Wow, I cannot help but sigh every time I read the how great Savage is so buy them and bolt stuff on to it later posts. Savage rifles nearly always shoot well out of the box, they are less money than all but a few common brands. The barrel nut is a pioneer effort in simplicity. That is where I get off the Savage bus.
For the record, I
currently have 5, Savage rifles in the house. One of them almost rivals a full-custom Rem 700 clone (let's just say it was not cheap), but that particular Savage build COST MORE MONEY than that full custom build, and in the case of the trigger, nothing on the market for Savage compares. I am also a Savage fan, but only for the reason that is in the last sentence in this post.
The following is what I frequently see Savage fans leave out when they talk about customizing them:
- Aftermarket parts are not as plentiful as other staple brands, although there are more things available over the last couple of years. The aftermarket parts are every bit as much money as say for a Remington 700 / 700 clone, but the resale value of the Savage upgrades is nothing close to the Rem counterparts.
- The barrel nut still requires the purchase of tools that only fit the Savage, and depending on the age or if the nut has been replaced, you may end up with the wrong barrel nut. The company that sells you a barrel will likely (and should, by the way) suggest an stronger nut and replacement (stronger) recoil lug. Despite its simple design, you still need to remove the optics and still need go/no-go gauges. Since you can also obtain a Remage adapter for a Rem 700 and have that work done so you can run Savage pre-fit, the barrel nut being the reason to go Savage over a Rem 700 does not hold water. Further, there is no denying that pre-fits are quick and easy, some (e.g., Shilen Select Match) are really good barrels, but are you able to get the barrel you want (chamber, contour, length, threaded, coated)? If not, you are probably talking with a smith anyway so you may as well just get a blank and really get what you want.
- The Savage bolt solution is complex. By complex I am not saying you cannot look at it and figure it out, but if you want to be able to test things like finding CBTO by using a stripped bolt to insert a dummy round and check fit, you cannot with the Savage as the washer much be installed to keep pressure on the bolt head. It also cannot really run with a dry inner bolt (pin assembly, cocking sleeve, bolt head post, and so on) but because it has an open design (multiple places that are easily exposed to getting dirt inside the bolt or prevent smooth function), it will likely not run without some form of lubrication -- Ronson only goes so far. Nothing worse than being out shooting just to end up with the bolt out of the action as you glare at it in disbelief that something that looks so simple can stop running for reasons that make you suddenly realize they over engineered the darn thing.
- I am blown away by all the 'buy this to make your Savage bolt cycle/eject' stuff. It's like a flashing sign saying hey, your going to have problems and neither you or a smith are going to be successful fixing it so you may as well try this wiz-bang parts kit.
Just because a Savage shoots well out of the box does not warrant dumping a bunch of money to make it better - its like putting some tricked out wheels, tires, and suspension on your grandmother's Buick Lesabre that she gave you. The car won't run any better, it may handle a little better, it will likely look better in some weird way but everyone that knows its a grandma car questions why you spruced it up, and as soon as you have the money to buy something that you can tune your going to do that anyway so now you get to learn that those Buick lug pattern wheels don't fit the stuff that everyone else that wants those wheels are driving, the tires are half-used so nobody is buying. And so on.
Buy a stock for a Savage if it came with a synthetic just like you would with any other rifle that came with a synthetic stock, but don't buy anything aftermarket that is Savage specific (except for maybe a scope base) unless you like repeating the mistakes of others because that is the way you learn, or you just have money to burn. Heck, you can buy a new, stock Rem 700 action for around $350 without having to do a bunch of looking around. You will lose that much in resale just by putting a decent chassis on a Savage.
So now that I have hijacked this thread, offended many, and you have caught your breath from reading that great run-on sentence, back to the stuff that really is good about Savage if you are just looking to buy something and go shoot it: They allow you to get something that is accurate out of the box for not much money.