The 12 FV is a good value and can be a great one. It lists for $419, Cabelas regularly puts it on sale for $319 and at the moment Savage is offering a $100 rebate. So I got mine recently for $219 plus tax. It could be used right out of the box to kill deer. Or, in my case, I stripped the barrel and stock and ended up with an action and trigger for not much money, perhaps as low as a hundred bucks if I can sell my unfired .308 barrel......... any takers?
There are obvious places where Savage saved money, the stock being the most notable. I'm not even going to give mine away, much less sell it............... it's that bad.
The action differs from the desirable Target Action in several ways. It has an Accutrigger, but it uses stiffer springs. However, it can be easily modified to closely mimic the Target version of the Accutrigger. The action has a magazine, so there is a large hole in the bottom making it less stiff then one might like and the larger port on the top does the same. So it isn't a Savage Target Action, but I seriously doubt if any lack of action stiffness is going to hold me back. I'm in no danger of becoming World Champion of anything until there is an afternoon nap division.
For my build I substituted a Boyd's stock and a Bartlein barrel to make an inexpensive F-open gun. A little work on the trigger and the addition of a nice scope gives me a gun which is more than competitive in regional 600 yd F-Class matches.
