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Why the hatred for savage?

Because many of them shoot very well, and its combination of jealousy and anger from those who spent 3-10x as much money for similar performance.
T
heres not a lot of objectivity in this hobby.
Similar performance? You mean reliability or precision.?
 
I love waiting for someone to ask a question about a savage. It brings out the best. I agree with all that immediately caught on about a free rifle for a first time shooter.

It like going to a “He-man women haters” meeting. Threads like this one show who really are lost!

I have an elite precision 6.5 CM .2 at 100 and .75 at 400. Ejects perfectly and only had to replace the junk mag with MDT metal and poly/metal mags it and feeds great. My model 12 BR in 6.5-284 Norma shoots the same. Yes I’m the savage guy that you all hate at the range. And you will also hate my 11 year behind the elite when his current targets are laid out on the table at the local local long range target matches as I watch them hand him his money! he will get the gun when I die, if I ever get it back from him!

get them shooting early so when baseball and lacrosse come around he/she are too busy practicing shooting
 
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Savage makes a dangerous game rifle.... how unloved would you feel if you were getting ready to go on a hunt and your wife presents you with a Savage rifle when your life could be on the line??

But for a beater truck gun they work pretty good.
 
I love waiting for someone to ask a question about a savage. It brings out the best. I agree with all that immediately caught on about a free rifle for a first time shooter.

It like going to a “He-man women haters” meeting. Threads like this one show who really are lost!

I have an elite precision 6.5 CM .2 at 100 and .75 at 400. Ejects perfectly and only had to replace the junk mag with MDT metal and poly/metal mags it and feeds great. My model 12 BR in 6.5-284 Norma shoots the same. Yes I’m the savage guy that you all hate at the range. And you will also hate my 11 year behind the elite when his current targets are laid out on the table at the local local long range target matches as I watch them hand him his money! he will get the gun when I die, if I ever get it back from him!

get them shooting early so when baseball and lacrosse comes around he/she is too busy practicing shooting
Another savage cope
 
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Accuracy means nothing without reliability though. As in most cases, you get what you pay for.
I don't need you or anyone else to lecture me! This isn't my first rodeo and I was shooting before you were hatched :rolleyes: As stated I bought the rifle for the varmint hunting around my place not for competition or defending my family from Zombies or well intentioned fools. But I've had this for a while and I can assure you this rifle will be around for long time.
 
I agree with all that immediately caught on about a free rifle for a first time shooter.
This ^^ is the key point missed by so many.

Already won in a raffle, just starting, has a 13 y.o. that he's looking to spend time with and have "fun".

I think it’s time to lock this thread.

It’s pretty much fun it’s course for any useful information
Indeed.
 
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My hope was to get some solid information on whether the rifle is worth keeping or try to sell/trade it to something better in its price point.

Nothing kills interest and fun in shooting more than an unreliable or inaccurate firearm.
While we don’t intend to start off at max range, I was just hoping for something that could grow with my sons interest as he gets older and more experienced.
 
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I don't need you or anyone else to lecture me! This isn't my first rodeo and I was shooting before you were hatched :rolleyes: As stated I bought the rifle for the varmint hunting around my place not for competition or defending my family from Zombies or well intentioned fools. But I've had this for a while and I can assure you this rifle will be around for long time.
A bit "touchy" are we? Wear looser shorts, you'll feel better.
 
My hope was to get some solid information on whether the rifle is worth keeping or try to sell/trade it to something better in its price point.

Nothing kills interest and fun in shooting more than an unreliable or inaccurate firearm.

It will suit your needs just fine. It is a newer model. If you have the know how or know someone that can go over it I would do that. Make sure everything is torqued properly, put a decent scope on it and go shoot it. You and your Son will have a lot of fun with it.
 
Would the savage be better in overall quality and accuracy than the Howa?
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Your 'entry' rifles (in order):
(1) Tikka
(2) Howa
(3) Bergara

I went Howa barreled action and threw it in a KRG Bravo as my starter.

However, if you have one, load it up take it to the range and enjoy it. Its paid for. Its not going to self-destruct and cause a 20 foot crater. Nor will it cause Coronavirus. If you want to do matches or something, maybe want to upgrade, but for saturday paper punching, it'll be fine. Very few rifles are inaccurate these days. Yeah you might get some feeding issues, but unless you are on the clock, who the hell cares.

I got a POS 22 semi-auto that jams about 20% of the time. Clear it, move on.
 
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Some years back, our Marine Corps League Detachment had a shooting team, and we standardized on the Savage 10FP .308 Each one had a short throat. It was and remains a puzzle to me why this was so and why it was never "corrected". Accommodating the issue usually involved seating the bullet deeper, and accepting a smaller Powder capacity in the case.

So we did just that. Funny, though; the rifles continued to shoot well, even with slightly reduced powder charges. I won't attempt to explain it, except to say that if your factory ammo gives problems, consider handloading.

My guess is that they use a different chamber reamer spec. If so, only they might know why. Since it remains so, and they appear to continue to sell rifles set up with those barrels, it's apparently not such a terrible detriment. When I had my L-W 260 barrel spec'ed out I asked for a shorter throat, assuming it might extend bore life. The rifle's been shooting since 2003, so there may be something to this. But lately I don't shoot it so much; so don't all go running out looking for short throated barrels.

In my instance, I keep factory ammo on hand for several reasons. Someday I may find myself in a shooting war (very doubtful) and the value of good ammunition may reach the level of unobtainium. Or..., my accuracy needs may not justify the effort I put into my handloads. I may also find myself teaching someone whose nascent skills make good handloads a waste of good ammunition (but, for these folks, I shake out the wrinkles with an accurate 22LR, mostly).

Greg
 
goodness, all this drama....

look, i have savage rifles....hell, i even like my savage rifles...but lets be honest here....they are pieces of shit...and their price reflects that.

hell, have you ever taken apart a Mk2......its 90% stampings.....savage 10's arent much better.....they feel sloppy, and have sharp edges....not to mention the previously posted issues with threads.

they can shoot...sure...but they arent quality firearms......and honestly, i wouldnt bet my life on one.....hell, i wouldnt even bet a good hunting trip on one....


i shot NCAA and national matches with a MK2 for years...it shot well...but best believe i upgraded to an Anschutz as soon as possible...i had ~$600 into my "match" MK2......my anschutz is $4K.....is the anschutz 7x a better rifle than the Savage......yes, 100% yes.
 
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Have you tried EuroOptic?

They are usually well stocked, got mine from them. I have a 223 on order.. forget the model but it won't be here till December I'm told.
Thought grumpy cat died several years ago.

Anywho for shits and giggles tried finding a tikka T3x TACT A1 in stock, and the only place that does seemed questionable
 
Damn they figured us out, in fact, I hate when those Honda Civics pass my Porsche on the highway, I secretly envy every car that passes me when the owner paid less money. The Civic with the wings are a particular point of jealously, when that H wing goes by, I know I made a poor decision. They just smoke me ... I still have another gear and nothing helps

View attachment 7687537

A fool and is money is soon parted, that is a fact.
Yes and you paid civic money for that porsche? If your post was aimed at my civic lambo comment you completely missed my point . My point? Don't compare a x dollar item to a 10x dollar item.
 
Thought grumpy cat died several years ago.

Anywho for shits and giggles tried finding a tikka T3x TACT A1 in stock, and the only place that does seemed questionable
I think you would be pretty well served with the Savage, however, the Howa is a really decent rifle and you may be able to pick one of those up.

 
I think you would be pretty well served with the Savage, however, the Howa is a really decent rifle and you may be able to pick one of those up.

My concern with the Howa is how difficult it would be to change barrels when needed
 
Yes, I have several other rifles from various manufacturers. However, I have an old bone stock predator hunter 243 with a ( ancient by today’s scopes ) Midway exclusive 5-15 vortex scope that absolutely loves a 105 Berger hunting vld. I have to make myself not take it out each trip.
A lot of fond memories involved with it from hunting to lightening naysayers wallets. When I shoot the barrel out, I’ll probably bury it and cry like i lost my dog.
 
We're talking about Savage RIFLES, not shotguns.

If the shoe fits...

Anyway, do you have any idea what the laws are in relation to importing arms from China?
You don't get to tell me what I'm talkin about, dude. The only shoe that fits is that you're an ass for clearly knowing you're mistaken and still doubling down on it. You quoted me to call-out horseshit. I was talking about a personal experience with a specific shotgun and explicitly stated so; you must have misread. If the shoe fit, I would own it, but in point of fact I've been proven right in this thread by others. The thread title doesn't say rifles, and I responded to it with the only negativity I feel towards Savage.

The first response from you may have been a mistake or oversight. However, this response is the perfect example of somebody who fails to take responsibility and apologize when they fuck up!
 
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My Savage experience:
Savage 110FP-365$,barrel float/cheap trigger job-100$=5/8,3/4" groups w/168-175gr handloads,boringly consistent 300rds
Rem700-600$/1200$ mods at IronMt-3/4-1"groups with same handloads,consistent 1" 300 rounds
I kept the Savage....
 
My Savage experience:
Savage 110FP-365$,barrel float/cheap trigger job-100$=5/8,3/4" groups w/168-175gr handloads,boringly consistent 300rds
Rem700-600$/1200$ mods at IronMt-3/4-1"groups with same handloads,consistent 1" 300 rounds
I kept the Savage....

More info? What mods?
 
A buddy was looking at a savage in 6.5 prc the other day. I guess it was all dolled up and what not. I told him that my wife's savage was $219 NIB at Cabelas and that he is basically getting the same gun but with lipstick on it for $1k.
 
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People don’t realize there is more to a rifle than pure accuracy…

Sure a savage shoots plenty accurate, especially when compared to the average owner. However what the others offer is a peace of mind.

Again this weekend we had a Savage constantly shake loose. The student is improving a good clip only to be knocked back 3 steps because suddenly his rail is loose. In a 3 day class we had to remove, tighten and remount the scope 3x, that is not how you gain confidence in your gear.

My recommendation for potential new savage owners, buy it if you must, but take it apart, put it back together tight and if you are really smart open up and fix the base screws because a ton are out of spec.

The other issue, is the combination of Long Gun and AR features in several models, They just don’t lend to shooting correctly. It‘s terrible for the shooter.

Savages have potential this site did a Savage 260REM Project on a 10FP 20 years ago. Pre Accutrigger we bought 5 discontinued rifles in 260 and had after market triggers, better barrels along with a MCM A5 stock. It was very successful I still have that rifle but it is a single shot 6BR now with no barrel nut.

Savages are just ghetto… and I see a ton of them, the few that work as advertised are usually wrenched on in some way. Rarely does an out of the box savage work as advertised. But they can be made too…

Trust Me, Get a Tikka
I have not read the whole thread yet, but LL nailed it. I shot matches for 2 years with a Savage action. I didn't have much disposable income. I bought a Cabelas 12fv and used the action. I bought a used HSP stock and Criterion prefit. I put a Burris XTR2 4-20 on it. I had less than $2k in the entire setup. That is all the good.

Now the bad. I am pretty handy. The original trigger had a shitload of creep. I called Savage and signed a waiver and they sent me a replacement trigger. They replacement was very good. The gun would not eject for shit. I had a gunsmith install a second ejection plunger. He charged $35 to drill the bolt head and I installed the parts. It was a cheap fix but a pain in the ass. I had to file the ejectors to different protrusions to get the brass to eject consistently. Ejector springs had to be replaced often. I also had to install a larger detent ball under the extractor and replace the extractors fairly often. After that the gun ran like a scalded dog from magpul aics magazines.

More bad. The rail came loose (shocker huh?). I even had the rail with the lug. My final solution was that I epoxied the rail to the receiver. I had the screws come loose, but the point of impact never moved after that.

The bolt lift issue can be fixed. I polished everything and put a cut down 357 case with a ball bearing in the primer pocket in. I shortened the bolt that holds the bolt handle on by the thickness of the cut down case. I stoned off the burr on the cocking notch as detailed in the nat lambeth bolt lift kit instructions. I adjusted the firing pin protrusion to .035" and the pin fall to .250". The bolt lift is actually really good now. It feels like an unbroken in Origin.

After around 5000 rounds and a bunch of dryfire the trigger and sear wore to the point that the sear would let go when closing the bolt. Savage refused to send me parts to fix it. That was the end. By that time I had made a career move and was making significantly more money. I bought a TL3. I bolted shit together, timed the cocking piece to the trigger, and ran the damn thing. Pretty drama free. When I have had small issues Zermatt customer service took care of them VERY well.

To summarize, they can be made to work well. The design does not hold up well to high use/low maintenance situations. They are under new ownership since my debacle with CS. My advice would be to use it as is for a starter rifle. Do not make expensive upgrades like chassis or triggers to it. Most other upgrades such as scopes, barrels, etc. can be moved to a custom action if you decide you like the sport and want to upgrade.
 
My hope was to get some solid information on whether the rifle is worth keeping or try to sell/trade it to something better in its price point.

Nothing kills interest and fun in shooting more than an unreliable or inaccurate firearm.
While we don’t intend to start off at max range, I was just hoping for something that could grow with my sons interest as he gets older and more experienced.
I have a pile of Savages. They are a great hobby gun. I rebarreled a bunch. Played with the switch barrel idea. Learned a lot. Problem guns are great trouble shooting teachers lol. Moved on to higher grade after Savage kept fiddling with their design specs that killed aftermarket support. They tried to get fancy and ruined the modularity and parts interchangeability. They were headed to being the Harley Davidson of rifles and lost it.
They are generally accurate. Sometimes outstandingly so. Reliability for semi hard running is an issue as noted above. You are not gonna get much return on investment for upgrades but look at what you have invested now? Sure you can swap it for an upgrade. But do whatever it takes to get that kid shooting NOW. Banging steel right now and having fun together will pay off in those difficult 16-18 yoa you got coming quickly.
If I was gonna try to swap out I would go used Remmy, Tikka, RPR, or maybe Howa.
One thing about the RPR, is the factory stock adjustability. Dont know how much size difference there is between you and the kid but making the gun able to fit counts for a lot. Just my opinion. Filter through the bs and there is some subject matter expert advice available here. Just don’t get wrapped around the axle and waste time. Kid is only 13 once.
How much does a slightly used kidney bring nowadays? Options.
 
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After around 5000 rounds and a bunch of dryfire the trigger and sear wore to the point that the sear would let go when closing the bolt. Savage refused to send me parts to fix it. That was the end. By that time I had made a career move and was making significantly more money. I bought a TL3. I bolted shit together, timed the cocking piece to the trigger, and ran the damn thing. Pretty drama free. When I have had small issues Zermatt customer service took care of them VERY well.


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I can't believe savage wouldn't send parts to fix the sear slam fire issue. That is bullshit to the highest level. Let me guess they wanted you to send it in and they would fix it. Just another reason to say fuck savage.
 
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Did the sear adjustment screw not stop the fire-on-close problem?

I've had the sear screw on a Savage loosen up before and cause this, but a quarter turn and blue loctite fixed it.
 
After around 5000 rounds and a bunch of dryfire the trigger and sear wore to the point that the sear would let go when closing the bolt. Savage refused to send me parts to fix it. That was the end. By that time I had made a career move and was making significantly more money. I bought a TL3. I bolted shit together, timed the cocking piece to the trigger, and ran the damn thing. Pretty drama free. When I have had small issues Zermatt customer service took care of them VERY well.
I can't believe savage wouldn't send parts to fix the sear slam fire issue. That is bullshit to the highest level. Let me guess they wanted you to send it in and they would fix it. Just another reason to say fuck savage.

They actually had my buddy pay for shipping to their repair facility to fix his scope base screw holes. Total bs for a bnib rifle if you ask me. His rifle basically has 'built on Friday at 4:30pm' written all over it. Inner bolt raceway could be used as a cheese grater and he's been having pressure/sticky case issues as of late as well. The Savage 10 I used to have had a scope base that was off centered. My Mk II had its fair share extraction issues. If I was OP, I wouldn't put a single dime into the rifle. Shoot the piss out of it and move onto something nicer when the kid is older and more capable.
 
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After around 5000 rounds and a bunch of dryfire the trigger and sear wore to the point that the sear would let go when closing the bolt. Savage refused to send me parts to fix it. That was the end. By that time I had made a career move and was making significantly more money. I bought a TL3. I bolted shit together, timed the cocking piece to the trigger, and ran the damn thing. Pretty drama free. When I have had small issues Zermatt customer service took care of them VERY well.
I can't believe savage wouldn't send parts to fix the sear slam fire issue. That is bullshit to the highest level. Let me guess they wanted you to send it in and they would fix it. Just another reason to say fuck savage.
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Yep, or I had to hire someone with an FFL to make the repairs. I told the person on the phone that there are plenty of people with FFL that don't know fuck-all about gunsmithing and that whomever wrote that company policy was a complete and utter dipshit. They replied by saying that they didn't make the rules. They even asked their boss to waive the rule, but they would not do it. Too many lawyers and too many litigious people.
 
I have a Savage 10 in 6.5Cm that shoots great. When I bought it, the forward scope rail screw threads were stripped, either due to bad threading at the factory, poor quality metal, or over torquing at the factory. I had to have a gunsmith retap to #8 threads. I haven’t had any feeding or extraction issues. I won’t be buying any more Savages. They aren’t worth the trouble. On a budget I would get a Tikka. If you have the money, I would start with a custom action, so you know you have a solid foundation.
 
It's not hate, it is personal experience. Having been down this road myself, don't do it.

If your kid sticks with it- you will end up spending the money anyway.

If he doesn't stick with it- you will recoup more money selling a platform with a better reputation than a Savage.
 
Those cards were funny up until that dude on the Hide needed lawyers, a settlement and an NDA to get his NX8 fixed or replaced or whatever. Least Vortex will fix their shit.
His response was funny, I enjoyed that but I had no idea that's what it took to get a nightforce fixed. Vortex for the win, nightforce can suck it
 
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Savage are pretty rough action wise, compared to my silky smooth Tikka.😍
The Savage seems to shoot well though.
I've seen some people eat their words, after a Savage owner has cleaned them up on the field, or at the range.
They've been around a long time.
Must be doing something well enough, to still be in business.
Still comes down to whatever suits you best.
Just enjoy.
 
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