New Savage .22!!!

[Peter Gun]

My firearms budget has been slashed rather brutally recently. I just bought my first gun in about 4 years!!!
I have been looking for a while to decide what i should get with my precious gun fund. Since i have a new house with some land (the reason for no gun fund!!!) I wanted to get a rifle for target shooting and small varmint control. Of course, since i still have no disposable income, .22lr was the only reasonable choice.
As usual, when I finally had the money in hand, i end up finding something i really like that wasn't even on the list of candidates.
I got this pretty Savage Mark II BVSS, new for $279 at Powderhorn in Williston VT. BTW, if you are in Vt, you have to check out this shop, a very fine selection in a small space.
Its a heavy bbl 21" stainless (recessed crown, no sights) with laminated monte carlo stock and built in weaver scope mounts. This model is pre-accutrigger. It came with a 2005 catalog, but interestingly enough, they dont list this model in the catalog, nor is it in the current catalog on line.
I put a bushnell trophy 3-9x 40 (phillipines, not china) on it with burris med rings. I am very pleased with the result. It had a few failures to extract at first and the mag stuck a couple times, but after a workout and some cleaning that seems to be gone.
The stock feels great! Trigger is a little heavy, i would guess 6 lbs? but has almost no takeup and breaks clean with very little travel. I have never shot a gun with so little take up on the trigger. Bolt works nice and is super easy to strip and clean.
So far, it is much more accurate than the ruger 77/22 or rem speedmaster i used to have. i havent finished zeroing the scope completely as i have to keep dodging rainstorms this week, but it is grouping less than 1" at 30 yds (max range from the deck) with usually 3 of five holes touching. So far ive only used rem thunderbolt brick ammo. ill post a pic of the target as soon as i get one that isnt rainsoaked.
one thing im not sure about: the scope ends up mounting only about .5 mm above the barrell at the business end. I would say thats aa perfect fit for a .22 Anyone think i should go for taller rings?
Ill update as i get some targets.

 

[Exmasonite]

i love my savage mk II. doesn't have that beautiful wood grain yours does, just the regular synthetic. Picked it up w/ bull barrel and a simmon 3-9x scope for $140 cash out the door at a local pawn shop. by far the best deal i've ever gotten on ANYTHING in my life.

spent the afternoon on friday hitting pieces of clay pigeons at 75-100 yds at the local range.

simply incredible gun.

 

[rangerruck]

that is usually over 300 bucks, for any rimfire stainless and laminated, so you got a nice deal.

 

[Danny Creasy]

That is a nice looking rifle PG.

A few years ago I picked up one of the little black plastic stocked ones that Dick's had on sale with a cheap 1" scope included. But, it shoots great even with its five pound trigger.

It will shoot half inch five shot 50 yard groups with some ammos.

 

[Peter Gun]

Updated with targets!

Hello!
Just thought I would keep everyone posted with a range report.
I have been screwing around with this for a couple weeks, just giving it a workout and am very pleased with the rifle. Today i got serious and tried to get some good groups to show everyone.
Keep in mind I am fairly novice with scoped rifles, Im sure this rifle will shoot better with practice.
This session was in my backyard at 50 yds. It was about 40*F, sunny and dry, gusty wind blowing from the left at 5-15mph.
All targets were from the prone position w/ my homemade bipod/rest and used the same 5 rnd magazine, except for the obvious ten round group.
I have been using Remington Thunderbolt 40gr to sight it in, and it likes this ammo.
Today I also shot:
Federal Premium Gold Match 40gr
Aguila Hyper velocity 30gr
Aguila Sniper Subsonic 60gr

The best group was with the Federal match. It also functions very smoothly and is the quietest round. It has a little lower point of aim than the thunderbolt.
The remington was the second best, and actually grouped better on the last ten round mag when i shot as fast as i could bring the crosshairs on target.
The Aguila subsonic was very dissapointing. very poor group and it shot so much lower i had to use the the upper square on the target or they didnt even make it on paper. Also, it appears to use 22 short brass which gets hung up on the bolt instead of ejecting.
The aguila hyper is fun to shoot and doesnt group too badly, but simply wont extract in this rifle. It fails to extract about 85% of the time and i have to use a tool to pry it out of the chamber. Not really an option.
I only had one other failure to extract and that was the last round of thunderbolt. However, that extracted after i closed the bolt and recycled the action.
In conclusion, im going to try some remington hyper and the federal cheap stuff, but its nice to know this rifle shoots so well with the cheapest ammo available to me (thunderbolt). Even if the aguila subsonic lived up to its recommendation, I dont think its an option as the point of aim is so different from practice ammo, it doesnt seem practical.
Ill get some more practice and set up my 100yd range and keep you posted!
targets attached!!!

 

[righteousbarbarian]

I'm glad you like yours. I just got one as my first rifle ever and got it partially sighted in the other day. I can't wait to go rabbit hunting with it.

 

[Peter Gun]

Some more info from manufacturers websites:
Muzzle velocities:
Federal: 1080 fps
aguila 60gr: 980 fps
aguila 30 gr: 1750 fps
Remington:??????? Can anyone figure out how to get the rimfire ballistics from their poorly designed website?
Also heres a pic of my rest made out of leftover construction materials

 

[Picher]

Yesterday, at the Kittery Trading Post, in Southern Maine, I looked at a couple of Savage Mark II BVSS rifles very closely and was impressed with the design, the smooth action, and the finish. One or two were 17 HMR and one was a .22LR.

The rifle balances pretty well for offhand shooting and should be good for silhouette shooting, if it meets specs. (We don't shoot rimfire silhouette competition around here, but practice with the targets and enjoy it very much.)

If the looks are anything, that's a great rifle and an excellent value. IMHO, that rifle, in .22LR should be able to shoot under half-inch groups with the right ammo. The chamber should be tight for best accuracy, so some ammo may not function well, but I'd at least try some Lapua Master, Eley Black Box, or even Fiocchi Biathlon in it to see how it will do with those round. Then, I'd try some of the better high-speed ammo like CCI Mini-Mags.

The front rest should be sand bags, not a hard wood rest. Rear should also be a sand bag, or at least, supported by the left fist.

The Accu-Trigger version should be a great rifle for at least informal bench shooting.

Picher