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How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

mkharrison

Private
Minuteman
Mar 23, 2009
2
0
I'm considering buying a Savage Mark II BV and I try to research my gun purchases as much as I can beforehand. From what I've read so far, it seems like if a Mark II is going to have a problem, it is likely to be either poor extraction or poor feeding because of a loose magazine or magazine well. It's not clear how common these problems are but it's easy to find examples by searching, and that concerns me a little.

What has your own experience been with the Mark II? If you've ever had extraction/feeding problems, how easy was it to fix?
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have a new Savage MK II FV. It has been flawless since I got it with all sorts of different ammo. Magazines lock up tight . So far I've had no trouble with this rifle at all and I am very pleased. It is also extremely accurate.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have had one for quite some time, and have not had any trouble. I have heard of some complaints with feeding and magazines. I bought some aftermarket 10 round mags for it and they feed with no problems. Mine shoots unbelivable groups esp. with Wolf Match, Lapua Club, and SK Jagde.

No complaints from me...
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Ive got the 93r17 and the mkII and they both have worked great for me. Ive got a buddy who got a bad magazine wich caused it to have feeding probs but after purchasing a new mag he had no more probs.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have a MK II bv I have experienced extraction problems. mainly after 50 to 100 rounds of cheap bulk amo. I am curently working on a fix. this is not the first one I have herd of. For the $ this is an acurate rifle with wolf match.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I've never had the 5rd magazine that came with my MKII misfeed... I bought a 10rd that occasionally misfeeds the last round...

So I attribute that to the magazine itself.

As far as extraction, I only have problems with Remington ammo. It's been maybe 1 out of 20-30. It definitely got better after break in and part of the time it's me opening the bolt too slowly.


None of the CCI, Aguila, or Winchester I've tried has had extraction problems.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Couple hundred rounds through mine and the only issue was poor feeding with a spare 10rd mag. The mag acted like it had too much spring pressure so I cut a couple of coils off and life is good. I was nailing dimes at 50yd prone in the snow this weekend with ease. Mine like Wolf ME, havent found any of the cheaper MT to try yet.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Cheap Remmington bulk ammo makes my MKII-BTVS choke. It will run anything else with great results but will not extract at least once per magazine (usually more)shooting the Remmington. Winchester bulk ammo isn't the most accurate but functions well. Amazing results with Wolf match ammo and even the cheap CCI shoots lights out. I'm currently running a bunch of different brands through mine to see what works best. Of the cheaper stuff mine likes the CCI best. Ran about 6 different brands through it so far and have only had trouble extracting with the Remmington. I have not had issues with feeding at all.

On a related note, the MKII-BTVS in 22lr is the best money I have ever spent on a rifle. Not saying that lightly, I've spent some coin on rifles but this thing (for the money) is awesome.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have about 6 bricks (3,000 rounds) of Wolf MT through the Mark II BTVS with the only misfeeds coming from magazine issues. Make sure your mags aren't coming apart and you should be in good shape.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have a Sav MKII BTVS that has a few thousand rounds of Wolf MT through it with no issues.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I bought a MKII .22LR 4-5 years ago. The magazine wouldn't lock up so blunt end bullets wouldn't feed on the last round. It has an old fashioned lever locking the clip in. The old ones had a reputation for not feeding.

I had to use a screw driver all the time to take out fired or unfired rounds.

There were a few misfires.

I sent it back to Savage twice and they said there wasn't anything wrong with it and wouldn't give me a refund. Took at least 2 months.

Walmart finally took it back and I got a CZ 452A. Twice the quality. Worked with same ammo that Savage wouldn't.

I'd never have another one.

 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have had no problems except similar extraction issues on cheap remington blunderbolts (however they still shot pretty well). I have beat mine around in the woods too.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

My Savage MKII FVT also works very well. I have no complaints and have had no problems to date.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Josh_Danger</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

As far as extraction, I only have problems with Remington ammo. It's been maybe 1 out of 20-30. It definitely got better after break in and part of the time it's me opening the bolt too slowly.

</div></div>

Same here. Switched to Federal 711B and haven't had any more issues.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

So it seems that the general consensus here is don't buy Remington ammo...

And I'd like to add to that and say don't buy anything made by Remington outside of an actual firearm. It seems like pretty much all of their other stuff (cleaning kits, accessories, etc) is China garbage with their brand name slapped on it.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

It is very reliable. It is basically a knock-off of the Anschutz 64 action. Savage is good about doing ongoing quality improvement. A newer gun would have less reliability issues than an older one. They have the new MK 11 series pretty dialed in now.

For the most part a sloppy action will cycle everything perfectly but have accuracy issues. Savage is trying hard to get a tight action that cycles well and join CZ as the poor mans competition .22lr rifle.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Mine's been reliable. I dinged a lip on one of my mags and that caused some feeding issues that I sorted out fairly quickly.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

It's as good as the shooter as far as I'm concerned.
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Thank you for your responses, everyone. I'm glad to see that most seem to have little to no problems with their rifles.

A few questions about the ergonomics of the Mark II:

1) What is the length-of-pull on the laminate BV stock?

2) What is the distance from the rear of the receiver to the front face of the front weaver base?
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Don't have mine in front of me but I will say that the length of pull is too short. I'm about 6'2" and it feels a little AK-47 "ish" to me. I'd like to add about an inch and a half to the stock.

Anyone know where a guy might get a good butt plate extension that would match? Come to think of it, a good cheek pad would be an added bonus. I have a Mueller 8.5-25x50 on mine and it sits a little high.

The short LOP is one of the few flaws as I see it.

BTW, if you get one, get the EGW 20 MOA base also. That adds quite a bit of utility as a trainer. http://egw-guns.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=280
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Middle son Sam's F'sSUp! He has run four bricks of ammo through it, and it still nails 50M targets within a 1" group, or 3" orange clays at 100M. It's his mini sniper rifle with a old
3 - 9 x 32 scope from one of the members herein. One thing I can say, kid can shoot very well either scopes or irons, and he shoots on the wrong side too!

I had to teach him to shoot right handed until Big Brother Riki came home and taught him how to shoot right(at least by their Lefty standards)
grin.gif

samriki.jpg
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I have an older savage mark II with a sporter barrel, it is my favorite golf ball sniper at 100 yards, shoots very well especially for the 100 bucks I have in it
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

I've been using my plastic stocked, blued sporterweight MKII that I bought secondhand for $100 off a local rack ever since sometime back before The 'Hide was even established. In addition to my needs it has also served as one of the primary trainers for our youth marksmanship program.

It'll do...

Greg
 
Re: How reliable is the Savage Mark II?

Love both of mine. The only problems have been ammo related like previously stated.