Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

J

Jasoncap

Private
Minuteman
Sep 2, 2003
15
0
51
Charleston, SC
#1
I've been away from shooting for a while and have decided to get back into the hobby. I used to have an FN SPR that I really liked, and back when I bought it I feel like it was a good value. That same rifle is several hundred dollars more now so I am looking at alternatives.

I am not trying to open a whole Savage vs. Remington can of worms because I have experience with both rifles and they both have great accuracy potential. Since I can't physically put my hands on either of these rifles locally, I am hoping that I can get some info on a couple of specific areas.

1 - Fit and finish. I had a Savage 110FP, and a Rem 700 PSS years ago and neither had what I would call an incredibly smooth action, especially compared to the SPR. Since I have never handled a Rem 700 5R I am not sure if there is any more attention to detail, etc. that would make it feel more like a $1000+ gun vs. a standard 700 with a different barrel. Same goes for the Savage. Do the manufacturers do anything special with these actions, or are they standard models with a different barrel?

2 – Stock. The 700 has one offering, the HS Precision stock. The Savage can be had in either the AccuStock, or an HS Precision stock that looks similar to a McMillan “A” series stock. I have no experience with any of these stocks, but I am a little leary of the Savage AccuStock based on their old synthetic stocks. The SPR I owned had a McMillan stock and that fit me well and was very comfortable. Any thoughts on the different options here?

I certainly don’t expect a custom-grade rifle for around $1,100.00, but I also think that is a fair amount of money to drop on an off-the-shelf stick so I would like to make sure the quality is there to justify the price.
 
#2
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

For not alot more, i'd still get a used SPR, and throw a Bartlein 5r barrel on.

The rifle would already have a mcmillan stock, and the action itself is damn near bomb proof. You've got experience with it, so you should feel right at home again
 
#3
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

I have owned a couple of rem 5r's and have shot the savage in the hs stock a fair amount. I don't think either one had a "slick" action but they were definitely not bad.

I had one of the early no palm swell hs stocks on my 5R and I really enjoyed it. My other one had the large palm swell and I was not a fan.

I would definitely buy a 5R again if I was in the market for something similar to that.
 
#5
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

All the Remington 5Rs I have handled have had considerably smoother actions than my SPS.

I have not been impressed with the fit and finish of the accustocks.
 
#8
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

I just bought a savage 10PC with the 5R barrel. It comes with the Accu stoc, which is good because I happen to like the stock but will remove the wedge. I been think about which muzzle break to put on it. I will mainly use it for hunting and some paper punching and to see how the 5R barrel works out. The action did seem smoother than most savages. The only thing I will probably do is swap out the trigger for a rifle basix.

I have 2 other savages in Choate stocks that I use for F class 1 243 and a 308. The 308 is stock except the trigger. The 243 is custom with me doing most of the work. I did have SS t&t the action. Which really didn't improve the accuracy because it already shot less than 1/2 moa with the shilen barrel and rifle basix trigger.
 
#9
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

I see more and more savages actions at the comps, it is a great action that comes with a great trigger out of the box, however the savage does have its weaknesses. When fast firing the bolt will lock up not an over pressure lock up but I have been told it is a safety lock up. I have seen this happen to lots of guys as soon as the conditions "wind" stop and guys fast firing always will have a lock up. Second the savage bolt design has a few weak spots which will make them completely unusable. finally the lock up time is significantly slower than rem style action. I am not trying to bad mouth the savage as I have 2 of them and love them dearly but I know reserve those for hunting and my comp ones are rem 700.
 
#10
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

"The Target AccuTriggerTM has one irritating quirk. If you “slam” the bolt forward when chambering a round, it occasionally locks up the trigger. I am not sure whether this is a failsafe built into the AccuTriggerTM to prevent accidental firing, or whether it is a flaw in the design. However, if it happens, all you have to do is lift the bolt up and lower it down (without any rearward motion) and the trigger resets." quoted from A Field Report on the Savage Model 12 F-Class Open Rifle

By Dr. Jim Clary
 
#11
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

All of the accu triggers are prone to this if they are set to low. While I like the trigger for hunting I have replaced both guns I use for comp with rifle basix triggers (SAV-2) which can be set lower. As for the lock up time that also can be improved with some polishing. I have a problem with guns if someone makes a lemon I buy it and like glocks I have never had much luck with remingtons except the 788. I even bought a lemon off of Kimber. But I have never had a problem with a savage. I still wish Remington would make the 788 again but with a one piece bolt.
 
#12
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

My first .308 was a Savage with a Mcmillan stock on it (factory). I liked it and it shot very good but the barrel did collect copper pretty bad.
I sold it to purchase a .308 5R, I changed the trigger to a Timney and have never looked back. This thing will out shoot my old Savage on any day of the week, and with the price of ammo isn't it worth a few more bucks to have a great shooting rifle?
As a side note, a few weeks ago I purchased a used HS Precision rifle in .308 for $2500. (it was supposed to be 1/2 moa or better), after shooting it at 100 and 300 yards with Black hills ammo and my handloads I quickly learned that it did not shoot as well as my .308 5R, I took the rifle back the next day for a full refund. Yes, I am happy with my 5R and am now looking to spend money on a new stock.
SScott
 
#13
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

I love my Savage FCP 10. I put the McMillan A-5 on mine since it came with the choate tactical stock. It shoots extremely accurate (sub half moa with homebrew) and fits my needs perfectly (big plus is the 1:10 twist for the heavies). I know it isn't a smooth or pretty action but damn it works.
 
#14
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

I agree my other 3 stock savages are also a copper collectors. While I love the feel of a remington 700 i just never had any luck with now the 788 is a different story I have 3 that are all sub moa. I also like the Win 70 and own a couple. Ruger is another one I never had any luck with. I have found that if you lap the barrels with tubbs bullets that will reduce the fouling considerably.
 
#15
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I appreciate the feedback on the action, the trigger, and the stock on both rifles. I feel like I can't really go wrong with either, but it is a decision I have to live with for a while so I want to make the right choice.

I have been on the lookout for a used SPR but most of the ones I have seen advertised have the DBM (which I had on my SPR and was not a big fan of) or they are priced unrealistically.
 
#16
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

Why don't you just build a Spr with a nice tube on it. CDNN has the actions for $360 something, My buddy built one and the manufacturing tolerances on the action where awesome. But if you don't wanna go that route, I have a remmy 5r I chopped to 18in (308) its scary accurate with 175 smks. Its really a keeper. I dont think you could go wrong with either the rem or savage.

Mike
 
#18
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

savage! lol. your about right either way, neither is gonna be bad.

it would be nice to have the cash to buy both and set them up the same and shoot them side by side with the same ammo and see what happens.
 
#19
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?


I got a great deal on 3 Remington 5-R that I put away for the kids. All of them shoot under 1/2MOA with FGMM ammo. Saw one at a mid-range (600yds) tactical rifle class last year that out-shot everything including some very expensive custom guns including AI's.
 
#20
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

One neat thing about a savage and you could do with a remington action (with some gunsmith work) is the fact that you can change out barrels with out the need of a gunsmith all you need is a barrel nut wrench and head space gauge. Order barrels from Krieger or whomever already chambered and you do the assembly work. I prefer Remington I would get one of these though if I was on a budget: http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire/model-700/model-700-sps-tactical-aac-sd.aspx
 
#21
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: honkey</div><div class="ubbcode-body">rem </div></div> savage
 
#22
Re: Rem 700 5R or Savage 5R?

Thanks again for the replies. I decided to go a totally different direction and am building a rifle with a Howa action and Bell and Carlson stock. A bit of departure from the rifles I listed above, but I have heard some good things about the Howa actions and thought it would be a cool exercise to assemble a rifle from components. Total cost with optics came in right around the base rifle costs for the Rem and Savage 5R.
 
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