I own several Savages:
A pair of 11VT's, a .223 and a .308, each identically upgraded with Choate Tactical stocks, EGW 20MOA bases, Vortex Medium 30MM rings , and Mueller 8-32x44 Target Scopes. I consider them to be fairly ideal F T/R beginner competition rifles, 'beginner' essentially because they utilize unmodified factory barreled actions. The included 'regular' trigger works fine for me, I'm not all that demanding. Hefty bolt lift; honestly it never bothers me. Flimsy stocks, still a few left that might be marginal, and actually started fixing this issue going on ten years ago (where ya been?), but Savage has just revamped their basic stock with the
Accu-Fit model, currently being phased in for additional models.
The 11VT is a proprietary rifle configuration limited to Dick's and Outdoor Life, and some folks here will take issue about dealing with them. Cabelas also offers a comparable rifle, the
10T. But the 10T is a bit more pricey. It can even be ordered in 6.5CM and 6CM, making the same design conform to F Open class. There's also a 300WM for those who can take it and want to shoot beyond 1000yd.
Customs they ain't, but then they total out around $1000 each, including the mods , and shoot OK enough in F T/R to keep this old duffer smiling.
Hey Savage, if you're listening, it might not be such a bad idea to offer this stock on the 10 FCP.
My older MKII 22LR has educated over 100 younglings in rimfire marksmanship; including a handful of Distinguished Junior Rimfire Experts, one of whom did it both as a righty, and as a lefty.
A 10FCM Scout 7.62x39. This is the seldom ordered option of the original Savage Scout. It has a .308 bore, and handloads with the HDY 110Gr V-Max are accurate enough for me to consider it the about the equal of the .30 PPC.
The original SH Ghost Dancer, built on a 2001 Savage 10FP .260. It's a full-on custom with a (gorgeous) factory pillar bedded Ghost Gray McMillan A3 tactical stock, the L-W 28" 1:8" barrel, .260 Rem SAAMI chambered, replaced the Factory 24" barrel after a couple of years, and shot for several years in the Bodines PA 1000yd F Class League. I finally replaced the Tasco 6-24x42 Mil-Dot Varmint/Target scope with a vintage NIB Weaver T-24 just this week. I'm redeveloping the load with the new HDY 143 ELD-X bullets.
My Deer rifle is an Axis II .30-'06, with a laminated aftermarket (
Boyd's) stock (A Blem, I got a big discount and I till can't find the blemish. It completely changes the ergos for the better), and an upgraded 3-9x40 scope (off the 11VT package rifles). I'm developing a load for it with the 178gr HDY ELD-X bullets. For practice, I use my 150gr HDY FMJ-BT Garand handloads. It's not my Win M-70 Featherweight that I passed down to my Daughter's family, but few rifles are; the Winny took 4th in the 1997 NJ State Sniper Championships.
I am looking seriously to acquire a
Savage A22.
I have the family heirloom Savage 340 .222 that my brothers and I all learned to shoot Chucks with back in the 1950's and 1960's. Very neglected, it needs a complete and intensive cleanup and overhaul; and is one of my slow and steady projects to continue as long as it takes.
The only problems I've had with a Savage over the past two decades was with the original Ghost Dancer. The load I was using was too hot for the environment, and blew several primers. In the process, it destroyed an extractor each time. We had a
gunsmith in our party, and I also had a spare bolt and a
standby manual extractor tool (don't laugh, it's invaluable); I passed the bad bolt over my shoulder, and got a fixed one slapped into my palm each time, and I completed my course of fire without timing out. It was at the first (Provisional) Spirit of America Match in 2002, on the 1000yd line.
This problem was not a mechanical manufacturing or design issue, it was an unnecessarily hot handloading issue.
When these legitimate questions are brought up here, we have our usual Savage HatIng Trolls (SH*T Brigade) jump in and jump all over the Savage products. We recognize the names right off, and most folks have learned how to put their user id's on ignore (Click their username, then click on ignore, all done.).
I apologize to the new guys, a free and reasonably open web site is just gonna have these folks; please bear with it, or put them on ignore if you find their fervor offensive.
Please understand that all makers have issues with mass produced rifles, and it's not that the problems are especially common, it's just that the incessantly repeated complaints by a biased few are.
At least it's not Remington. Please don't get us started on Remington, it's impolite kick someone when they're down.
Greg
