Savage accuracy

[sundance1972]

Used to be a Rem 700 guy, but now own 5 Savages (6 if you want to include rimfire), and have sold a few others. There was nothing wrong with the Remingtons I had (2 7mags, 25-06 and a 270Win), all were acurate/reliable rifles, just wound up selling them to friends for their custom builds.

Friends and I will have friendly competitions at the range sometimes (they all shoot custom 700's or Weatherbys, I bring my 3 Axis rifles), should hear some of the comments at the end of the day.
"I must be having a bad day????"
"I need to tune my load a little more"
And my favorite,
"Ya, F%&* you and your Savages!!!"

 

[FEENIX]

I have participate in 200/300 yards competitive eggs shoots. Most of my time competing with a Remington Milspec 308, more recently a Savage LRP in 260. For the last 6 years or so Savage rifles have won and placed more than all other brands combined in the factory stock class where only a replacement trigger is allowed. Because of this, a separate class was created called semi custom just to give the others a chance at competing. At least based on my observation of several years, lots of shooters, and different rifles, there is certainly some credence with the claim of accuracy. Living in Massachusetts, where Savage is based, our club had the opportunity to get a special tour of the plant and a walk through of the manufacturing process. Ron Coburn, the former CEO, is an avid sportsman and shooter, as is most of his management team. Much more like one of us than a Wall Street suit, he made it his prime ambition to produce the most accurate production rifle an affordable price. Based on first hand observation, I think there are two factors. First, the design(accutrigger, floating bolt head, etc), and careful control of the tooling specs. Second, very skilled production workers that incorporate a great deal of hand fitting, and take great pride in their work. I don't think there is any magic but when you put the two together, the end product has proven successful.

I saw an interview about his retirement and he seems to be a brilliant man and pretty down to earth feller. He did extremely well with Savage under his leadership as he brought the company out of bankcruptcy, while improving the quality of their rifles as well as the quality of life of their workers (esp. their retirement plan) ... it even included other business acquisitions and ventures. I particularly like their Bowtech Archery purchase.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I have been a Savage shooter for about 15 years now. It will have to be a heck of a deal or rifle for me to buy any other production brand.

 

[FearNoWind]

Why are you asking me, I'm not the one that made the statement nor it is a joke, April or not?

I am sorry for my faux pas there. I included your quote to introduce the counter argument, thinking that my comment was supportive of what you said was coming down the road. I never realized that my statement might be connected more closely with your quote than the original OP's statement.

 

[FearNoWind]

So you have been competing for fifty years with bone stock Remington rifles? With nothing done to it by a smith?

Yes sir, that's correct. I do have some custom rifles (built on Remington actions) but two of my rifles are off the shelf out of the box competitive rifles and they shoot winning scores.

 

[gohring3006]

Yes sir, that's correct. I do have some custom rifles (built on Remington actions) but two of my rifles are off the shelf out of the box competitive rifles and they shoot winning scores.

I'm not going to get sucked in to the Rem. vs Savage argument, But I will say that I see alot more Savages at the range than other brands. These guys are competition shooters that use our range for practice. They majority are shooting Savage rifles in .260 Remington. I shoot them because i can get a accurate rifle for alot less than a 40x and I can switch the barrel myself and I can expect it to be sub moa..

 

[FEENIX]

I am sorry for my faux pas there. I included your quote to introduce the counter argument, thinking that my comment was supportive of what you said was coming down the road. I never realized that my statement might be connected more closely with your quote than the original OP's statement.

It's all good brother ... it's all good. Cheers!

Ed

 

[the jigger]

"Better than" and "Best" in statements related to firearms(or trucks) I struggle with. That said, I have been hunting and shooting for over 60 years; shot competitively for 10 of those years. I have owned rifles by most of the American companies and several of the foreign ones. I have never owned a hunting rifle or a Varmint weight rifle that will out shoot any of my seven Savages. I took a box-stock 12fv 22-250 to the range yesterday and shot a 10 shot sub-MOA group at 300yds.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!
IF YOU'RE GONNA GET OLD YOU BETTER BE TOUGH.
GETTIN' OLD AIN'T FOR SISSIES!!!

 

[Garycrow]

There are several good points about the savage method of building rifles that make them shoot well. They're "modular" for lack of a better word, everything's designed around ease of manufacturing to where they can be screwed together quickly by semi-skilled laborers and everything will still come out straight. If you had to narrow down the single most important feature that makes them more accurate though I'd say it's their barrels. They button rifle their barrels as opposed to hammer forging like 99% of the other makers. On average, it's easier to make a good shooting buttoned barrel than a hammer forged one.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I have sent more then a few custom and semi-custom rifle shooters to the parking lot, wearing the toes of their shoes out kicking rocks.... They hate Savages, and that is a fact! gun)

 

[shortgrass]

I have sent more then a few custom and semi-custom rifle shooters to the parking lot, wearing the toes of their shoes out kicking rocks.... They hate Savages, and that is a fact! gun)

I've seen it go the other way. When some Savage shooters see that I'm shooting or one of my rifles is on the line they've decided not to shoot! The make of the action has very little to do with it! The barrel, the quality of the machine work done to it, the bedding, the trigger, the optics and their mounting system, and the nut behind the trigger all have more bearing on accuracy than whether the action was made by Savage, Remington or Winchester!

 

[gohring3006]

I've seen it go the other way. When some Savage shooters see that I'm shooting or one of my rifles is on the line they've decided not to shoot! The make of the action has very little to do with it! The barrel, the quality of the machine work done to it, the bedding, the trigger, the optics and their mounting system, and the nut behind the trigger all have more bearing on accuracy than whether the action was made by Savage, Remington or Winchester!

In my opinion this post pretty much sums up rifle accuracy.
they all can be made to shoot... Some brands takes more work than others...