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Why the hatred for savage?

If anyone is dumb enough to look past your “I’m with Her” bumper sticker and take firearm advice from you, they deserve the Savage you helped sell them.
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Interesting thread. I’m not a comp. shooter. Did pistol many years ago. I’ve fixed, tweaked, & built my own rifles & pistols, starting around 2000.(started building rifles in 2005). I’ve liked Savages since I was 18 & have owned several. My current is about as modified a Savage as can be. Picked up a used model 10 for $270, stripped it to bare Action. Wears a Shilen 26” barrel in 260Rem, rounds butt up against a PTG bolt head, and stuffed in an MDT TAC21 Chassis. I made the shoulder stock using a modified A2 buffer tube & machined some aluminum parts. I’m a fan of Safe Action triggers and have always done my own trigger jobs since 2000. I do a complete overhaul on the Accutrigger. Doesn’t use the factory springs, rather my own springs & I add an overtravel stop. Also shim any side play & stone the trigger/sear surfaces to perfect flat. I like my trigger more than ANY aftermarket. And it eats nothing but my reloads. I’ve also done every trick possible to the bolt body/firing pin & machined my own lift kit. Machined from Titanium, with a pressed in Silicone Nitride bearing ball and a piece of Tungsten rod pressed in the BAS for the lowest coefficient of friction possible.


The rifle with Athlon Midas in Recon-S mount. Harris style bipod on custom Spigot/Picatinny mount I made.


And crazy light bolt lift. No, I’m not holding the rifle. I’m disabled & my left arm/hand is PARALYZED!


Is it a $5000+++ custom...of course not. And if I was into serious competition, I’d have a custom Action build as well. Let’s face it, expensive stuff is cool. But I’m just a shooter for enjoyment. And this rifle is very fun to shoot. It’s also more accurate than 99.9% of shooters. More accurate than I’ve ever been! Even pre-accident/disabled. And it doesn’t skip a beat! Do Savages have a few “quips” out of the box? Sure. They are inexpensive. But fixing any problems is quite easy. If you can’t, you don’t know what you’re doing mechanically. My Savage will embarrass most 700’s, Howa’s, Tikka’s in the same price league.

I will admit though.... I’m more fond of building, machining, fixing.... and passing on what I know to newer shooters than I am of shooting myself.

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Interesting thread. I’m not a comp. shooter. Did pistol many years ago. I’ve fixed, tweaked, & built my own rifles & pistols, starting around 2000.(started building rifles in 2005). I’ve liked Savages since I was 18 & have owned several. My current is about as modified a Savage as can be. Picked up a used model 10 for $270, stripped it to bare Action. Wears a Shilen 26” barrel in 260Rem, rounds butt up against a PTG bolt head, and stuffed in an MDT TAC21 Chassis. I made the shoulder stock using a modified A2 buffer tube & machined some aluminum parts. I’m a fan of Safe Action triggers and have always done my own trigger jobs since 2000. I do a complete overhaul on the Accutrigger. Doesn’t use the factory springs, rather my own springs & I add an overtravel stop. Also shim any side play & stone the trigger/sear surfaces to perfect flat. I like my trigger more than ANY aftermarket. And it eats nothing but my reloads. I’ve also done every trick possible to the bolt body/firing pin & machined my own lift kit. Machined from Titanium, with a pressed in Silicone Nitride bearing ball and a piece of Tungsten rod pressed in the BAS for the lowest coefficient of friction possible.


The rifle with Athlon Midas in Recon-S mount. Harris style bipod on custom Spigot/Picatinny mount I made.


And crazy light bolt lift. No, I’m not holding the rifle. I’m disabled & my left arm/hand is PARALYZED!


Is it a $5000+++ custom...of course not. And if I was into serious competition, I’d have a custom Action build as well. Let’s face it, expensive stuff is cool. But I’m just a shooter for enjoyment. And this rifle is very fun to shoot. It’s also more accurate than 99.9% of shooters. More accurate than I’ve ever been! Even pre-accident/disabled. And it doesn’t skip a beat! Do Savages have a few “quips” out of the box? Sure. They are inexpensive. But fixing any problems is quite easy. If you can’t, you don’t know what you’re doing mechanically. My Savage will embarrass most 700’s, Howa’s, Tikka’s in the same price league.

I will admit though.... I’m more fond of building, machining, fixing.... and passing on what I know to newer shooters than I am of shooting myself.

If your savage is so awesome then why would you need a custom if you competed?

also saying your savage or any gun you’ve built is more accurate than 99.9% of ppl is a pretty bold statement!
 
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Savage certainly seems to attract diametrically opposed views.
The few I've seen at various ranges seem to shoot alright
One or two that I have had a go with, seem a bit rough in the action.
I'm spoilt though, using AI, Sako, and Tikka.
As long as the nut behind the butt is happy,that's what counts.
 
I have a variety of rifles from different manufacturers and 5 of them are Salvage. I wouldn’t use one for competition but I also haven’t experienced anything bad with them. They go bang. They chuck spent
casings. Eh, use them or don’t. I’d err on the side of don’t when it comes to competition rifles.

a couple of satisfied customers
223 hog hunter
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My rebarreled 260. 540 yards. What’s that on top? OMG! It’s an IOR! Don’t worry I switched it out for an XTRII and put the IOR on my 22WMR that’s a .... Salvage. 😂

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T
They certainly aren’t my go to rifles. I just take them out for Doe work.
 
What's with the argument that "Well I dont shoot a $1453759902.93 custom so I shoot salvage." I'm also a poor and dont shoot a custom. I shoot winchester/fn. Factory stock. It's not just one or the other.
If what you can afford and like is a savage go for it. My point in this thread is to educated people on my experience. I wont make fun of you at the range, and I HOPE your rifle runs great. I really do.

After thought- if you replace everything on a savage action with aftermarket or hand made parts, it's not a savage anymore. Neither would be a remington, winny, tikka, blag blah blah. That's a custom of a savage action. Saying your hand built gem is a savage would be like me saying a Toyota with a LS1 and a 9" is a Toyota.
 
What's with the argument that "Well I dont shoot a $1453759902.93 custom so I shoot salvage." I'm also a poor and dont shoot a custom. I shoot winchester/fn. Factory stock. It's not just one or the other.
If what you can afford and like is a savage go for it. My point in this thread is to educated people on my experience. I wont make fun of you at the range, and I HOPE your rifle runs great. I really do.

After thought- if you replace everything on a savage action with aftermarket or hand made parts, it's not a savage anymore. Neither would be a remington, winny, tikka, blag blah blah. That's a custom of a savage action. Saying your hand built gem is a savage would be like me saying a Toyota with a LS1 and a 9" is a Toyota.
Yeah, this whole discussion is about saving what, $250 on a $2000 dollar rifle? If money is that tight why not minimize the risk to the funds you have? You’re going to lose 2x everything you saved if you ever sell. Good for the guys it’s worked for, glad they’re happy.
 
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If money is that tight why not minimize the risk to the funds you have? You’re going to lose 2x everything you saved if you ever sell.
i keep seeing the argument about resale value. Maybe it's just my area, but 9 times out of 10, it's cheaper to buy any firearm new. Seems people think the value goes up with round count. I can understand custom built or modified rifles may or may not recoup their cost, but you can buy a factory savage 110 hunter with vortex scope new at walmart for $540, yet in the used market i never see them for less than $600 and usually around $800. Oddly they do sell at that too. So maybe the southeast texas firearm market is just odd. By the way, i see this with all firearm, not just savage.
 
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agree that Savages as of the later years have been much rougher and problematic. One of my buddies has a couple older ones that I wouldn't hesitate to own
Agree. Have an old 110 walnut stocked, flatback, stagger feed. Very smooth bolt, no feed or extraction/ejection problems ever.
 
I have to retract that all savages I've shot had problems. The first one I ever shot, my uncles 1970s production 30-06 was a hammer, the gun I used to kill my first deer, and ran like a sewing machine. If they all were like that I'd own some.
 
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I had an off the shelf 111 that shot decent. I recently decided to make a nice hunting build from it and I’m very happy with it. The rebarreling was easy, fit right in to a bed stock, swapped for DBM with no issues. I honestly don’t know, I think it’s just a matter of the 700 being the “standard”. Yeah, the factory action needed a little work with some sandpaper, but it’s very smooth now. I think peoples issues (bolt lift, bolt handle, etc) are easily addressed with cheap aftermarket support. Don’t let the haters get you down. It’s a rifle made in a nice factory by a company that’s been doin it for a LONG time. Stay the course and enjoy.
 
When a guy driving a honda civic shows up to a Ferrari meet and starts saying how his car is just as good or better than ferarri's... there's going to be problems.

If the honda guy then claims the Ferrari guys are knocking his car... there's going to be laughter.

This is to say, no one in the circles I run in would ever go to a savage shooter and start berating him for his choice of rifle. The issues always start when someone starts claiming their rifles are something they aren't.

Ask anyone thats spent any time instructing, which rifles are imploding on the firing line all the time. Some answers will surprise you. Others won't.
 
I think if people were honest with themselves they wouldn't get so butt hurt. I wanted to shoot PRS but couldn't afford a custom rig so I purchased a used RPR and starting changing things little by little, as I could afford them. Changed out the barrel first to a krieger and then did all the odds and ends. Now I would never say my semi customed RPR is as good as a impact barreled action sitting in a MDT ACC chassis. My RPR shoots great for sure, but I purchased a impact barreled action for a reason, because it is better than my current rig and I can now afford it. But when savage is sending garbage rifles out of there factory and then jerking the customer off to get em fixed, and the just as good guys say hey savage runs great so you can't hate on my rifle, well poo poo to that. Savage blows
 
Hmmmmm, completely stock Savage 112 target 338 in an ARS chassis. How many full blown customs did he beat?



Topstrap

no sound???
anway, watch how the rifle recoils. Yes the OEM savage brake works at easing recoil, but my rifle does exactly that, Causes a LOT of barrel shift. I thought it was me, so i clocked the brake correctly, had my dad shoot it, and exactly like the video, violent vertical whip to the barrel. Clocked it at 90*, same violent whip yet now horizontal. No idea what is causing it. Unless the bore (in the brake) is not concentric causing uneven pressure or something. Off topic i know, just pointing that out.
 
Several years back Cabela's had a heavy barrel Savage in 6.5 Creedmore on "sale" and at the same time Vista Outdoors had a rebate going for $100 off so I bought one to give to my Son and told a friend about the sale so he got 1 too.
After the rebate I was about $165-$175 into the rifle.
My friend and I both had the local gunsmith put brakes on them and mount the scopes.
I used a Burris XTRII, my friend used a Sig scope of some configuration, I don't know.
So here I am with a $165 rifle with a shitty plastic stock, about $1200 of mods and glass and it is a nail driving Mofo at 1000 yds and beyond,
My friend was not so lucky as he has about the same money in his rifle but it will shoot no where near as well as my Son's does.
Both rifles feed and extract well but as to the quality of the barrels I think it is the luck of the draw.
I think that as the years pass and the people building them at the factory have less of a fuck to give the quality has gone down considerably.
I also have an older Mod. 12 .223 Rem. that is the most accurate, out of the box, rifle I have ever owned.
Here again, we get back to where the people building those rifles gave a fuck and produced good shit.
I don't think that is how it is now.
 
I love Savage, the sloppy bolt and tupperware stock on my .308 Axis inspired me to start reading threads on boards like this to identify the issues it had and eventually I upgraded to '80s Remington 700 in the same caliber. Brought my shot groups from 6" to under 2" at 200 yards with the same factory ammunition. Thanks Savage!
only out of the box rifle in any chambering i ever owned that would only do 6" or better at 100 yards was a ruger. Never have i seen anything else shoot that badly. NOT even my C39V2 ak. Id say something was up, loose rail, bad fit between the rings/mount and the rail (it happens). Something, or just a factory dud, which sadly seems to be a thing with current production in the last 5-10 years or so
 
Hmmmmm, completely stock Savage 112 target 338 in an ARS chassis. How many full blown customs did he beat?



Topstrap

I'm glad that this singular performance can bring such joy to so many people. We need more of this happiness in the discipline.

Though I think there's a very real danger of having that singular performance taken out of context by a great many.
 
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I'm glad that this singular performance can bring such joy to so many people.
LOL! Wouldn't want you to remain ignorant. Would each day count as a "singular performance"?


I have more.
 
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i keep seeing the argument about resale value. Maybe it's just my area, but 9 times out of 10, it's cheaper to buy any firearm new. Seems people think the value goes up with round count. I can understand custom built or modified rifles may or may not recoup their cost, but you can buy a factory savage 110 hunter with vortex scope new at walmart for $540, yet in the used market i never see them for less than $600 and usually around $800. Oddly they do sell at that too. So maybe the southeast texas firearm market is just odd. By the way, i see this with all firearm, not just savage.
This is biggest load of shit in this thread to date. You sir should receive an award for Savage butthurtness, and total bullshitness.
 
LOL! Wouldn't want you to remain ignorant. Would each day count as a "singular performance"?


I have more.
LOL, nobody gives a flying fuck. Put a good barrel on most any action, and it will shoot, nothing about the savage action makes them shoot better. Watch, screw that barrel into a TL3. Same threads, all of the sudden that barrel shoots, feed and extracts.
 
no sound???
anway, watch how the rifle recoils. Yes the OEM savage brake works at easing recoil, but my rifle does exactly that, Causes a LOT of barrel shift. I thought it was me, so i clocked the brake correctly, had my dad shoot it, and exactly like the video, violent vertical whip to the barrel. Clocked it at 90*, same violent whip yet now horizontal. No idea what is causing it. Unless the bore (in the brake) is not concentric causing uneven pressure or something. Off topic i know, just pointing that out.
Randy is NOT a prone shooter. He usually uses an undesignated Savage Target Action configured as an ELR pistol shooting from an old bench. The video shows him one of the few times he's ever shot prone. He's normally right handed but with the missing fingers it was easier to shoot the gun left handed and that is why he looks so uncomfortable. It's because he was and that is why the recoil might look more severe and the gun moved. He had to spit his own hits for correction and said he had no problem seeing them.

I own this gun as he shot it and have no problem spotting for myself at 1000 or even the mile target. A better aftermarket brake will surely be a big improvement but getting behind it correctly helps it a lot.

Topstrap
 
Randy is NOT a prone shooter. He usually uses an undesignated Savage Target Action configured as an ELR pistol shooting from an old bench. The video shows him one of the few times he's ever shot prone. He's normally right handed but with the missing fingers it was easier to shoot the gun left handed and that is why he looks so uncomfortable. It's because he was and that is why the recoil might look more severe and the gun moved. He had to spit his own hits for correction and said he had no problem seeing them.

I own this gun as he shot it and have no problem spotting for myself at 1000 or even the mile target. A better aftermarket brake will surely be a big improvement but getting behind it correctly helps it a lot.

Topstrap
i dont know anything about him. That bit of info, actually makes the shot even more impressive. Hell of a shooter for sure. Im not into or knowledgeable on the competition side of things. Only this year alone, have i even started to be interested in shooting past the 500ish yard i have here at home. So yes there is a lot i dont know, i just know that muzzle brake causes more odd issues than shooting it with the brake removed. Maybe its me, maybe not. idk, upgrading it till i find one that works for me though.
 
Hmmmmm, completely stock Savage 112 target 338 in an ARS chassis. How many full blown customs did he beat?



Topstrap


@Topstrap How can a rifle be "completely stock" while it's sitting in a $1000 ELR chassis?


(@orkan)
 
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This is biggest load of shit in this thread to date. You sir should receive an award for Savage butthurtness, and total bullshitness.
by the way. you sound like a child, crying because people don't agree to hate what you hate, like what you like. kinda pathetic to be honest.
photos were taken about 3 weeks ago when i was looking for an action to build off of. Was cheaper to just buy a total rifle here, than to buy any used rifle that i could find within 300 miles of me that was not a stagger feed action. But what do i know.
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LOL! Wouldn't want you to remain ignorant. Would each day count as a "singular performance"?


I have more.
Generally it is considered a "match" is a match, whether it be 1, 2, or 3 days.

My point is that when you look at all regimented disciplines, such as benchrest, F-class, PRS, NRL, etc... I think you'd see a decided lack of savage rifles winning. Those that are, I think you'd find there was not much "stock" about them.

I have no desire to engage in a fight with anyone... but simply providing some perspective that context is very important.
 
Generally it is considered a "match" is a match, whether it be 1, 2, or 3 days.

My point is that when you look at all regimented disciplines, such as benchrest, F-class, PRS, NRL, etc... I think you'd see a decided lack of savage rifles winning. Those that are, I think you'd find there was not much "stock" about them.

I have no desire to engage in a fight with anyone... but simply providing some perspective that context is very important.
100 percent correct. I'm gonna run a HARD doubt that I could buy a savage 338 lapua at fucking Walmart and start winning ELR matchs. The cope on some of these guys.
 
@Topstrap How can a rifle be "completely stock" while it's sitting in a $1000 ELR chassis?


(@orkan)
So dropping a stock Savage in an aluminum chassis made such an improvement to shoot like that? Was just showing that people shouldn't snub a savage because it's inexpensive. They may not be buttery smooth but they will shoot better than most people can shoot them.

We'll be finding out soon how it compares to a top end gun. Son has a Hoplite 338 NM coming and we're anxious to spend a day at Thunder Valley comparing it and the junky old Savage.

Topstrap
 
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So dropping a stock Savage in an aluminum chassis made it shoot like that? Was just showing that people shouldn't snub a savage because it's inexpensive. They may not be buttery smooth but they will shoot better than most people can shoot them.

Topsteap
Dropping any gun into a chassis from a plastic stock will allow it to shoot better, there's testing to prove such, the point is that gun isn't a stock savage, it has work done to it
 
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If you're happy with your Savage, I wouldn't say so here. The guys with 4000 posts and a hard drive full of memes are at the ready to vomit on you.
If you are happy with your savage great run it till it falls apart ... Should be sometime in the next mag change....also don't get your feelers hurt because others don't agree it nowhere near the same class as other actions

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Time will tell if the new Impulse action is a game changer for them- from what I see, a lot of potential.
I've been dying to buy one/try one, but haven't yet shown up at the distributors I buy from.
 
Best song ever ...

I love the dead before they RISE, no farewells, no goodbyes, I never even knew your now rotting face.

While friends and lovers mourn your silly grave, I have other uses for you darling... classic

They don't write songs like that anymore, nor do they build a Savage as good as this song.
 
I can tell you for sure the people that hate Savage the most are the ones that have been beaten by them. I personally have sent many owners of high dollar custom guns to the truck shaking their head. In my opinion there is not a better bang for the buck out there.
 
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I can tell you for sure the people that hate Savage the most are the ones that have been beaten by them. I personally I have sent many owners of high dollar custom guns to the truck shaking their head. in my opinion there is not a better bang for the buck out there.
U sir are a master troll
 
I think I need to start opening up the Challenges again

In the past I would offer FREE SLOTS to any Sniper's Hide match, but back then we had two a year, now we only have the one, and the level of competition there is a bit tough for many casual shooters.

I think instead, I will open up my range, offer to fly people in, and will cover 100% their time if they can prove it on command.

Though without using a match to gauge performance we'd have to create a qualification system, cause you blow it, you pay up...

My range is fun too, because the sand will eat your lunch and it wrecks rifles all the time.
 
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I can tell you for sure the people that hate Savage the most are the ones that have been beaten by them. I personally I have sent many owners of high dollar custom guns to the truck shaking their head. in my opinion there is not a better bang for the buck out there.
Dont worry guys, the polydactyly freak has spoken
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