So....Why DID you buy a Savage?

[letronshootit]

Why I bought a Savage was because of a gentleman named Jim Carmichael famous gun writer for Outdoor Life, author of "The Rifle Book", wildcatter, credited for the .260 etc. Jim did a test of the Savage 112BVSS in 25-06, his 500yd group was his best ever for a out of the box stock rifle. Savage used his quote in the 1997 gun catalog and that was enough for me. So I sold a nice Ruger M77 heavy varmint 22-250 with a 6.5 to 20x Leupold, at the time the best gun I ever owned, but I needed a gun for my son and this was an easy way to come up with the cash to buy 2 Savage 25-06's. I wanted more long range power so this was the solution. We needed scopes and liked the looks of the Choate sniper stocks so I overhauled a Ford 9n tractor for a friend and made my son help to come up with the cash to buy the accessories. He learned basic engine principles and we had a good memory together, he also learned that there must be a better way of earning money than turning wrenches! I worked up loads for them and they have been awesome shooters. He still has his rifle with a different trigger of course, and manages to come home and accompany me once a year to a 1,000yd VBR shoot. I shot my barrel out at 1500rds, put a 6brx on the stock action, the rest of the gun is custom. I use it in light varmint 12lb. class VBR along with a Savage 6br PTA custom in heavy gun nowadays. The memories of these guns and how they were acquired when money was very scarce will always put a smile on my face. -Ron

 

[GSPV]

I bought a PTA because I found a beautiful walnut mini tracker stock for one and wanted to see what all the fuss is about. It'll be in 220 Beggs to shoot in UBR modified class. I'll give it a fair shake.

 

[LHSmith]

A bit of trivia- Jim Carmichael shoots Bat actions in competition.

 

[Nomad47]

Quote from 1holeaddict.
I'm not falling for this!! U hit the trigger on purpose to create mental havoc in his head so he didn't BEAT your custom. 8) 8)

Agreed. The other possibility - his friend removed the blade. Savages can inadvertently fire if the trigger is set light AND the blade is removed. And if that is the case, I don't think it would do any good to hire a lawyer since the Savage is no longer factory original.

Edit: I re-read and now see the rifle has a Sav-2 trigger. So, Erik, how can you blame the slam fire on Savage?

 

[Erik Cortina]

Bill, it was not a misfire. All triggers on a Savage action when adjusted down are unreliable due to the trigger mechanism. So, Savage is the only one to blame for the crappy design.

 

[Nomad47]

Erik, the way I see it, you are blaming Savage for a slam fire with an after market trigger.

So if I bought a Remington complete rifle, then replaced the Remington trigger with an Erik Cortina "Signature Model" and accidentally killed someone someone due to a slam fire, the court system will place the blame on Remington?

 

[broncman]

Ok, guys, back on topic.... You can start a bash Eric thread if you want. I started this for people who have bought Savages good or bad but not another bash Eric the Savage...

I bought a second PTA action for my girlfreinds 6 BR build. Bought it beacause of the time frame and the price. The PTA perfectly fits the build of a non competition DIY custom rifle better than any other.

I must say I REALY like the accutriger! Somewhere is the 2,000 round count set at 1 lb and never a slam fire or issue. I do not like triggers any lower. I do not shoot free recoil or Bench Rest or I might feel diffferently.

I have tuned and sleeved the bolts on both rifles and bolt lift is less than my factory Remington.

 

[1holeaddict]

Ok, guys, back on topic.... You can start a bash Eric thread if you want. I started this for people who have bought Savages good or bad but not another bash Eric the Savage...

I bought a second PTA action for my girlfreinds 6 BR build. Bought it beacause of the time frame and the price. The PTA perfectly fits the build of a non competition DIY custom rifle better than any other.

I must say I REALY like the accutriger! Somewhere is the 2,000 round count set at 1 lb and never a slam fire or issue. I do not like triggers any lower. I do not shoot free recoil or Bench Rest or I might feel diffferently.

I have tuned and sleeved the bolts on both rifles and bolt lift is less than my factory Remington.

What exactly did u perform during the tuning process? This would make a great instructional video along with the trigger tuning

 

[Terry]

It would appear that Erik Cortina's well known dislike of Savages is based on ONE Savage that he owned. Hmmm...... I wonder if it could have been a lemon.

I started thinking the same thing. A friend of mine started coming out to my place every Sunday to get ready for the Berger SW Nationals.

His rifle:
Savage PTA action with all the "fixes" done to it.
Bartlein barrel - no nut.
PR&T stock
March scope
Sav-2 trigger

After watching him shoot it a few times, I asked if I could shoot it. I was surprised when I shot it because the trigger was actually pretty light. So I loaded another round in the chamber, and when I started closing the bolt it went off!

So, 2 for 2 Bill.

Improper sear adjustment was the cause not the brand name.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Terry and Bill, you guys might be right, that is the ONLY SALVAGE I have ever heard of that has had trigger issues.

 

[broncman]

1holeaddict....

It is not rocket surgery....allready lots of videos on youtube. Beside the bolt lift mod, firing pin depth adjustment, the actual cocking depth plays a huge part. You only need enough cocking depth to acheive reliable ignition. The rest is just added force to compress the spring.

My bolt mod cocking depth adjuster was inspired fom a fellow board member... Nothing new

 

[Syncrowave]

Sounds like your friend would have been better off with an Accutrigger than a Sav-2, Erik. At least then the gun wouldn't have gone off merely from closing the bolt.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Sounds like your friend would have been better off with an Accutrigger than a Sav-2, Erik. At least then the gun wouldn't have gone off merely from closing the bolt.

I agree. But like I said, he had all the "fixes done", including replacing the trigger. Long story short, it happened to him after it happened to me, and he lost all confidence on his gun's reliability. He was going to cancel his Phoenix trip, but I told him he could use my spare gun. He did and had a lot of fun, it was his first match ever, but he had to shoot F-Open instead of F-T/R. He received his F-Class Panda action last Monday and it's off getting a stock put on it. He enjoyed F-Open so he built a 284 Shehane and he is going to skip over F-T/R and shoot F-Open.

 

[josh.rizzo]

I hate my Savage. The groups it shoots are way too small

I guess that's all I can expect from a cheap out-of-the-box rifle. I'll make sure to buy a Remington next time so I can do my own quality control and keep my gunsmith in business.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Ron, Good story and Savage are good guns.. Except I hate hearing you sold your Ruger's, my first two rifles were Ruger M77 MII..

 

[Erik Cortina]

I hate my Savage. The groups it shoots are way too small

I guess that's all I can expect from a cheap out-of-the-box rifle. I'll make sure to buy a Remington next time so I can do my own quality control and keep my gunsmith in business.

Take it to the SuperShoot and take all their money.

 

[Willoughby]

I bought my 1st Savage to use as a "cheap truck gun"
it was true love from the 1st cloverleaf

 

[MarkS]

I got my first Savage 15 years ago, when the first short actions came out. I had one other older short action. I now have a LRPV. I got the Savage to be able change barrels and boltface, to the cals I want. You can get custom barrels without waiting months on backloged gunsmith. The Savage has some thing I don' like, but alot of things I do like. But They are great guns. I think Savage has the best factory barrels made. Just my 2 cents.

I have two customs action guns. A Bat B and a Stiller Diamondback. It is hard to go back, when you go custom. the Savage has a place in my safe.

Mark

 

[Raythemanroe]

Thompson Center and Kimber have good barrels..Just saying

 

[mattri]

Take it to the SuperShoot and take all their money.

Even I got a chuckle out of that.

This thread has stayed pretty civil, the good natured ribbing being played by both sides- well done all.

I got my first Savage because a buddy had one that shot so well that I thought it would be something to look into. I have never been to the SuperShoot but would love to, and am eagerly looking forward to my first opportunity to come in last at an actual shooting comp.

To me, Savages are like Corvettes. Think about a car rag comparison between a Corvette and an X, will it be a Mustang? A Charger? A WRX? Probably not. As a general rule Corvettes are compared to Ferraris and Posches etc, cars that cost much, much more and have the fit, finish and refinement that people who buy those higher end vehicles expect for their money.

Corvettes perform very, very well. Well enough that they often times meet or even exceed the performance of those that cost exponentially higher. Will you ever convince the driver of a Ferrari that he would be just as well served with a Chevy? Probably not. At the same time do you see a lot of Corvettes in F1? Could an F1 driver do as well in a tuned Corvette? Perhaps, but we'll probably never know.