Why is the Savage Target Action better than other "budget" actions?

[Dusty Stevens]

There is one feature of a Savage action that I haven't seen mentioned. It has a floating bolt head that allows full lug contact, solid bolts with loose clearance at the rear allow the bolt to tip and push the upper lug away from the receiver lug. Custom actions maintain close tolerances at the rear and don't suffer from that problem. It was made as a cost cutting measure on the original 110 action, which was the proposed price of that model. It allows the rest of the action to be rough and still deliver superior accuracy. Unless my memory fails me, the Mosin Nagant has the same feature and gives better than expected accuracy.

Are you sure thats what it does- or was it a speed of manufacturing thing? Sometimes when companies do things for one reason (profit) people look for the good in things and then its like a rumor spreading like wildfire

 

[swadiver]

seems to me a lot of the agruments against the Savage Target action relate to it's desirability for competition Benchrest (short and Long range) shooting. it 's mechanical function is such that it makes smooth, return to aim point, rapid fire operation difficult compared to the Custom actions.

however, i use the Savage Target actions in F Class and and non competition short range "bughole" shooting. for that type of shooting, i see no problems with them. i have had pretty good success in both endeavors with these actions. in one of my latest bughole shoots, an unmodified Target action (with Accutrigger) based Brux 12 twist 6BR barrel shot a five (5) shot group agg at 100 yds of .184" using 80 gr Berger FB bullets.

in my last F Class competition at 600 yds, a Target action 6BR shot a 600 -38x

however, i do have a wonderful original Nesika J action on a LV 6PPC. knowing the way short range benchresters shoot, this action would be way more desirable if i was shooting competition Benchrest. unfortunately, we have no short range group shooting competitions in the entire state of Florida that i am aware of.

 

[jlmurphy]

No question, it was done for ease of manufacturing, much easier than milling a one piece bolt like the Winchester, or a one piece and a silver soldered handle like the Remington. The bolt head is the only solid piece of the bolt, it is cross pinned behind the lugs and retained by the firing pin. Check the contact surfaces of the bolt lug and those of the receiver, very high percentage of contact. Cheaper, but better. Why do you think they sleeve the bolt bodies of the Rem. 700? To reduce play at the rear of the bolt, otherwise the sear pushing against the cocking piece will raise the rear of the bolt and push the top bolt lug away from the receiver lug. After ignition the bolt slams the lug back, the rear of the bolt slams back down and the whole receiver vibrates like crazy, nothing good.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

No question, it was done for ease of manufacturing, much easier than milling a one piece bolt like the Winchester, or a one piece and a silver soldered handle like the Remington. The bolt head is the only solid piece of the bolt, it is cross pinned behind the lugs and retained by the firing pin. Check the contact surfaces of the bolt lug and those of the receiver, very high percentage of contact. Cheaper, but better. Why do you think they sleeve the bolt bodies of the Rem. 700? To reduce play at the rear of the bolt, otherwise the sear pushing against the cocking piece will raise the rear of the bolt and push the top bolt lug away from the receiver lug. After ignition the bolt slams the lug back, the rear of the bolt slams back down and the whole receiver vibrates like crazy, nothing good.

Remington bolts are 3 piece btw. Head, body, and handle. The rest youre spot on and i agree.

 

[Tommie]

As a colony rodent shooter, the right bolt left port configuration is unbeatable while shooting off a portable bench. For the affordable price and ease to build the Savage PTA fills the bill.

 

[Big Mc]

i dont think you can buy a barrel nut barrel for a tikka can you? mabie someone makes one i am unaware of?

No barrel nut for a Tikka

 

[Texas10]

Tikka prefit with nut.https://criterionbarrels.com/products/prefits/tikka-pre-fit-barrel/

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Any machinist or gunsmith can make a nut for any action out there if you want one

 

[bigfish28]

So what "engineering" features make a great precision rifle?
It looks to me like Savage has spent time doing DFA (Design For Assembly). This determiners what are the critical characteristics required to make accurate rifles. From my reading of forums here is what I believe:
- headspace is critical
- chambering is very important maybe critical.
- a method to easily adjust headspace is required at assembly.
After this make a pick of what you like and what the market and aftermarket have to offer.
BTW I have a Savage 12 243 W and short action Pierce in Wby 224. Both have been tuned to sub 0.2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards.

 

[pitbull]

I assume you're picking the Savage because you can buy a prefit barrel. Savage aftermarket trigger options are few so if you're OK with the stock trigger then go ahead. Suggest you build on a Remington action or clone and forget about that prefit stuff. There are many more aftermarket options for Remington than Savage. Also you will have a rifle that will compete more effectively in my opinion. Stand alone and out of the box Savage does have a good rifle but buying the Savage and then trying to improve as money will allow is not the best option.

Disagree

 

[markT]

Probably had stock in 2019. Not so much today.

 

[urbanrifleman]

i dont think you can buy a barrel nut barrel for a tikka can you? mabie someone makes one i am unaware of?

Yes. You can. I make Tikka prefits and sell the nut.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Any machinist or gunsmith can make a nut for any action out there if you want one

Um.

How much do you charge to make a nut for any action? I could give you some business!!

 

[urbanrifleman]

I'll just say this. After making quite a few Savage Large shank barrels.

Those things shoot.

 

[SKWERLZ]

I put Shilen prefit barrels on three Savage target actions, it was something I could do with tools that cost less than what a gunsmith would charge to fit a barrel to a 700.
here’s what a Savage target Action w/ a 22-250 Shilen 8 twist, 28” barrel In a Mcrees chassis , Nightforce 8-32 , built as a long range coyote gun did: 5 shots @100 yds
View attachment 1348911

Here’s 3 shots @ 600 yds shot sitting off a Swagger bipod with that gun

View attachment 1348912

That rifle shoots way better than I expected. My 222 Savage/Shilen shoots a bit smaller. Another 22-250 12 twists regularly shoots bugholes @ 100.

Savage actions with prefit barrels are a great option for guys that want to put together a rifle themselves.

I started with a savage, burned up a good number of Shilen Barrels.
Before Tikka’s came along savage was king of home builds, at a certain price point it still is.
It’s amazing how well they can shoot for the amount of $$$$ invested.

 

[JSH]

Lol, I opened this up and dust and cobwebs fell down on my screen.

 

[Florida Wally]

Lol, I opened this up and dust and cobwebs fell down on my screen.

Lol. OP probably bought and sold the Savage action and now has a 700 clone custom

 

[Carl S]

Tikka's are good actions.especially the595.smooth and a magazine as standard.good trigger when fitted with a lighter spring.good to bed with a custom recoil lug.only down side is the chamfer on action face..not alot of shoulder for barrel to butt up to,needs to be machined back at times to give more bearig surface.action thread's can be a way out.ive single pointed quite a few worst case was 20thou.but in general when fitted with a good barrel they shoot great.

 

[284winner]

Lol. OP probably bought and sold the Savage action and now has a 700 clone custom

That's about it. Even a Rem 700 factory action. Sooo many more trigger and stock options. Also more custom work on the action is available by more gunsmiths. It's just as accurate with maybe a bit more work but end result is more versatility. I do love the factory Savage accuracy. Floating bolt head I'm guessing makes it happen. Just a guess tho.

 

[mauser284]

The Savage is easy to accurize just like a Remington 700 is easy to accurize. It is not difficult to find people of modest means that can do a very good job for not a crazy amount of money.

It seems that as you get into actions with flat bottoms, integral recoil lugs, Mauser designs, coned bolt/breech the list of people that can do quality work on them and are willing to take the work falls off quickly.

Price of entry for a new or used Savage has historically been rather low. The price to swap out the barrel with a pre-fit has historically been a huge advantage for budget builders since that is one less thing you needed to pay a skilled tradesman to do for you.

The system of barrel nut Savage uses makes it much easier and faster to get precise head spacing. We know that Savage straightens out barrels that need it and I think this also plays in their favor since that means you have eye balls critically looking down the bore of every single barrel.

They have made design compromises to lower manufacturing cost that have also proven to help them turn out a higher than expected number of really good shooting rifles in spite of obvious deficiencies in some design decisions and some manufacturing process decisions.

Part of me is offended at the mere sight of a Savage bolt action rifle and part of me is fascinated that such a cheap compromised design can perform better some some designs that are technically superior in almost every way!

I know more than a few people that touch off the receiver face, the barrel nut and lap the lugs and call it a day on the Savage for machine work. They add a premium match grade barrel and really perform well in competitions. It goes with out saying they are pillar and glass bedding the stocks.

I have no doubt that the Tikka T3 is likely better machined from the factory than Savage and have better barrels. Not a lot of gunsmiths that I know true them and re-barrel them. I also do not have that much time on them that I can say the above with any authority either. That said the Tikka T3 has earned a fantastic reputation for out of the box accuracy. How is aftermarket support though?

I think that to make a fair judgment though you have to decide what is the most important feature, upgrade path in alignment with what you want etc....I think Howa's have the greatest number of design features, materials, and manufacturing methods as a base for being able to produce a super fine semi-custom or full custom rifle when talking about adding in precision machine work and match grade barrel. They do not have as much after market support though that some would like. They are not as easy to accurize, not as many gunsmiths work on them or rebarrel them. I put the Howa's into the same category as a Winchester Pre-64 M70, Commercial Mauser Action, Older Tikka or Sako designs in terms of the raw potential and the foundation they represent. The Howa action has to be the up their in terms of cost to manufacture with Winchester M70 Pre-64 and Commercial Mausers since they are forged designs and include more energy and machine time than most modern designs that start with a piece of bar stock or billet. Also the two stage HACT trigger is fantastic for a stock factory trigger. Up until recently I was buying them for under $500 in magnum chamberings locally I think the one is under $450.

If your willing to pay for precision machine work and your open to any brand of action based on sales price, rebates or used purchase the sky is the limit.

If you do not need it right away it is hard to go wrong with a Savage action on sale that has been sent out to SSS for trueing and timing work. It is hard to not like being able to piece mill the work as well. Last I checked I think SSS starts at $175 to true and time a Savage action. Last I checked Gre-Tan starts at $280 for the most basic blue printing of an action and it goes up from their. Normally when I use Gre-Tan I am looking at a large large bill. That is not a complaint either just saying different business models. SSS has slow turn around but Gre-Tan often is not taking work so if you want to send it out to them but they are not accepting work it is in the end just as bad as SSS having your Savage forever before you get it back.

Since you are specifically not looking to compete in BR any of the actions you listed could be made to shoot more accurately than most people can shoot! Budget build though favors Savage. That said if you are currently a 1/4 MOA shooter or better than I do not think Savage would be the best way to go since I do not think it can really be expected to shoot tighter than 1/4 MOA no matter how much you machine it. If you are at that level and looking to improve you would really need to focus on a more consistent starting point like a true custom action but those are not at all budget friendly.

My local gunsmith starts at $255 to accurize an action and $155 to rebarrel an action and while I am sure they do fantastic work they are not at the same level of precision and attention to detail as Gre-Tan. Greg has a darn fine reputation for building competition winning rifles. You can easily send Greg a barrel and action and see a $1200 bill. Again this is not a complaint either just putting things into perspective at how much the market varies from one gunsmith to another. So Fred at SSS charging $175 to True and Time a Savage is a real value. The fact that you can still use a Pre-Fit Savage barrel from plenty of manufactures is again super budget friendly since you get a few affordable tools and change barrels yourself!