Everybody has got to start someplace. Modern metallurgy and CNC machining gives us out of the box performance that needed a trip to the smith 10 years ago. It will be a while before you can outperform either gun.
Like you I was attracted to the 224 Valkyrie. Put the Savage and MVP on back-order. MVP came in first. No disappointment there. Decent action, chassis, barrel and trigger. My experience with other Savage rifles, tells me I would have had to drop it into a chassis pretty quickly.
The advice to start with a quality 22 is spot on. Shooting a 22 well at 150-200 yards will teach you everything you need to remember about trigger control, NPA, follow-thru. Plus it's a great place to start the daughters.
I think you would get a much higher bang for your $ by investing in the best you can afford in reloading gear. The tolerances needed for long range shooting are not possible in run of the mill $30 dies or all in one kits. Read Glen Zidekers book. Re-read it.
It's your journey, buy what you want and enjoy the ride
Like you I was attracted to the 224 Valkyrie. Put the Savage and MVP on back-order. MVP came in first. No disappointment there. Decent action, chassis, barrel and trigger. My experience with other Savage rifles, tells me I would have had to drop it into a chassis pretty quickly.
The advice to start with a quality 22 is spot on. Shooting a 22 well at 150-200 yards will teach you everything you need to remember about trigger control, NPA, follow-thru. Plus it's a great place to start the daughters.
I think you would get a much higher bang for your $ by investing in the best you can afford in reloading gear. The tolerances needed for long range shooting are not possible in run of the mill $30 dies or all in one kits. Read Glen Zidekers book. Re-read it.
It's your journey, buy what you want and enjoy the ride