Savage Bolt Thingy that Makes it ugly?

[dak0ta]

Hi,

I hear ppl mention something about a bolt thing that is used for headspace on the savage rifles that make them ugly?

I'm new, so I looked a picture of a savage, but I couldn't really determine what it was.. the rifle looked fine.. this was an American Classic Model 14 ...

Anybody have a picture of this thing?

 

[Kharn]

There is a barrel nut at the front of the reciever that is considered the offending part.

Kharn

 

[iamkris]

The barrel nut makes it very easy to set headspace in a mass production plant. Just "screw it in and out" (keep your junior high locker humor to yourself) until the headspace is correct.

I saw some Savages at the NRA Show in L-ville recently that seem to have less prominent spanner wrench recesses and the nut was nicely polished and blued to fit in. It wasn't too bad looking.

 

[skinewmexico]

Pretty is as pretty does.

 

[Ash]

IT's easier than that. You don't have to adjust headspace by screwing in and then out over several times. You chamber a go gauge, screw the barrel down on a receiver with bolt chambered until everything stops. That sets headspace at the very minimum. Then tighten the barrel nut down real tight, which opens headspace up just a very slight amount, and you're done.

It really is that easy - I've done it myself.

Ash

 

[MMCSRET]

Very easy to change calibers. A 22-250 can become a 243 or 308 with just a barrel and a nut wrench and a head space gage. Slick!!!!!

 

[brian923]

some people think that the bolt release on the side of the reciever is also ugly, but i find all things savage to be absolutly beautiful. i love savage rifles.

the barrel nut allows one to make a sweet switchbarrel rifle. bye a nice stock, do a good bedding job and all that is needed is differnt barrels (and bolt heads if cartridge head size is different. ) and you get many different good shooting rifles all in one package.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Savage Bolt Thingy that Makes it ugly?

Sounds like something one of those uptight Rem700 guys would say. Their always so angry!

 

[Funderb]

it sure is awkward to release the bolt!

A simple mauser side lever or mosin trigger stop would suffice.
Eh, I'm sure they just wanted to keep us safe. It's okay with me.

 

[bogie]

FWIW, the "field expedient" barrel switch, requiring a minimum amount of tools (the barrel nut can be worked on with two 1/8" drill bits and a regular largeish adjustable wrench) makes Savages great for hunting trips where you need to fly... You can take one rifle, and several barrels.

 

[Sitting Duck]

I only own a Remington ADL 22-250. An older one (1977) with the nice wood and bluing. My nephew had a new Savage .243 that he said was pretty accurate. I thought the rifle looked okay (the nut didn't bother me) but somewhat on the plain side compared to my Remington.

Everyone raves about the ease of switching out barrels and I guess that is an okay thing. But why wouldn't you just go out and buy a used whatever for $350 or less and then you would have two rifles and two calibers for immediate use? This really comes in handy at the range when barrel temperature becomes an issue.

I bought my Rem for $341 and the first group went in under a nickle at 100 yards. My first group at 250 yards went in under 1 3/8 in. I wouldn't discount good used rifles instead of the new plywood or plastic stocked ones. Regardless of the manufacturer.

Just a thought.

 

[woo18]

i think it is beautiful

 

[MMCSRET]

Sitting Duck----I agree, I much prefer buying used guns. my savages are used and I can change barrels.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Everyone raves about the ease of switching out barrels and I guess that is an okay thing. But why wouldn't you just go out and buy a used whatever for $350 or less and then you would have two rifles and two calibers for immediate use? This really comes in handy at the range when barrel temperature becomes an issue.

Because you can buy a used $250 savage spend $120 on a barrel in a non STD chambering swap it out yourself and build your own $370 35whelen, 6mm rem, 264win mag, 7.62x39 ect ect. In todays used gun market $350 for a used complete rifle only gets you a .223, 22-250, 243, 270 or 30-06 98% of the time, that's no fun at all.

Savages are NOT switch bbl guns in the classic sense of swapping bbls without tools in the field. But they are a really easy platform to customize without paying a gunsmith a dime

 

[Der Verge]

I bought myself a Stevens 200 (El cheapo Savage) in .223 not long ago. Being the cheap one, it is not the prettiest model, but at this point, I have developed 3 different loads, with 3 different bullets, of different weights, that shoot sub .3 moa. Yea, I love Savage rifles.

I owned some other ones before, and they got treated like the rest of them. Shoot them a while, then time for something new. Local shop has 2 more 200s for sale at the moment. A .270, and an .30-06....askin $239 each. Restraining myself has been dificult.

Don't get me wrong, I am a sucker for deep, dark blueing, and a beautiful piece of fine walnut. It is just more important for my firearms to perform down range, then perform in the beauty department.

 

[MinnMooney]

Sounds like something one of those uptight Rem700 guys would say. Their always so ang

I'm with krocus ! Savages are as nice looking as most production rifles.... unless you buy one with the black synthetic stock, then it's practical but not so pretty.

 

[Ash]

Even the 111 has a nice polished blue, walnut stock, cut checkering.

Ash

 

[TehK1w1]

I've changed the barrel out on one of my Savage 110's more than once, using exactly the same technique Ash mentions. It works perfectly, chambering a go gauge, but not a no-go gauge. I thus have a 35 Whelen that shoots MOA for less than $400.

 

[browningguy]

Well I have to agree that Savages are not so elegant as some others. My 12FV with factory stock (really ugly):



A little better with the Sharpshooter LVT stock:



But a really elegant rifle is the Sako AIII with a Mannlicher stock:



There are a lot of things Savage could have done to make them prettier, but they work really well and that's good enough for me. I have lots of pretty rifles, but none of them shoot as good as my 12 FV in .243.

 

[skinewmexico]

Yeah, if I could go buy a 223AI, a 338-06, or a 6.5X47 Lapua for $350, I'd be all over it. But some of us don't like boring calibers. Thanks to Savage, we don't have to put up with that.

 

[Ash]

browning,

I was at Gander and took a Gander at the current Savage offerings. They stack very well against your SAKO in aesthetics.

Ash

 

[Flyin Ashtrays]

Geez... 6 months, 8 posts, and I am already an uptight Remy 700 guy! Oh well. Do love my .243, though!