Re: savage or m1a
I've got a SA Standard M1A and my wife has the Loaded model. The M1As are a damn good rifle. They are well ballanced, easy to maintain, fun shooting guns. With all price jumps recently its hard getting standards for under 1350-1400. I got both of mine for under 1200. The next question you have to ask yourself (provided you get one) is what kind of scope mount you will want to go with. The SA Gen 3's are ok (got one on mine) but there are better. These ones are Aluminum so they are lighter. My wife's has the ARMS 18 scope mount. These ones are steel (little bit heavier) and are probably one of the the lowest mount out there. The problem is unless you use see through rings you won't be able to use irons. The Sadlak designs look, IMO, to be the best design. Its based off the old Brookfield style. And you can use your irons. They offer aluminum, titanium, and "Airborne" steel mount. Me personally I would spend the money on a Sadlak. Smith Enterprise makes a mount but I haven't had experience with them.
The M1A is a very likely candidate for a precision rifle. They can be tuned to be very accuarte. The biggest down side is the weight. My wife's with Bipod was about 14.5 ish pounds if I remember correctly. Mine is about 16 with Bipod but mine has the Sage EBR Chassis on it. Which free floats your barrel and extra 6 inchs.
My wife and I both love our M1A's. I'm fully confident that if you get one you will be satisfied. Hopefully this will help you out, not sure if it was just going off on a tangent or helped out. Good luck
