rifle anyway so that shouldn't matter too much.
-After the weapon is fired, it takes considerable force to raise the bolt handle. This may be because the gun is fairly new, but still, it seemed a little excessive to me.

-The one large complaint I have about this rifle is the magazine assembly. The cheapness struck me as being out of place considering the quality in the rest of the rifle.
---The release is small and requires quite a bit of force to operate (it took me a while to figure out that I was trying to release it the correct way because I didn't think I should have to push so hard on it for it to release).
---The plastic magazine creaks and flexes whenever I handle it. Though I haven't had any actual problems with it yet, I know I'm going to hate the day when I drop a loaded magazine on concrete.
---The magazine I got does not carry 4 rounds. I don't know if this is a defect with my rifle, or just that they mean you can drop one in the chamber and still have three in the mag.

So all in all, I really do like this rifle. If savage would add $25 to the price tag and a couple ounces to the weight and replace the magazine and assembly with with some quality steel parts (and maybe a slightly higher capacity magazine, say 5-7 rounds) this rifle would rate as "awesome", rather than just the "good for the price" that I currently give it.


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## 71challenger

I too have a new Savage 111 GCNS IN 30 06, and am very impressed with the quality and performance. It's user adjustable "Accutrigger" is a shooters dream made reality. Mine is magazine fed too, which the mag well and mag on mine is all metal. It's also 4 in the mag and 1 in the chamber. Add that with a wood checkered stock, jewelled bolt and beautiful blueing, and it's one bad *ss rifle for $473. Of course I added a Swift 4x12x40 scope. The only problem I had is when I ordered the Weaver mounts's, Weaver said both of the same part number will fit. Wrong! I had to get a longer front mount.
One other thing about the Savage-- It's made in the USA........imagine that!


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