Redlg155
Member
Fellow Shooters,
As an early part of my Christmas present my lovely wife allowed me to play with my newest toy, a Savage Tactical 10fp in .308 w/20" barrel. As with most of my rifle choices, and I say most in part due to some crazy impulse buys here and there, I had done a fair bit of research and to a certain degree I knew what to expect.
Upon unpacking the rifle I found that it had a finish that looked like a cross between powder coat and parkerizing, close to, but not quite the same type of finish found on a Remington 870 express. Traditional styrofoam packaging had been discarded in favor of an egg crate type of material. As this was an accutrigger model, an adjustment key was provided as well as tons of unneeded papers and of course...the silly lock. Now..as they say, here is the "nitty gritty".
Action and Function.
Action and function was flawless, with rounds chambering and extracting without difficulty. One note to be had is that you must make sure the rounds are completely seated in the internal magazine prior to chambering a round. I had a couple inadverdently pop out of the magazine when I tried to chamber a round due to my attemting to load left handed into the ejection port. This problem was alleviated when I paid more attention to loading the magazine. The feel of the bolt it as I worked it back and forth was tolerable, albeit a bit gritty in feel. I suspect that things will smooth out once the bolt wears on the rails. The 10fp is also a short action rifle. I'm glad Savage went this way instead of relying on a long action and spacer.
Safety.
The safety is a teardrop style that works in three positions. Full safe (no bolt movement), Safe (but able to load and unload) and Fire. Although many shooters are fans of a safety placed on the trigger guard, I am not. The savage safety is where is should be, located at the top rear of the reciever where it is easily accessible to both left and right handed shooters. I find it interesting that two of the most value priced gun brands in the marketplace, Mossburg and Savage, both have this feature.
Barrel and overall feel.
The barrel is a 20" heavy barrel complete with the standard proof/manufacturer marks. The target crown is recessed to protect it from damage. Shouldering the rifle made for a slightly forward point of balance, even with the 20" barrel. This is due to a combination of heavy barrel and lighweight stock. Stock dimensions were ok with no real gripes or complaints.
Trigger.
What can I say...amazing! Although I did not have a trigger scale available, I suspect the trigger was set at the factory in the 3 pound range. Trigger release was crisp with no percievable overtravel. The safety lever reminded me of shooting a two stage trigger, a takeup followed by a definite wall before the trigger breaks. Prior to the range session I did a bit of experimenting with the trigger to verify some complaints that I had heard in various forums concerning unintentionally "decocking" the trigger. If I pulled the trigger without activating the trigger bar, yes, the trigger would in essensce "decock". However, if I pulled the trigger with full contact on the trigger face, I had zero problems.
Stock...I saved the worse for last.
Hmmm...how can I say it politely. I'll just cut to the chase and say that the stock, for the lack of a better term, SUCKS! The stock had a good bit of flex and had an uneven spacing on each side of the barrel. Molding marks on the stock made it very obvious that the same mold was used for detatchable/floorplate magazine models. It's a shame that a $500 rifle came with such a sorry excuse for a stock. I take it that Savage really doesn't care since most users either replace the stock or order the rifle with the Chaote, McMillan or HS Precision stocks. One positive note..you will soon see a Savage stock in the EE section. Cheap!
Is the stock functional? Yes. Is the rifle accurate with the factory stock? Yes. So why change the stock? A good question that can only be answered by handling the rifle.
Shooting Time!
I went ahead and purchased some Weaver 2pc bases and although these worked fine, they will be replaced soon by a Ken Farrell 1 pc mount. Weaver Grand Slam rings and Leupold VXII 3-9x40mm as well as a Harris Bipod completed the accessory setup. Everything seemed to be rock solid except for one little problem (unrelated to the accessories) that crept up later in the shooting session.
A mix of ammo was fired ranging from various Milsurp ammo (SA and Port Surplus) to 180gr Winchester Factory loads. All loads grouped very well, with the milsurp averaging 1 1/2 inches and quite a few groups even smaller. All loads also stayed within minute of bowling pin at 300 yards and I found that with a 1" high zero at 100 I could engage bowling pins at 300 by holding at the top of the pin. Remington 150grain Spt ammo took honors by giving me a five shot group that could be covered by a nickel at 100 yards. I don't know if the 180 grain Winchester kicked that much more or that I was sore by the time I tested it, but OW! did it hurt. I know...wuss. However, in all I fired approximately 200 rounds during the session before trying the 180gr load. Also, no reliability problems were noted except as previously mentioned and accreddited to user error.
Now back to the problem I had mentioned previously. I would fire three to four shots and then get a horribble flyer. Try again and the second shot was the flyer. I checked the scope and the mounts and no problems were noted. but when I grabbed the barrel I found that the action was loose in the stock! The rear mount screw was loose and after some tightening, my flyer problems were solved. So lesson learned...always check the stock before firing a new gun.
So, did Savage come out with a winner? Yes and No. Yes in the performance department. She's butt ugly, but pretty in a glock kinda way. No in the factory cheapo stock department.
I've decided to overlook the stock and if I can't sell it on EE, I'll make it into a jello mold. Other than that.. 1 and 1/2 thumbs up. She's a keeper.
Good Shooting
Red
As an early part of my Christmas present my lovely wife allowed me to play with my newest toy, a Savage Tactical 10fp in .308 w/20" barrel. As with most of my rifle choices, and I say most in part due to some crazy impulse buys here and there, I had done a fair bit of research and to a certain degree I knew what to expect.
Upon unpacking the rifle I found that it had a finish that looked like a cross between powder coat and parkerizing, close to, but not quite the same type of finish found on a Remington 870 express. Traditional styrofoam packaging had been discarded in favor of an egg crate type of material. As this was an accutrigger model, an adjustment key was provided as well as tons of unneeded papers and of course...the silly lock. Now..as they say, here is the "nitty gritty".
Action and Function.
Action and function was flawless, with rounds chambering and extracting without difficulty. One note to be had is that you must make sure the rounds are completely seated in the internal magazine prior to chambering a round. I had a couple inadverdently pop out of the magazine when I tried to chamber a round due to my attemting to load left handed into the ejection port. This problem was alleviated when I paid more attention to loading the magazine. The feel of the bolt it as I worked it back and forth was tolerable, albeit a bit gritty in feel. I suspect that things will smooth out once the bolt wears on the rails. The 10fp is also a short action rifle. I'm glad Savage went this way instead of relying on a long action and spacer.
Safety.
The safety is a teardrop style that works in three positions. Full safe (no bolt movement), Safe (but able to load and unload) and Fire. Although many shooters are fans of a safety placed on the trigger guard, I am not. The savage safety is where is should be, located at the top rear of the reciever where it is easily accessible to both left and right handed shooters. I find it interesting that two of the most value priced gun brands in the marketplace, Mossburg and Savage, both have this feature.
Barrel and overall feel.
The barrel is a 20" heavy barrel complete with the standard proof/manufacturer marks. The target crown is recessed to protect it from damage. Shouldering the rifle made for a slightly forward point of balance, even with the 20" barrel. This is due to a combination of heavy barrel and lighweight stock. Stock dimensions were ok with no real gripes or complaints.
Trigger.
What can I say...amazing! Although I did not have a trigger scale available, I suspect the trigger was set at the factory in the 3 pound range. Trigger release was crisp with no percievable overtravel. The safety lever reminded me of shooting a two stage trigger, a takeup followed by a definite wall before the trigger breaks. Prior to the range session I did a bit of experimenting with the trigger to verify some complaints that I had heard in various forums concerning unintentionally "decocking" the trigger. If I pulled the trigger without activating the trigger bar, yes, the trigger would in essensce "decock". However, if I pulled the trigger with full contact on the trigger face, I had zero problems.
Stock...I saved the worse for last.
Hmmm...how can I say it politely. I'll just cut to the chase and say that the stock, for the lack of a better term, SUCKS! The stock had a good bit of flex and had an uneven spacing on each side of the barrel. Molding marks on the stock made it very obvious that the same mold was used for detatchable/floorplate magazine models. It's a shame that a $500 rifle came with such a sorry excuse for a stock. I take it that Savage really doesn't care since most users either replace the stock or order the rifle with the Chaote, McMillan or HS Precision stocks. One positive note..you will soon see a Savage stock in the EE section. Cheap!
Is the stock functional? Yes. Is the rifle accurate with the factory stock? Yes. So why change the stock? A good question that can only be answered by handling the rifle.Shooting Time!
I went ahead and purchased some Weaver 2pc bases and although these worked fine, they will be replaced soon by a Ken Farrell 1 pc mount. Weaver Grand Slam rings and Leupold VXII 3-9x40mm as well as a Harris Bipod completed the accessory setup. Everything seemed to be rock solid except for one little problem (unrelated to the accessories) that crept up later in the shooting session.
A mix of ammo was fired ranging from various Milsurp ammo (SA and Port Surplus) to 180gr Winchester Factory loads. All loads grouped very well, with the milsurp averaging 1 1/2 inches and quite a few groups even smaller. All loads also stayed within minute of bowling pin at 300 yards and I found that with a 1" high zero at 100 I could engage bowling pins at 300 by holding at the top of the pin. Remington 150grain Spt ammo took honors by giving me a five shot group that could be covered by a nickel at 100 yards. I don't know if the 180 grain Winchester kicked that much more or that I was sore by the time I tested it, but OW! did it hurt. I know...wuss. However, in all I fired approximately 200 rounds during the session before trying the 180gr load. Also, no reliability problems were noted except as previously mentioned and accreddited to user error.
Now back to the problem I had mentioned previously. I would fire three to four shots and then get a horribble flyer. Try again and the second shot was the flyer. I checked the scope and the mounts and no problems were noted. but when I grabbed the barrel I found that the action was loose in the stock! The rear mount screw was loose and after some tightening, my flyer problems were solved. So lesson learned...always check the stock before firing a new gun.
So, did Savage come out with a winner? Yes and No. Yes in the performance department. She's butt ugly, but pretty in a glock kinda way. No in the factory cheapo stock department.
I've decided to overlook the stock and if I can't sell it on EE, I'll make it into a jello mold. Other than that.. 1 and 1/2 thumbs up. She's a keeper.
Good Shooting
Red
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The Savage line is and has been one of the ( in my opinion ) best buys in the gun world! Buy em.. shoot em.. never let them collect dust!
