Greetings,
I’ve been a long time member and lurker. I don’t post often and most of my posts have been questions related to rifle set up, equipment, or “dibs” on the SH PX. I am an average shooter with experience mostly with AR platforms and handguns but new to the 22 LR Precision world.
My search of the SH, YouTube, and WWW did not show many reviews of the Savage B22 Precision. Below is my 5+ months experience with the rifle. The purpose of the build was to compete in the NRL 22 base category and to have a trainer for my Savage 308 in a MDT LSS XL gen2 chassis. The scope has changed many times but most of the testing was done with the Arken SH4.
I purchased all of the items myself, with zero factory discounts. I have no financial or business disclosures to make with any of the companies.
Set up:
Savage B22 Precision with factory MDT chassis ($599 MSRP)
Arken SH4 4-14x 50 ($399 MSRP)
Vortex 30mm rings, low
EGW 20 MOA base
MDT stock spacer
Harris bipod
Ammo tested:
CCI SV
Federal Gold Medal Match SV
Fiocchi SV
SK Flatnose Match
Aguilla Rifle Match SV
Lapua Biathlon
The B22 Precision Rifle is solidly built with a very comfortable and adjustable stock. The length of pull was a bit short, so I ordered spacers from MDT and the fit now mirrors my center fire rifle. The finish is matte black in what appears to be a nitrided finish that has been durable and pleasing to the eye. One issue with the adjustable plastic knobs for the cheek riser: not much force is need to lock down the riser, if you gorilla it, the knob‘s internal plastic gearing will strip off and expose the brass Allen head that is designed for more permanent cheek height setting. A small dab of Gorilla glue (pun intended) and gentle but firm tightening fixed the issues.
The bolt is smooth and does not bind when pushed forward on a slightly off axis. Bolt closure is tight with zero wiggle after closure. There is no appreciable bolt lift when cycling the action. The 2 position tange mounted safety is easy to operate and ergonomic. IMHO, the bolt is smoother and is easier to cycle faster than the CZ 457 Pro Varmint. The bolt knob is of the “tactical” variety and I think that it is permanently attached to the bolt handle. It is very ergonomic and compliments the lines and purpose of the rifle well. When re-installing the bolt, a marking on the back half of the bolt and the extractor must line up PERFECTLY. It took a few tries to get it right, and it may frustrate some newer shooter, especially young-ones starting out.
The magazines are 10 round rotary type with the release lever incorporated at the front of the magazine body. This makes unloading a breeze, but durability may be a issue after many elastic cycles of the plastic latch and drops onto concrete surfaces. Luckily, the magazines are cheap and abundant and is the same magazine in the Savage A22 and other B22 line.
I think that a 20 - 30 MOA scope base, similar to the one found on the Ruger RPRR, would be very beneficial to the intended customer for this type of rifle, but the EGW 20 MOA scope base was easy to source. True to Savage reputation, the scope base screws were loose when I removed them to install the 20 MOA base. While installing the new base, I noticed that the 2nd screw (screw 1 being the screw closest to the muzzle) was tighter and grittier and was harder to fully seat. It threaded easily for the first 1/2 and was not cross threaded. My guess is that there may be some metal shavings or uneven surfaces at the base of the hole. However, it did not bind or interfere with the bolt action.
Range time:
I fired over 2000 rounds of various ammo. My usual procedure was to run a boresnake through the rifle 2 times between different ammo testing. My apologies in advance for the relatively poor selection of mid to low grade ammo but this is what I could find during the current ammo shortage. I shot 20 rounds to foul the barrel, then 2 groups of 5 at 25 yards, 2 groups of 5 at 50 yards and finally 2 groups of 5 at 100 yards.
Please excuse my average shooting skills. Attached are a few hand picked representative groups. The best ammo in my testing was the CCI SV with 1/4”-3/8” at 25 yards, 1/2”-5/8”at 50 yards, and 1 1/2” -1 3/4”at 100 yards. Rim thickness sorting seemed to help with the CCI by reducing the flyers. When I loaded 3 magazines with different rim thicknesses and the RSO handed me the magazines in random fashion, the best group with the smallest rim thickness measured 0.09” for a 5 shot group at 25 yards.
Shots out to 50 yards were average at best, again CCI SV shooting the best in my limited sample lot. Overall, the group would be ˜3/8”+ 1 flyer that resulted in ”meh” groups of 1/2”- 5/8” at 50 yards.
When stretched to 100 yards, the accuracy just was not there. CCI SV, SK Flatnose Match, and Lapua Biathlon fared best at around 1 1/2” with occasional 2+” groups. I assessed that this would not be competitive in NRL 22 matches, especially if there are bonus stages with extended ranges past 150 yards. I was uncertain if this was the limitations of my skills, ammo, or if there was something else going on.
Searching YouTube, I saw a review by Affordable Optics and Rifle that showed some scoring/scratches on the drive bands of the 22 LR bullet when cycling the bolt from the B22 rotary magazine. Basically, the bottom protrusion of the bolt (6 o clock) that feeds the cartridge into the chamber scores/scratches the ”on deck” cartridge. The first round is not affected but all subsequent ones are deformed. Additionally, the lead and wax scrapings formed a wadded ball that lands at the 6 o clock position of the chamber. When the ball gets large enough and gets pushed into the chamber during bolt cycling, extraction failures occurred.
I called Savage Customer Service and they said that they would take a look. I shipped the rifle back on my own dime and they had it for 3 1/2 months to address the issue. At first, they said that the chamber was too tight, but I informed them that I thought that it was the lead/wax scraping that gummed up the chamber after ˜30 or so rounds. A few weeks later, they said that the magazine seating was out of spec and that they would adjust it. Furthermore, they were replacing the barrel. The barrel replacement took 2.5 months because the barrels are supplied from Canada. When they test fired the rifle, I guess it didn’t meet their precision requirements so when I called them back at the 3 month mark, they informed me that they were shipping out a brand new rifle. Well, the new rifle came and it still produces the same scratches. In the close up photo, the left 5 are cartridges cycled on a CZ 457 Pro Varmint with barely a smudge if you look very closely and the right 5 are the ones cycled on the Savage B22 Precision.
Conclusion:
The Savage B22 Precision is a very ergonomic, smooth running, and fun 22 LR at < 50 yards. If shooting 50 yards and in, it will be a great trainer for kids as it can be easily adjusted for size. Additionally, it is very solid and quiet with almost zero recoil. For longer ranges, further testing is needed with better quality ammo, but I suspect that the significant damage to the driving bands of the 22 LR bullet will have detrimental effects on accuracy and precision as distance increases. In the near future, I will get better ammo, continue testing, and post updates.
Epilogue:
I purchased a CZ 457 Pro Varmint 16.5” end of August 2020. Even though the Boyd’s stock isn’t anything like the MDT chassis that is on my 308, the accuracy of the CZ (as shown in the included 5 shot group proof), fully adjustable trigger, and upgrade pathway for customization were a better fit for my purposes. Plus, the $588 MSRP will give me wiggle room for the Athlon Argos gen2 6-24x 50 when competing in NRL 22 base.
I asked the CFO of the house if I should keep or sell the new in box Savage B22 Precision and she said if I want to use it to teach the kids and if we can go shooting together, we should hold on to it. Yeah, the wife’s a keeper.
YMMV, happy shooting.
