Everyday Sniper Joe from Savage Interview

[Lowlight]

The Everyday Sniper Episode 210 Joe Salvador of Savage Arms | The Everyday Sniper

The Everyday Sniper Episode 210 Joe Salvador of Savage Arms As promised, here is my interview with Joe Salvador from Savage. We are really excited for Joe to be on the podcast. We often talk about a lot of companies and you never know how it will be taken. Joe reached upon hearing some of the...

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The Everday Sniper Podcast Interview with Joe Salvador of Savage Arms

 

[John Glidewell]

Nice interview. I was expecting fireworks, but it was a very pleasant discussion.

 

[BigPineyTradingPost]

I liked Frank’s idea of Savage just selling a barreled action. The end user would then place it in their chosen stock/chassis.

 

[jackinfl]

I liked and do think it's a great idea for the manufacturer's to put repair parts in the NRL trailer. Being in S. Florida I don't think it'll make it here. But for all the matches it travels to it is an awesome concept.

How Savage fixed the one guy's gun was first class. But, again I've never heard or seen anyone with the parts or ability say NO to someone at a match or training event.

Keep it up @lowlight. Appreciate the information.

 

[Hawkguy29]

I missed my chance to ask a question prior to the podcast. However, I wonder if they ever addressed the weak extraction issues, due to the undersized ball bearing under the extractor.

 

[Bantam1]

I'm surprised there aren't many companies offering manufacturer support at these events. I work in the fishing industry and I used to travel and work all of the Bassmaster events. At every tournament the supporting sponsors are there with service trailers. Mercury, Yamaha, Minn Kota, Ranger boats, etc. There were some that aren't sponsors attending and offering help. My employer also sends our technicians to events to provide factory support. It would make sense that they would have something or should. especially if you are trying to get your brand name out there.

I don't own a Savage and never really plan to. It was a good interview, although I had to disagree with Joe claiming that a nitirde surface treatment on the action will prevent scope rail screws from backing out. That's new info to me. Having a past life as an auto technician I never recall coatings being used to prevent screws from coming loose from vibration and/or temperature changes with dissimilar materials. Toyota used thread lock on just about everything. Ford seems to do the same. When I built race cars and trucks we never trusted that a coating would prevent something from coming loose. Thread lock is cheap and most manufacturers should be using it.

Aside from that it was good to hear they are paying attention and will attempt to make some new products to support the long range shooters. Competition is good for all of us.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Before we even get to Savage being a contender with today's popular PRS style builds we need to go back and look what Savage has done to itself when it comes to long term past loyal customers.

I took the barrel nut and use that now popular Remage set up. I have several R700s and S110s. Being able to change barrels with little tool investment is great. The accu-trigger is great. When it comes to the R700 vs the S110 we are taking Ford vs. Chrysler without the signature Mopar. Going to a bottom plastic bolt release was a killer for me. Why did Savage think that was a good idea? I converted those two builds back to the upper steel bolt release. Savage also shot themselves in the foot by making this difficult to get the likes of a basic HS or Bell & Carlson stocks. I had to modify the latter two builds to fit because these stock manufacturers aren't retooling to keep up with Savage making cheap ass changes to what was an a otherwise good design. And getting parts is beyond fucking stupid. I should be able to call Savage, give them my serial number and buy any fucking part I want to. And they should be doing it with a smile on their faces. PRS is the gold standard for durability. I may not compete in PRS but I'm sure as hell watching to determine if a core setup will guarantee durability in a Varmint set up. Savage can't have our cake and eat it too. Just tell us you're not hurting making cheap quality changes for the average Wal-Mart customer that will just take it out and shoot it and never need to change the barrel. Savage won't hurt our feelings and we will just moveon.org. Seriously, get back to making a decent core rifle set up and then think about getting into PRS. Personally, I think someone walked into Savage and just fucked it up good.

 

[POI_Shift]

I'm surprised there aren't many companies offering manufacturer support at these events. I work in the fishing industry and I used to travel and work all of the Bassmaster events. At every tournament the supporting sponsors are there with service trailers. Mercury, Yamaha, Minn Kota, Ranger boats, etc. There were some that aren't sponsors attending and offering help. My employer also sends our technicians to events to provide factory support. It would make sense that they would have something or should. especially if you are trying to get your brand name out there.

I don't own a Savage and never really plan to. It was a good interview, although I had to disagree with Joe claiming that a nitirde surface treatment on the action will prevent scope rail screws from backing out. That's new info to me. Having a past life as an auto technician I never recall coatings being used to prevent screws from coming loose from vibration and/or temperature changes with dissimilar materials. Toyota used thread lock on just about everything. Ford seems to do the same. When I built race cars and trucks we never trusted that a coating would prevent something from coming loose. Thread lock is cheap and most manufacturers should be using it.

Aside from that it was good to hear they are paying attention and will attempt to make some new products to support the long range shooters. Competition is good for all of us.

Not the finish that prevented screw loosening but rather the lack of the presence of the oil used to protect the black oxide finish since loctite doesn't like to bond to oily surfaces.

 

[Cjwise5]

Alright, I'm just going to say it, and Joe S. don't hate me, because I think you're a solid dude. Putting a savage in an MDT chassis is like putting a V6 in your classic muscle car. It'll probably run, but you're not going to be happy with the performance.

 

[BigPineyTradingPost]

I just noticed this aftermarket trigger for Savage on the Facebook.

 

[MakeSawdust]

In my opinion a lot of the problems were not addressed. I ran a modified Savage for two years in Border Wars and shot close to 20 matches with it. I got it to run, made it smooth, etc. Besides extraction, ejection, and the trigger it was pretty comparable to the Bighorn that replaced it. The thing about Savage aftermarket triggers that are available is that none of them replace the factory sear. Once you wear through the hard candy coating on the sear you are fucked. It takes about 10k cycles. That's not even a year for the top prs guys. I planned to replace the sear and trigger and drive on. Savage is so lawyered up that it is nearly impossible to order parts. The custom action makers let you swap parts like Legos and Savage has that capability, but they won't sell a lot of the necessary parts to anyone without and FFL. They used to let you send a liability waiver with your order, but those days have passed. After trying to order parts and facing so much push back from Savage I bought a Bighorn TL3 and a TriggerTech and drove on. I have seen and hope to continue to see those two companies support their products for hard use.

As an afterthought, I see that Jard is producing a Savage trigger that replaces the sear, but I have not seen much feedback on them.

 

[Jackomason]

Yeah I kinda felt like Frank went easy on them. But I guess that's where he stands on savage. I'd just like to see them pushed a little further in creating a premium rifle. At the end of the day if I had an upgrade rifle with an MDT ACC I'd much rather have the ACC in a rem 700 footprint and not a savage footprint. This way your not stuck with a crappy action.

 

[GONE BAD]

Enjoyed the podcast.
I've fooled around with a lot of Savage platforms and have had my ups and downs with them but I've never wrote them off.

My best experience was when I ordered a rifle from their custom shop.
FCP- SR. and talked with Effie back in 2012.

I wanted a few changes to that platform:
1. Needed it to be LH bolt.
2. Wanted a RH eject.
3. Change caliber from 308 to 260.
4. Longer barrel 26".

She said yes to all that and a ETA of 12 weeks! $1300 buuuut dealer marked it up to $1500.?
Anyway I agreed.

After I ordered it I got to looking and knew I messed up; I wanted it in a model 12 action!

When I got the rifle I couldn't have been more pleased!
It came with the model 12 target action w/ the red target trigger!
Inleted with Accurate Mag bottom metal and magazine.

Action to me is smooth and bolt lift is very good! And accuracy was better than I was capable of.
I shot groups in the .3's.

Had a few problems with the magazines and worked them out.
That was my decision because I wanted to be able to put pressure on the mags and be able to run the bolt smoothly.

I've had this rifle for 7 years now and it's one I'll never get rid of.

Oh, and yes I've had the scope base come loose in a match and it sucked but I've epoxy bedded it and lock-tighted the screws.

This rifle runs excellent and Savage Arms custom shop was top line!

Just my experience.
Any questions you may have or comments feel free.

And oh by the way I have no ties or am I affiliated with Savage Arms in any way.

 

[Ratchety]

I liked the podcast. I really felt the Savage pains with my entry into PRS type shooting. The scope bases on the new precision rifle should be doweled to the action like Tikka does....period. Also, the trigger locking up wasnt because I was set too light, it was because over time the setting backed out until the trigger deseared during a bolt cycle. These issues happened at matches that I left town to participate in, cost me money. and pissed me off enough I bought a Tikka. Too bad, as the rifle shoots great...when it works.