Savage 110E...thoughts and opinions

[JamisJockey]

Okay I'm thinking I'll skip on the Remington 788 I was looking at. Nice gun, but the scope turned out to be an off brand and only 1.5-4.5 x 30....would go great on my 10/22 though!

I did come across a Savage 110E in 30-06, blonde wood stock, Tasco 3x9x40, $299. Overall all in good condition, I could use to have the stock shortened about 1" (has a real thick butt pad, so I'd be taking about 2" off and putting a new butt pad on)

Thoughts, opinions, experiences and comments on the rifle and price?

 

[Art Eatman]

SFAIK, for "overall in good shape", I doubt you'll find a bare gun at under $300.

So, at worst you're ahead by the mounts and rings. The Tasco might last a lifetime or go stupid tomorrow; you never know. Until it does, however, it'll do you just fine.

You can rework the stock yourself; the labor cost savings would sure help pay the $60 for a 2" belt sander from Harbor Freight or equivalent. Just don't forget protective tape around the stock when sanding down the buttpad.

Savages have a good rep for out-of-the-box accuracy. You can meddle around and find a particular brand cartridge that works best. The 150-grain loads will pretty well take care of anything below elk-sized stuff.

If need be, to improve accuracy, free-float the forearm and maybeso shim it to a very slight pressure on the barrel, out at the tip...

FWIW, Art

 

[guy sajer]

Savage makes a solid rifle . I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Savage . We frequently sell new package guns with a factory mounted 3-9x40 Simmons and sling for $375 . You might check around for the 110 or 10 ,depending on the action length , FXP3 which designates the factory package synthetic stock or GXP3 for wood stock . They are an excellent deal .


Mitch
www.oldeenglishoutfitters.com

 

[dakotasin]

i have a dissenting opinion...

i have a 110e w/ the blonde wood, except mine's chambered to 7 rem mag... also have a 10 and a 116 (223 and 7 mag). for awhile, i was on the 'savage is great bandwagon'. then, 2 things happened... i bought my first remington, and i started having problems w/ my savages. w/ all 3 rifles, there are serious problems w/ the stocks (the 2 wood ones have cracked pretty bad). the 116 mag just up and broke itself off one day, relegating my bolt-action repeater to a single shot, without the benefit of a short rifle... and just this fall my 110 decided that periodically it would just fail to fire. don't care how hard the trigger is pulled, it won't drop the pin...

my other annoyances w/ savage are personal, but maybe something to think about... on the 110, the stock is so fat it is like trying to hang on to the big end of a baseball bat. really uncomfortable to shoot. the shape of the pistol grip sucks, there are no defined lines on the stock, and it isn't floated (newer ones are). i have done tons of work to my savage stocks to make them a bit more functional...but after feeling the remington, i really don't think messing w/ the savage stock is worth it... also, don't care for the barrel nut. yeah, i know, it makes a switch-barrel operation easy, but, come on...are you really going to switch the barrels w/ regularity?

now, to be completely fair...my savage triggers cleaned up pretty nice. they are a little rougher than my remingtons, but i seriously doubt most people could tell the difference. accuracy...well, my savages are just as accurate as my rems and rugers. i honestly don't feel that any single brand has a significant accuracy advantage over the other brands (note- i haven't tested every single mfgr out there...).

as for the price...it seems to me that when you start getting below $300 for a rifle, you are doing pretty well. i have seen some pretty decent used savages run in the $250-275 range, but $300 is more common.

on the scope...i wouldn't figure that as a factor in the price because the first thing i'd do when i got the rifle home would be to yank the scope...a buddy of mine shoots a lot of tasco stuff... just don't know. like art said: may be good for a day or two, may not be...