"Upgrades" to a Savage Axis (not an Axis II)

[entropy]

I can vouch for the Venom being a good scope for the money.

 

[jmr40]

I would certainly put a better scope on even a cheap rifle. IMO there are some acceptable scopes out there with $200 MSRP, and you may well actually pay less. But IME the $200 MSRP is the dividing line. I've never seen anything with a MSRP much under $200 that is worth bringing home. You can spend as much as you want, but for me the $300-$500 price range is the sweet spot. I can live with some $200-$300 scopes, and while the ones costing more than $500 are good scopes, I just don't need them.

Normally I don't think it wise to start throwing money at a budget rifle though. Most of the time the initial expense of the rifle + the cost of the upgrades will far exceed what you could have paid for a better rifle to start with. But if you really only have $12 in the rifle it might be cost effective this time.

And I'd like to hear the back story of how you ended up with a $12 rifle.

 

[d31tc]

I would certainly put a better scope on even a cheap rifle. IMO there are some acceptable scopes out there with $200 MSRP, and you may well actually pay less. But IME the $200 MSRP is the dividing line. I've never seen anything with a MSRP much under $200 that is worth bringing home. You can spend as much as you want, but for me the $300-$500 price range is the sweet spot. I can live with some $200-$300 scopes, and while the ones costing more than $500 are good scopes, I just don't need them.

Normally I don't think it wise to start throwing money at a budget rifle though. Most of the time the initial expense of the rifle + the cost of the upgrades will far exceed what you could have paid for a better rifle to start with. But if you really only have $12 in the rifle it might be cost effective this time.

And I'd like to hear the back story of how you ended up with a $12 rifle.

When Walmart had rifles on clearance, they would mark them down in steps. Maybe 15% for a bit of time, then 25%, then 50%, then 75%. There was a website that tracked and reported various big box stores sales and these were closely followed on some forum websites. The general public wasn't really as clued in, so the members of the forums (that would include me) would rush to a store when it hit 50%. Fortunately in this case, every time I do a NICS background check, mine gets kicked out for review. When my background check was delayed at Walmart, they put the gun (or guns) on hold for up to 30 days. During that 30 days, the clearance price hit the next threshold of 75% off, so when I went back to pick it up, it was $62. Then I submitted my receipt to Savage for a $50 rebate .

Walmart employees were well aware of the scheduled clearance discounts and would often hide the stock in back and then have a friend or relative come get it after the steep mark down. The website that tracked this actually had the inventory of individual Walmart stores that was in their computer system. Finding a manager that was not in on hiding clearance stock and asking them to look in back often times produced the item that the website showed in stock that for "some reason" weren't in the gun case.

I had a good run on Walmart clearance deals: Henry 44 Mag Big Boy - $169; Ruger 10/22 Takedown - $89; Remington 700 ADL - $10; Savage Axis XP Hardwood 308 - $12; and the currently being upgraded Savage Axis XP Hardwood 223 - $12. I could have had 4 more Savage Axis synthetic stock rifles that I would have actually been paid to "buy" after rebate, but I passed on those due to my general lack of understanding of the gray area in the ATF regulations, but I couldn't honestly say that I was buying them without intent to sell. Would it have been with the intent to better my firearm collection - yes, it would have been, but I'm not going to be the test case. I called some friends and let them know about the deals at that point.

And then there was the Walmart ammo clearance.....

 

[d31tc]

Upgrade update.

Timney sent a new trigger which I received and installed last night. Clearly an improvement, so we will see how this impacts my precision.

Regarding scopes, I jumped the, (ahem), gun - and bought a new to me scope. It is an Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50. It's not 3x on the low end like I would have preferred since field of view is 22.7 ft @100 vs 39ish ft for a 3x (wider is better, right?), but the price of $400 was right. I have a Sako 270 WSM without a designated permanent scope, so my LRHS 3-12x44, which I hold in high esteem, might no longer be a floater and go on the Axis and the new to me Athlon Ares BTR might go on the 270 WSM, seeing as it is more of a long range scope. All of my other scopes are short to mid range scopes and I convinced myself that a longer range scope would be good to have. With that scope shuffle, that leaves my AR-10 bare. I guess I could put the Weaver Kaspa on it, since the precision of my AR-10 at this time doesn't warrant good glass. The AR-10 is a project for later.

 

[Turkeytider]

Upgrade update.

Timney sent a new trigger which I received and installed last night. Clearly an improvement, so we will see how this impacts my precision.

Regarding scopes, I jumped the, (ahem), gun - and bought a new to me scope. It is an Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50. It's not 3x on the low end like I would have preferred since field of view is 22.7 ft @100 vs 39ish ft for a 3x (wider is better, right?), but the price of $400 was right. I have a Sako 270 WSM without a designated permanent scope, so my LRHS 3-12x44, which I hold in high esteem, might no longer be a floater and go on the Axis and the new to me Athlon Ares BTR might go on the 270 WSM, seeing as it is more of a long range scope. All of my other scopes are short to mid range scopes and I convinced myself that a longer range scope would be good to have. With that scope shuffle, that leaves my AR-10 bare. I guess I could put the Weaver Kaspa on it, since the precision of my AR-10 at this time doesn't warrant good glass. The AR-10 is a project for later.

Be sure and give us an update after a range session.

 

[Turkeytider]

Definitely lipstick on a pig lol, but if it shoots good who cares. Eurooptics has the older pro bushnell for I think $300 they look pretty good, if I had the spare cash I'd pick one up to try.

Yeah, Savage sure has sold ( and continues to sell ) a ton of those " pigs " . No doubt a major contributor to that is the price point and . the sales that periodically come up at places like Cabela`s, amounting to the fact that a lot of folks can get a " bargain basement " rifle that`s proven to be reasonably adept at putting metal on targets. I would submit that more than a little meat has been put on tables over the years by the Axis rifle line.
At our local state run range, right before deer gun season, the most prevalent " traditional " hunting rifles verifying zero are Axis models.
At our local PSA, I asked the guy at the gun counter what was the most frequently sold rifles, other than AR platforms. He didn`t even draw breath. " Savage Axis".
By the way, I`m not a fan, don`t even own one. Just some observations.

 

[mgmorden]

I could have had 4 more Savage Axis synthetic stock rifles that I would have actually been paid to "buy" after rebate, but I passed on those due to my general lack of understanding of the gray area in the ATF regulations,

That same reason is why I have 6 Savage Axis rifles in my safe. I bought 7 and did give one of them away to my dad as a Christmas gift. The rest I kept as I generally am not much into selling guns. Yeah I might not need them but after rebate they were literally free.

 

[d31tc]

Yeah, Savage sure has sold ( and continues to sell ) a ton of those " pigs " . No doubt a major contributor to that is the price point and . the sales that periodically come up at places like Cabela`s, amounting to the fact that a lot of folks can get a " bargain basement " rifle that`s proven to be reasonably adept at putting metal on targets. I would submit that more than a little meat has been put on tables over the years by the Axis rifle line.
At our local state run range, right before deer gun season, the most prevalent " traditional " hunting rifles verifying zero are Axis models.
At our local PSA, I asked the guy at the gun counter what was the most frequently sold rifles, other than AR platforms. He didn`t even draw breath. " Savage Axis".
By the way, I`m not a fan, don`t even own one. Just some observations.

I'm crossing my fingers I don't run into any mechanical issues with this rifle. Maybe 223 is light enough recoil that the design won't lead to the issues.

I kept this bolt action 223 in my safe for so long with the idea in mind it's a better bolt action rifle for my kids to shoot.

If I decide to sell this setup, I'm pretty sure I won't be out much money. Current money into this rifle is $87. I did not get the chassis that would have been a really good deal, but that opportunity sailed. I won't count the money I have into the scope. I'm reading mostly good things about this scope model, so I'm pretty sure I'll find a home for it if the Savage goes somewhere else.
,
No doubt there are better rifles out there, but it will be almost impossible to find another at this value for my intended use.

 

[kmw1954]

Not going to comment on the rifle as I believe I already have but I will comment on the scope.

I am on my 3rd Athlon scope and still own and use 2 of them. Both are Argos BTR GENII. One is a 8-34X56 MRAD and the other 10-40X56 BLR SFP MOA. with 1/8MOA adjustments. I traded A Helos 6-24X56 34mm for the 10-40X56 Because I learned much more about the scope I needed after I purchased the Helos. The Helos is a fabulous scope for the money only it did not fit well with trying to shoot 1" dots at 300yds.

I am already looking at another Athlon scope, Ares ETR UHD 15-60X56 SFP 1/8MOA

 

[d31tc]

Crappy weekend so I wasn’t able to shoot, plus I expect the new to me scope to arrive this week, so I’m going to wait for the scope to arrive.

Adjusted the trigger to about 2 1/2 pounds. I set the sear engagement a little more conservative than the Timney trigger instructions. It still breaks clean, and I don’t notice any creep or over travel. It’s pretty crisp.

 

[Turkeytider]

New scope and better trigger? No reason to think that Axis won`t continue to shoot great ( maybe even better! ).