Savage Factory Tour....a Review

[rbertalotto]

Yesterday I took my gun club to the Savage factory for a tour. Twenty two of us attended and we were taken on a tour in groups of five. My tour was led by the President of Savage Arms.
We were allowed to ask anything and to visit any part of the factory and witness anything we desired. Cameras were allowed.
Because I've seen dozens upon dozens of box stock Savage rifles shooting well under an inch (5 shot groups @ 100yds) and more than half of them under 3/4" and many breaking the 1/2" barrier, I had to see for myself how they did it.

My conclusion......

A passion for well maintained and calibrated machinery, even though some of it is well older than anyone on this board!

A zero tolerance for poor raw materials.

An extreme low "use" count on the drills, reamers, buttons, cutting tools.

A very simple design;
Drilled, reamed and button rifled barrels
Toggle head bolt
Adjustable firing pin
Barrel nut assuring excellent head space (Watching an action/barrel headspaced is a beautiful example of simplicity and low torque)
Maybe the best factory trigger in the industry

Test,Test,Test.........All along assembly the amount of testing is quite impressive. "They are too small to have a problem and have to stop a whole line "

Pictures here:
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/bang!/savage-factory-tour/

Box stock Savage rifles in the $500 range have customarily broken 15 grade "A" Large chicken eggs at 200 yds with fifteen shots. In 16 years I've not seen a Remington do this. The only other "stock" rifle to ever do this is a Cooper.

Do a search on this here internet for reviews on the new Savage EDGE rifle that lists at $379 with a 3-9X scope ...Exact same barrel and bolt as the top of the line Savage rifles. ....I witnessed this with my own eyes.......Here is one short quote......"For those who are new to Savage bolt guns, it means that this rifle is very accurate; a lot more accurate than a hunting rifle has to be. Several groups were fired that measured under one-half inch, but the five-eighths inch group shown was typical for the day. No groups measured in excess of the magical one-inch mark. I remember years ago when a typical hunting rifle took a lot of tuning and load development to shoot consistently under an inch at one hundred yards. Now, many rifles will do that well or better, if you are willing to spend the money for a quality rifle. This Savage Edge, with standard hunting ammo produces very good accuracy, with no special tuning nor working up tailored handloads. Right out of the box, it shoots like a Savage."

When I read the gun magazine reviews on the semi custom rifles that cost upwards of $4000 (You know the names), and I see the accuracy reports of 1.5 inch groups, I just shake my head...................

The fact of the matter, it's not black magic. Accurate rifle can be mass produced at extremely reasonable costs...IN AMERICA WITH A UNION WORK FORCE!!!!

 

[15Tango]

We're all entitled to our opinions and well, I have to disagree with pretty much all of yours on Savage's rifles, the use of Unions and factory $500 rifles that will shoot an egg at 200 yards. In fact, this post makes it seem as though you have an agenda of some sort to help sell Savages, again, it's just my opinion. It's cool the President takes the time to give tours though.

 

[gambleone]

A friend bought new a 6br Savage 12 dual port & found the very bottom of the bolt would rub on the top of the safety as you work the bolt. He called them & sent it back, they sent him another one & it also rubs the safety. Any one else finding this problem?

 

[rbertalotto]

An opinion is an unsubstantiated claim, not backed up by facts..........

But I'm from Missouri, "Show Me!"............I've been running four Egg Shoots a summer for 16 years. Five eggs at 200 and 300 yards, 3 relays each. In the beginning, Remingtons and Winchesters were the firearms of choice. And Eggs were broken, but no perfect scores. (15 eggs with 15 shots). About seven years ago savage rifles started showing up (Model 12 with heavy barrels and heavy laminated stocks) and they started winning just about every factory class shoot. I bought a couple and shot them with success. My curiosity was piqued. The reports I was reading on this and many other forums about their amazing accuracy got my attention. I had to find out for myself how they were made. Done!

no agenda, no issues here.......Simply a totally, irrefutable, eyes on report.


Thanks

 

[Thorbird]

Thanks for posting this. Great pics. I wish that I could take this tour.

I have 8 savage actions and have had many barrels. All my savages have been amazing shooters for factory guns, and some great shooting barrels for even a custom barrel. They need to be cleaned more than a custom barrel, but for the price, they can't be beat as far as I have seen. They do make mistakes, and I have seen them make them right, but I do have an issue with their chambering spec. on their 6br barrels. The throats are all over the place. It does not stop them from shooting. But it is nice to be able to jam the bullet if that is what you like doing. I have a long throat in my f-class, and it shoots great, but I know others who have posted that they ended up with crazy long throats, and send them to savage, and savage sends them back saying they are in spec. I don't like that. Otherwise, they make a great product for the money. As my brother says: "daggon Savage is takin' over".

 

[Gerry Nordmann]

Thanks for the tour and pictures. I just got back from the
first Iowa 1,000 yd. BR match of 2010, where we shoot HV
class, LG class and Factory class. And the factory class is now
being called the Savage class by some. My friend and I
were looking at the F Class & BR Savage factory guns with
the thought of shooting Factory Class. However,
I have '6' 1K yd. rifles
built on Savage actions [with most built by Fred Moreo]
that I shoot HV & LG with already and that's about all
the shooting, cleaning, and moving gear around
an Old Man can handle in one day . Savage has some
features that you can't find on custom guns and I have
always been very happy with my Customized Savage guns.

 

[shot410]

I'll tell you right now I can break eggs all day long with my 6mm Savage right out of the box with a Weaver t-36. Heck I shoot the centers out of clay targets at 300 yards. Big deal......

 

[jo191145]

We're all entitled to our opinions and well, I have to disagree with pretty much all of yours on Savage's rifles, the use of Unions and factory $500 rifles that will shoot an egg at 200 yards. In fact, this post makes it seem as though you have an agenda of some sort to help sell Savages, again, it's just my opinion. It's cool the President takes the time to give tours though.

Well, I can see you have an opinion Tango. I'm a little unclear as to what it is. Are you saying a Savage rifle is incapable of shooting 15 eggs with 15rds at 200yds? And maybe every once in a blue moon 15 for 15 at 300yds?
Can any factory rifle perform this feat or is it just Savages that are incapable?

I won't even get into the union thing. Not a big fan of them myself and I'm a local 1 member. I will say not all unions are created equal and we produce 120% or your down the road pronto. Not many Masons can handle the pace. I never worked this hard in "The Real World". Just sayin.