Savage: the Only Jerks in the Gun Parts Business?

Buck Wilde

Buck Wilde

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Dec 6, 2020
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#1
I thought I would thread the muzzle of my Savage A22 and just order a new barrel if I ruined it. Today I called Savage, and I learned:

1. They will not sell you a barrel or nut.
2. They will not send your FFL or smith a barrel or nut.
3. They will rebarrel your gun if you send it in and pay.
4. They will force you to use the exact type of barrel the gun came with, so forget threading.

Are there any other gun companies that are complete jerks about parts?

Guess I'm going to be a 10/22 guy soon.
 
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#3
Welcome to the world of lawyers there are many other companies that do the same and it is to protect themselves from Fudds who think they know what they are doing then Fuck it up. Also this parts problem is made worse by people who get free parts then sell them on line. Look at barrel suppliers you will find one who makes a barrel to fit. Er Shaw, green mountain etc.
 
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#4
So you ordered a 1/2-28 die from amazon and tried threading it in your basement?

Call me stupid, but if your comfortable enough to thread a muzzle and not worry about concentricity issues for a suppressor (assuming that’s what you wanted), the shouldn’t you be able to figure out the tenon specs?

Shouldn’t you be at least halfway capable of making a new barrel from a contoured blank? Even if you have to rent a chamber reamer?

Maybe there are some tasks I shouldn’t do at home if I’m not equipped or proficient?
 
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#5
I am a lawyer. This is ridiculous. Other gun companies have been sued by bottom-feeding tort lawyers, but they still sell parts. I don't think advising a client to eliminate a profitable part of its business and drive off customers is good lawyering. Plenty of companies make money selling only parts.

It would be nice if another company made A22 barrels. If one exists, I can't find it. Such barrels would probably cost several times what an OEM barrel would. A $120 A22 barrel is acceptable, but $300 is a bit much for a 100-foot coon and possum gun.

A lawyer issue can't explain why Savage won't rebarrel with its own threaded barrel.

I'll either take my chances machining the barrel or dump the gun. Ruger has one I like.
 
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#6
Buck Wilde said:
A lawyer issue can't explain why Savage won't rebarrel with its own threaded barrel.
Click to expand...
If a lawyer can't, an accountant can.


Lots of companies have "gunsmith only parts" or have certain parts they just won't sell at all.

As far as à la carte requests, they will tell you "we don't have a custom shop" , meaning they won't change your existing gun to some other configuration than what it came in. They're busy building new guns, don't have time or don't see enough upside to be bothered with the logistics and headaches changing yours. As well they often don't have the means to do it. Their repair and warranty work is done my a third party elsewhere, and the factory's not going to stop in the middle of a production run of model XXX rifles and retool so they can swap out a barrel on Steve's model AAA. Sure not worth the $150.
 
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#7
Savage has a Special Order Shop. One wonders what purpose it serves.

They must have smiths at their factory, because my buddy took two of his rifles there for work. He lived nearby.
 
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#8
Buck Wilde said:
I thought I would thread the muzzle of my Savage A22 and just order a new barrel if I ruined it. Today I called Savage, and I learned:

1. They will not sell you a barrel or nut.
2. They will not send your FFL or smith a barrel or nut.
3. They will rebarrel your gun if you send it in and pay.
4. They will force you to use the exact type of barrel the gun came with, so forget threading.

Are there any other gun companies that are complete jerks about parts?

Guess I'm going to be a 10/22 guy soon.
Click to expand...


Well, at least you can actually get answers to your questions in a timely manner, even if they are not the answers you want. Try communicating with Aero, you would never get your questions answered, ever. At least Savage is somewhat interested in customer service.
 
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#10
That's incredible. The RPR is magnificent, but only with a new bolt shroud and trigger. I assume they return the aftermarket parts with the guns.

Well, I guess they don't. Not always. I just read about it on their site. But at least they warn people before they send guns in.
 
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#12
Savage makes a short, threaded A22, and I ordered one before I found out the only ways to change a barrel were to find a smith who would cut the old one or do it myself.

This makes the first A22 a throwaway gun for home gunsmithing experiments. That's not all bad.
 
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#14
Buck Wilde said:
I am a lawyer. This is ridiculous. Other gun companies have been sued by bottom-feeding tort lawyers, but they still sell parts. I don't think advising a client to eliminate a profitable part of its business and drive off customers is good lawyering. Plenty of companies make money selling only parts.

It would be nice if another company made A22 barrels. If one exists, I can't find it. Such barrels would probably cost several times what an OEM barrel would. A $120 A22 barrel is acceptable, but $300 is a bit much for a 100-foot coon and possum gun.

A lawyer issue can't explain why Savage won't rebarrel with its own threaded barrel.

I'll either take my chances machining the barrel or dump the gun. Ruger has one I like.
Click to expand...
Ruger 10/22 every time. More aftermarket parts than you could ever want.
 
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#15
I made the mistake of taking the new A22 home instead of refusing delivery. I'm going to get rid of it.

I opened it up, and there was grit in the stock screws. It could be from grinding or buffing. I machine a little, and I have not seen a machine tool make sand. I had to clean one screw with brake cleaner to get the stock back on, and tomorrow I have to clean the other screw and female threads.

Lowest trigger pull out of the box: 5 pounds.

The stock is crooked. One side is closer to the barrel.

When I took the dust cover off, I found a little piece that had come off.

Forget it. I tried. I'm going to get a 10/22 that comes with a rail, short barrel, and threading. Then I'll replace parts until I'm happy.
 
#17
all these companies need to be like Rock River Arms and BCM they sell parts but the logo on the parts are slightly different to differentiate them from factory assembled guns. "problem" solved or at least documented.
 
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#18
You've obviously never had the pleasure of dealing with Tikka customer service, or almost any company owned by Beretta. Savage is junk, and their customer service sucks, but Beretta takes it to a whole different level.
 
#19
I started a warranty claim on a B22 a couple years ago, never have been contacted by Savage. I even called after a couple months and was told they’d get back to me. I ended up just machining a new firing pin for it. Life’s too short to buy a Savage.
 
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#20
I had a warranty claim on the first A22, and they sent me a new dust cover even though I was not sure I didn't break the first one. I will give them credit for that. They were also great to my buddy who bought two lemons in a row.

I'm going to try to get them to send me a new dust cover for the new A22 before I get rid of it. Then I'll try to find out how to lose the least money on it.

The first A22 was a perfectly fine gun. The second one seems rougher. Makes me wonder how Savage is doing these days.
 
#21
That grit is the media that they blast the barreled actions with after heat treat. Itis a cast iron blasting media. They do not clean after the descaling. They then do the bluing and that media is stuck inside of everything. Try removing the barrels on the centerfire rifles. Sometimes they don't come off without really messing up the threads from the galling.

I working in a metal forging company and we used the exact same media for the parts after heat treat. As soon as I seen it in person I knew what it was. Then started to tell everyone about it about 15 years ago. At first no one believed me but then SSS who has a close relationship with Savage agreed that was what it was. They are doing this to save money. The less they have to do the more money they can make.

One thing you should do with a new Savage is to make sure you clean the chamber, lug recesses, barrel because this media will be in everything. You don't want to shoot it and have this stuff in the chamber or the rifling.
 
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#22
Considering the low cost of the guns my experience with Savage service has been excellent. I have a mark II that started me off in nrl22, and twice I contacted savage about issues:
The magazines have a tendency to split at the rear seam - I contacted them, the policy was send the old ones in we will send you new ones for replacement no charge. The rep I talked to said look it is a few days before we shut down for the holidays, so I will send replacements out as long as I promise to send them the damaged ones, which they did
Failure to extract with some types of ammo is a known issue, I contacted them and within a week they had sent me replacement parts.

When you are talking a gun with a street price of around $250 this is darn good.
 
#23
tomme boy said:
That grit is the media that they blast the barreled actions with after heat treat. Itis a cast iron blasting media. They do not clean after the descaling. They then do the bluing and that media is stuck inside of everything. Try removing the barrels on the centerfire rifles. Sometimes they don't come off without really messing up the threads from the galling.

I working in a metal forging company and we used the exact same media for the parts after heat treat. As soon as I seen it in person I knew what it was. Then started to tell everyone about it about 15 years ago. At first no one believed me but then SSS who has a close relationship with Savage agreed that was what it was. They are doing this to save money. The less they have to do the more money they can make.

One thing you should do with a new Savage is to make sure you clean the chamber, lug recesses, barrel because this media will be in everything. You don't want to shoot it and have this stuff in the chamber or the rifling.
Click to expand...
Seriously? Are you positive this is true?

I thought my first A22 was great, but now I'm sorry I ever got involved with this company.

I did not find any grit in the first one or my 93R, so that's good.

The web says Savage was owned by a company called Vista until 2019, long after my first two guns were built. The stated goals of the new owners are to cut costs and...well, maybe there is no point in reading past that point.
 
#24
I just saw a thread at Savage Shooters, and they have complained, too. One guy linked to a video of a barrel being removed. When the barrel came out , there was crud all over it. A lot, not just a little.

 
#25
@tomme boy is right about thoroughly cleaning the A22s. I had one a few years ago and found MANY "BIG" bits of crap in the action when I first got it. Also the 'grease' in the action had partly dried up and was in chunks. I sprayed the innerds with Brakekleen then Silicone Dri-slide and it worked fairly well BUT I replaced the T-spring with a Varmint spring from Gunshack and lubed 'friction points' with PTFE grease. Those got the trigger down to ca 2# but the "reset CLUNK" drove me nuts. I had already been using a B-22 FV and was really disappointed with the 'A', both with function and accuracy. I traded it off for a 1960s Rem 1100 !
 
#26
If they cleaned the crud out, fixed the fit and finish, and sold barrel nuts, this would be a very good rifle in its price range. The first two things seem like basic competence.

I guess they're trying to build a base of people who buy whatever is on the shelf and shoot the worst available ammunition while surrounded by empty Bud Light cans. That's a pretty big market.
 
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#27
As for the 10/22 I have on the way, I have two Rugers, and they were spotless and ready to go right out of the box. Zero defects.

Now I'm trying to remember whether I have any other Rugers.
 
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