The Savage action is realy one that works well from out of the box to a full custom job. The are often looked down upon by some more discriminating shooter with fatter wallets but for the budget minded shooter they are a welcome prize as they will generaly shoot better out of the box than rifles costing 2-3 times as much.
The actions arn't as slick or pretty as some others but its a proven piece. one nice thing is that a guy ac easly shange from one caliber to the next at home with simple tools and a few extra parts.
Now some will argue that the barrel nut assembly does nothing good for accuracy other will argue that it helps , I personaly can't say one way or the other as I've seen several guns built both way that would shoot with any trued Rem 700.
their might not be as many "goodies" as for the Rem's but their are some realy nice triggers , stocks ,and scope bases that will help wring that little extra out of the gun
I own 2 savages a 10 in .223 and a 110 in 7mm rem mag and am very happy with both. the .223 has a timney trigger in it and the 7 mag has the accutrigger, both are very nice shooting guns and acurrate for the $$, my 7 mag kicks a ton, but it's a sorta light gun. I would recommend a savage to just about anyone, even those with bigger wallets, my dad owns a rem 700 lss & vls, and he just picked up a sav. 116 in .270.
We sell alot of savages at our business and I have not had a person yet come back with a bad complaint. The guns are not expensive and they beat out the vast majority of the factory competion. The only complaint I have on the guns is that the stocks do not absorb recoil worth a ****. If you get one you would be well advised to either restock the gun or add a muzzle break if you are dealing with a large caliber.
They also make a great platform for a custom gun. Fiftydrivers own 270AM is built on a savage action as well as mine and Bill Bailey's. You can replace the the bbl locking nut with a rem style recoil lug and it looks a lot more appealing.
you wont go wrong with the savage guns in a factory rifle. take the money you would have spent on something more expensive and put the money into the optics, if you cant see it you cant hit it!!! I guarantee you I say that to a customer twice a week /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Lerch forgot about my APS (shameless plug) 6-250 as well. It started life as a 12BVSS .243 but now wears a Broughton 5c and has been worked over by Kirby. No matter how hard I've tried, I just can't seem to get the thing to shoot over 2" @ 400 yds w/any load. With the load I'm using now, I would guess that it will average somewhere between 1.25" and 1.5" @ 400 yds for five shot groups. Of course the gunsmith has just as much to do w/that as the action does (another shameless plug /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif).
It just doesn't have the right operator I can get it to shoot better than 1.5" probably more like 4 or 5 ha ha!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
5 and two more in the oven. All shoot 1" or better at 250yds, clays at 750yds and easily sub MOA at 1000m.
Superb actions with just enough parts to get them rocking.
As a donor, you can't beat the performance. The low price is just a bonus. You can work the hammer groove in the bolt for a much smoother and easier lift.
If you plan on changing most parts, get the Stevens 200. Same thing even less money. Modify or change the stock, swap in a trigger (SSS or Rifle Basix 2), spin on whatever barrel and cartridge you like, enjoy a superbly accurate rifle for about what a new Rem HB costs.
