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Poor Savage Quality Control

K0na_stinky

I think That just about every one knows that Savage has some problems with there quality control in there rimfire rifles. I'm wondering if the poor work is carried over to there center fire rifles.

I'm happy with my Savage 17HMR other then when there are 5 rounds in the mag the 1st round never feeds into the chamber, always gets hung up. I'm also happy with my Savage Model 111 in .270 win. Nothing at all wrong that it.

I know that rimfire savages are made in Canada and the centerfires are made in the United States.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had problems with any centerfire rifles.

I want a Model 12 LRPV but I'm not 100% sure if I want to spend that kind of money on a Savage when I can get a Tikka or somthing else for the same price.

Thanks for your imput.
 
Have owned or currently own Savage 12FV, 12FVSS, 12VLP, two M11s and two Stevens 200s as well as a 17HMR 93BVSS. Never had any problems with any of them.
 
I currently own 4 Savage centerfire rifles and they are shoot and operate superbly. I have never heard of too many Savage rifles having issues, and far less than the modern Remington offerings. What is supposed to be wrong with the rimfires?
The action on the Tikka is nice, but my concern is accuracy first and foremost. All of my Savage rifles shoot lights out and come close to being as accurate as my custom rifles overall.
 
I had a Savage BVSS 223 ...shot very good...stock very good..trigger irritating piece of junk...clunky with large pieces of metal moving with every shot....accutrigger my aunt minnie....you cannot take a poor trigger, addmore and more metal to it and make it better....LT
 
First on your rimfire, I would call Savage. The issue is almost certainly the magazine. They may just send you a new one. Or if you like to tinker, adjust the width of the feeder slot at the top of the magazine. You should be able to control where the bullet points as it feeds with the spacing.

On the Savage LRPV, I got one in 6BR this summer, and I am quite pleased with it. No it will not consistently shoot in the .1's, at least not yet, but I'm working on it...

When I first got it, I was less than pleased with the Target AccuTrigger. It would lock up about 1 in 10 attempts to fire. I started a thread on it in the gunsmithing forum, if you want to do a search and get all the details. In the end, I concluded the issue was the safety not sliding all the way to the full fire position. Further, the problem may have been my fault. I used plumbers putty to mask off the trigger when I bedded it, and I think some of it remaining, may have contributed to the problem. In any case I gave the trigger/safety a bit of a tune up, thoroughly cleaned it, and it has now gone about 150 consecutive rounds without a problem. Pull is set at 7 oz., and there may be room to set it lower, now that I have the safety issue sorted out.

One risk with a factory gun is the barrel. They are not hand lapped and can foul badly with copper. This barrel cleaned up nicely and essentially stopped showing copper after about 20 rounds. I now typically shoot 50 rounds without cleaning. When I do clean there might be a very slight hint of copper in the first and second patch. But hard to see if it is there at all, due to the first patch being near black.

The neck appears to be right around .271", which works real well with the old cardboard box Lapua brass, which loaded runs about .269". However since mine is a 12 twist, I'm limited to 80 grain and less bullets, and the throat seems a little too long for the very light ones.

While I can't say I care for the look of the HS Precision stock, it does seem very solid and well made.

I like the right bolt, and left port arrangement. Very handy for shooting on the bench so you can catch your brass without having it damaged.

Hope that helps some. Overall I would say the quality is excellent, and much better than the Canadian made rimfire. If I could tell Savage to do one thing different, it would be to use a suitable reamer (shorter throat) for the 12 twist barrel.
 
McKinneyMike said:
I currently own 4 Savage centerfire rifles and they are shoot and operate superbly. I have never heard of too many Savage rifles having issues, and far less than the modern Remington offerings. What is supposed to be wrong with the rimfires?
The action on the Tikka is nice, but my concern is accuracy first and foremost. All of my Savage rifles shoot lights out and come close to being as accurate as my custom rifles overall.
Click to expand...

On my girl friends Savage 93R17 BSEV it had chamber issues and the crown was poorly cut. It was off center. She also had the mag problem. Savage got her a new rifle. It was sent back becuase of the chamber issue. Her new crown is still poorly cut. Its an exact copy of the first pooly cut one. My crown seems to be right. Mine is a 93R17 BRJ. My rifle is alot more accurate then hers.
 
I own 2 Stevens and a Savage, one Stevens is now a semi custom with only the action remaining of the factory rifle, the other is a .308 hunting rifle that has been bedded, a new trigger added and is in factory form other than that. My Savage is an older 110 in .243 that I bought used with less than 50 rounds through it and has also been bedded, a new trigger added and is stock other than that.

I have been very pleased with both of the factory rifles, they will both shoot .75MOA or better, with some loads much better, which is pretty good for a sporter barreled rifle. I have yet to have any issues at all with any of them, as they function perfectly as far as I can tell.

Any company that produces the number of rifles that Savage does is bound to have a few slip by and out to market that are less than perfect, it's just a part of producing so many rifles. But even still, you are more likely to get an extremely accurate Savage than you are one that has issues. I know many people that own Savages as well as many others from the forum and other places that own them as well, and I don't know anyone that owns a Savage centerfire that isn't happy with, and the majority of those rifles are very accurate as well.

The only Remington bolt gun I have ever owned (with the exception of my XP-100 pistol) came from the factory with the scope mount holes drilled off-center by .020" if I remember correctly, though it may have been more. I paid much more for that rifle than I would have for a Savage, yet I still got a lemon.

I wouldn't think twice about purchasing a new Savage, if I wanted one of their rifles I would just buy it without another thought. Chances are you will end up with a very nice and extremely accurate rifle. And even if it does have issues, Savage will do whatever it takes to make things right.
 
Kenny474 said:
I own 2 Stevens and a Savage, one Stevens is now a semi custom with only the action remaining of the factory rifle, the other is a .308 hunting rifle that has been bedded, a new trigger added and is in factory form other than that. My Savage is an older 110 in .243 that I bought used with less than 50 rounds through it and has also been bedded, a new trigger added and is stock other than that.

I have been very pleased with both of the factory rifles, they will both shoot .75MOA or better, with some loads much better, which is pretty good for a sporter barreled rifle. I have yet to have any issues at all with any of them, as they function perfectly as far as I can tell.

Any company that produces the number of rifles that Savage does is bound to have a few slip by and out to market that are less than perfect, it's just a part of producing so many rifles. But even still, you are more likely to get an extremely accurate Savage than you are one that has issues. I know many people that own Savages as well as many others from the forum and other places that own them as well, and I don't know anyone that owns a Savage centerfire that isn't happy with, and the majority of those rifles are very accurate as well.

The only Remington bolt gun I have ever owned (with the exception of my XP-100 pistol) came from the factory with the scope mount holes drilled off-center by .020" if I remember correctly, though it may have been more. I paid much more for that rifle than I would have for a Savage, yet I still got a lemon.

I wouldn't think twice about purchasing a new Savage, if I wanted one of their rifles I would just buy it without another thought. Chances are you will end up with a very nice and extremely accurate rifle. And even if it does have issues, Savage will do whatever it takes to make things right.
Click to expand...
Thanks Kenny, I also am happy with my center fire savage. I guess they take centerfires more seriously.
 
It's all down to luck of the draw, I think. For every person telling you one thing, you'll hear somebody else saying the opposite. All the factories turn out junkers, all of them turn out some that are perfect, but most are in between. I have had 2 Savage rimfires, .22LR and .17HMR, both the BTVS style. The .22 would shoot rings around the .17, the .17 thought it was a shotgun. Guess which got traded in? I have two Remington 700's and they both shoot brilliantly. I just bought a Savage .223 VLP a month or so ago that would shoot 30" low at 100 yards because the barrel was bored crooked. I have a 6BR based on a Savage target action that shoots great. My brother has a .223 BVSS that shoots great. 80% of the factory class rifles at my local club matches are Savages. On and on. No use getting worked up about it, it's more what they do after the fact, how they handle the problem rifles.
 
Was talking to a friend of mine, and he mentioned Remington being more of a corporate entity now and not taking care of the people that put them there. But I would assume the boys in the Remington Custom Shop still take their jobs seriously.

Savage on the other hand with their boss Coburn has taken the bull by the horns, and all those guys are shooters and sportsmen. Savage may be making the best barrels in the industry and in my safe reside 3 Savages which all of them shoot lights out, and no issues with mine.

What was that quote? "Only accurate rifles are interesting" ;D

Frank
 
Thumbs up over here for the Savage centerfire rifles! I currently own 2, one VLP in 22-250, and the second being a Model 12 Varmint action that I purchased new, put a semi-custom barrel on and an HS Precision stock. Both shoot lights out but, like what has been said, the stock barrel on the 22-250 fouls pretty easy because it wasn't handlapped.

Mike
 
thumbs down here

I've had 2 Savage centerfires that were certifiable POS. One was a Mdl 12 in 204 that would turn bullets sideways after 15-20 shots. I couldn't afford the wipeout it took to clean it. Nothing like having a rifle that needs to be cleaned after 10-15 rounds to function correctly. One look down a bore scope told the story, 5 miles of bad road. The other was a Mdl 12 BVSS in 223 that had a curved bore, you could bore sight it at 25 yds and couldn't hit a 36"x60" backer at the local range at 50yds. All my Savages now wear after market barrels and Rayhill stocks, guess what, they shoot. Don't get me started on their rimfires >:( Get the Tikka, you'll be happier and you won't take a drubbin if you sell it.
 
No drubbing selling Savages! They are worth more parted out than whole as a rule.

Let me ask a question of you. Did you contact Savage about these issues? As far as the barrel fouling, they are not hand lapped custom barrels :) I have never heard of Savage not correcting any issues if they were contacted. It is difficult for a company to fix something unless you call them and let them know that you have a problem. Just saying :)
 
McKinneyMike said:
No drubbing selling Savages! They are worth more parted out than whole as a rule.

Let me ask a question of you. Did you contact Savage about these issues? As far as the barrel fouling, they are not hand lapped custom barrels :) I have never heard of Savage not correcting any issues if they were contacted. It is difficult for a company to fix something unless you call them and let them know that you have a problem. Just saying :)
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My girlfriend had her rifle replaced already. We have not talked to them about the crown or the magizine issue.

Also another HUGE pain the the butt. If your from Canada, you have to call Savage USA. You ask them your question and they call Savage Canada. Then Savage USA calls your back.
 
I think you got unlucky with your Savage rimfire. I've followed the RFC Savage forum for about 3 years now. Your chamber problem is the very first time I have heard of an issue like that. There are some common complaints that have easy fixes. Some cram the bolt in without lining it up with the ejector plate, and bend the plate. Some take their bolt apart and stretch the extractor plate retaining spring, and the gun starts to fail to extract. You just have to bend the spring back.

You mentioned that the crown was cut off center. Unless Savage has changed their design, they use a flat 0 deg. recessed crown. With that type of crown, there is no accuracy loss to have it off center. If it is an 11 deg. target crown then yes it must be concentric.

I would agree that the fit and finish of the small parts tends to be better on the CZ. But, the Savages shoot just as good or better. The AccuTrigger on the Savage is much better than the CZ. I know my BTVS will out shoot a friends Weatherby, which really is an Anschutz 64.

From what I have seen in my LRPV, the fit and finish is excellent. I would guess that a CZ or Tika centerfire will not come close to matching a LRPV for accuracy.
 
RonAKA said:
I think you got unlucky with your Savage rimfire. I've followed the RFC Savage forum for about 3 years now. Your chamber problem is the very first time I have heard of an issue like that. There are some common complaints that have easy fixes. Some cram the bolt in without lining it up with the ejector plate, and bend the plate. Some take their bolt apart and stretch the extractor plate retaining spring, and the gun starts to fail to extract. You just have to bend the spring back.

You mentioned that the crown was cut off center. Unless Savage has changed their design, they use a flat 0 deg. recessed crown. With that type of crown, there is no accuracy loss to have it off center. If it is an 11 deg. target crown then yes it must be concentric.

I would agree that the fit and finish of the small parts tends to be better on the CZ. But, the Savages shoot just as good or better. The AccuTrigger on the Savage is much better than the CZ. I know my BTVS will out shoot a friends Weatherby, which really is an Anschutz 64.

From what I have seen in my LRPV, the fit and finish is excellent. I would guess that a CZ or Tika centerfire will not come close to matching a LRPV for accuracy.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for that reply. I have a nice camera so I will take a pic of my girlfriends crown as soon as I can.

If it wasn’t for my magazine problem mine would be about perfect.

I’m going to have to order my model 12 LRPV soon.
 
DOGCAPPER said:
I had a Savage BVSS 223 ...shot very good...stock very good..trigger irritating piece of junk...clunky with large pieces of metal moving with every shot....accutrigger my aunt minnie....you cannot take a poor trigger, addmore and more metal to it and make it better....LT
Click to expand...
Now I don't care who you are THATS FUNNY!!

RonAKA,
All my savages shoots very well, my only issue with any of them is that wanna be accutrigger,$200 will fix that. As far as accuracy campared to CZ or Tikka,
I don't know about cz I only have one, its a .17 hmr that shoots great, but not any better than my savage in .17 hmr Now to the Tikka, IMO you have to @ least buy the high dallar model 12s to out shoot a Tikka T3 @ least the one I own.
K0na_stinky,
The last I knew they never told you what the problem with Siiri's .17 Did they send you a report or something? I don't understand exactly what you mean the crown is off center, is it possible you could post a pic of it? Now I have a Kimber .22 rimfire and a Cooper .22 rimfire and there quality and construction is inpecable but they didn't cost $250 either. I agree the savages and Marlins are a little cheesy but they both shoot awfully well for as CHEAP as they are.
Wayne.
 
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