Savage rifles...worth it?

[DukeGSP]

i'm not a savage fan boy but I own a handful of them. I can swallow my pride and admit that they all shoot. I've got a buddy who picked up a 12fv from cabelas a few years back and has done nothing to it other than bed it in a aftermarket stock. I've got a custom 6.5 (his is in 6.5 also) he's got maybe 500 in his rifle (gun was 265 after rebate/sale ) I've got nearly 6k in mine. I rather not finish the story but I shot both rifles and I lost sleep that night.

the resale isn't there and the history of them always being the "cheap" rifles will always be there but i'll be the first one to admit that i'd put a savage out of the box against any other factory rifle out of the box.

 

[Godofallu]

Savage is fine. As is Tikka, Howa ect.

I went with HOWA and it's working great. A friend went Tikka and it's great too. I have a Savage 22lr and that's great.

I personally would go full custom and spend the 2K or go cheap and go Savage/Howa. My HOWA build was like $650 and that thing shoots half moa frequently.

 

[jpcowboy]

i'm not a savage fan boy but I own a handful of them. I can swallow my pride and admit that they all shoot. I've got a buddy who picked up a 12fv from cabelas a few years back and has done nothing to it other than bed it in a aftermarket stock. I've got a custom 6.5 (his is in 6.5 also) he's got maybe 500 in his rifle (gun was 265 after rebate/sale ) I've got nearly 6k in mine. I rather not finish the story but I shot both rifles and I lost sleep that night.

the resale isn't there and the history of them always being the "cheap" rifles will always be there but i'll be the first one to admit that i'd put a savage out of the box against any other factory rifle out of the box.

yea i know how you feel, i started with a savage 12 then graduated to curtis and no matter what i do that curtis will not shoot as accurate, but other than accuracy a custom action is very smooth to operate

 

[Davo308]

Has anyone out there done just a barrel swap to an aftermarket barrel? Any big improvement in accuracy?

I've got a lightly fired 10-fp HS Precision.

I see new aftermarket barrels (Im thinking 6.5 creed) for 300 ish, and new factory take off barrels for 200.

 

[Tx_Aggie]

Has anyone out there done just a barrel swap to an aftermarket barrel? Any big improvement in accuracy?

I've got a lightly fired 10-fp HS Precision.

I see new aftermarket barrels (Im thinking 6.5 creed) for 300 ish, and new factory take off barrels for 200.

Considering a few posts above Greg and Spife are talking about the need to lap factory Savage barrels after the rifles have been purchased by the end user, I'd say there's plenty of room for improvement.

More seriously, a good aftermarket barrel will at the very least copper foul less and clean up more easily than a factory savage barrel. They will often shoot better as well, though some Savages are surprisingly accurate out of the box.

I'd buy a Criterion or Shilen pre-fit before spending money on a factory take-off barrel (assuming it's not going to stretch the budget). I have a couple of Savage threaded Shilen Select barrels that I use on my TL3 and they straight up shoot.

 

[Tx_Aggie]

yea i know how you feel, i started with a savage 12 then graduated to curtis and no matter what i do that curtis will not shoot as accurate, but other than accuracy a custom action is very smooth to operate

What are the stats on your Curtis? Who put it together, what make of barrel, etc. Any pics?

 

[Davo308]

Considering a few posts above Greg and Spife are talking about the need to lap factory Savage barrels after the rifles have been purchased by the end user, I'd say there's plenty of room for improvement.

More seriously, a good aftermarket barrel will at the very least copper foul less and clean up more easily than a factory savage barrel. They will often shoot better as well, though some Savages are surprisingly accurate out of the box.

I'd buy a Criterion or Shilen pre-fit before spending money on a factory take-off barrel (assuming it's not going to stretch the budget). I have a couple of Savage threaded Shilen Select barrels that I use on my TL3 and they straight up shoot.

Its not so much a budget thing as much as its a "where can I see the biggest incremental improvements" thing.

The rifle already has an improved stock, and shoots well, though in .308

 

[Tx_Aggie]

Its not so much a budget thing as much as its a "where can I see the biggest incremental improvements" thing.

The rifle already has an improved stock, and shoots well, though in .308

Having started with a Savage, I'm not a big fan of trying to incrementally improve one.

No matter how much money you put into a Savage action, you're still stuck with the potential for eventual extraction and ejection issues (mostly if you shoot the gun a lot), limited options for triggers, often heavy bolt lift, etc. Most of the aftermarket fixes for these things still won't bring the Savage up to the level of a Tikka, Howa, Bergara, etc.

And Savage only offers a 1 year warranty, and only against defects in workmanship....(https://savagearms.com/content?p=warranty)

Still, I think a nice pre-fit barrel is a great way to spend money on a Savage. It lets you try out another cartridge, can add muzzle threads for a brake or suppressor, and will probably give you a noticeable increase in accuracy.

A quality pre-fit barrel is also an upgrade you can move to a better action down the road, since there are several entry level custom actions (Origin, Nucleus, etc.) made to take Savage barrels.

For me, once I started running the numbers on the cost of incrementally upgrading my Savage, and realized I'd still never be able to use the triggers I liked so much on my buddies' guns, I started saving for a custom action and stopped spending money on the Savage. YMMV, I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who's caught the competition shooting bug in a big way, and try to shoot my rifle 3-4 times a week when time allows. If it was more like once or twice a month I'd probably still be happy rocking the Savage.

 

[JMGlasgow]

Friends don't let friends own Savage.

 

[SFC Carpentier jr]

A good topic so far. I would like to weight in. I owned a Savage 110 Tactical when they came out years ago. Of course this was one of there first rifles and as you know there were not as many aftermarket items for the rifle like there is now. The rifle had a very filmy stock and was not very accurate. Also the extractor broken and I had to send it back to Savage so they could fix it. I later sold that rifle. Well as you know Savage starting come out with different tactical rifles and also more aftermarket items were being made for the Savage. Later I decide to give them another try and I got a Savage 10 FP in 223. BOY is this rifle accurate. I later got another Savage in 308 in a trade. This gun was also accurate. I currently still own two Savages. Say what you will about them, but they are good guns for the price.

 

[patriot07]

Savage is plenty accurate, but you're much, much more likely to have feeding/extraction/ejection issues with one than a Tikka. Not worth it IMHO. Just go with a Tikka from the start and be done with it. Tikka CTR at $1k is by far the best value in precision rifle shooting. Accurate, with a reliable/smooth action, a good DBM, and a use-able stock (although that's the first thing I'd replace on either the Tikka or Savage).

 

[Steel head]

Extraction and ejection is certainly a weak area for savages.