I've bought several Savages duing these past two years and love every one of them.
from "ArkansasFatboy :
I know some folks aint crazy about the savage....
You've been listening to some very jealous folks who bought expensive, custom guns only to be out-shot by someone with an out-of-the-box Savage.
Here are my Savages and what I use them for.
Use : Prairie dogs
Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter in .22-250 (1:12" twist).
It's the only one with 'Right Bolt, Left Port'. It has the 26" extra-heavy 1" stainless barrel with target crown, button rifling, Accu-Trigger (I repeat - Accu-Trigger - 'cause it's fantastic) and the smoothest action this side of melted butter. yumm-yumm!
That extra-heavy barrel soaks up the heat so you can shoot a LOT without slowing down.
My son and I shoot prairie Dogs in N. & S. Dakota 2 or 3 long weekends every summer. After our first year as neophites where we were shooting them at any range at which we could see them, we now use a range finder and shoot at nothing less than 400 yards. Over Memorial weekend (this year) I shot 5-6 at 600 yds. plus. The farthest was 637 yds.
I've reloaded about 100 recipes with everything from the 40-55gr, various plastic-tipped projectiles, soft-points, hollow points, ballistic silver-tips and many wts. of match bullets. Almost all work well but the Nosler/CT 40gr. Ballistic Silver-Tips are fantastic. I
consistently shoot 0.65 MOA or better and one calm day I shot five 5-shot groups of 0.28, 0.28, 0.29, 0.31 & 0.48 MOA (a flyer!)
Still on Prairie Dogs :
Savage Modle 16 Weather Warrior with a sporting weight (read "light") barrel in .204 Ruger.
This one took me about 75-100 rounds to "break it in". It was shooting 1.50-1.7 MOA and I was not very happy. Somewhere after 100 rounds, I saw a huge improvement. At the 100 yard range today I shot 9 recipes all using 40gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips and 3 powders in varying amounts. The slowest was 3800 fps and the fastest was 4110 fps.
One recipe shot out at 1.25 MOA but all of the rest stayed under 1.00 MOA and two at a beautiful 0.39 and 0.47 MOA!
The BIG difference between the Model 16 and the heavy-barreled Model 12 LRPV is the number of shots before I get flyers. The LRPV never gives heat-related flyers whereas the light-barreled Model 16 is good for 7 shots with the hot 3800-4110 fps loads. More docile loads (3350-3600) will yield 10-11 shots before they start rising.
This rifle is 1:12" twist, also, so I don't use it in match shooting.
Use : Match shooting
Savage Model 12 LRPV (same one)
I shoot compitition at 300 meters prone with 53gr match ammo and am consistantly scoring 96-100 (out of 100) with more than half of the shots X's.
(The X-ring is less than 2" and it's 300 meters away.) Remember, this is a purely, factory-stock rifle.
P.S. This year it also comes in 1:9" twist for the heavier match bullets.
Still on Match shooting :
Savage Model 12 VSS in .223 Rem, 1:9" twist, 26" heavy barrel and Choate stock.
I like this stock 'cause it sits on the rear, rabbit-earred rests great and is very steady. It, also, is sub-MOA and has been since my 1st tests. My only complaint is it's made for the mid-range 50-69gr bullets and I'd love to try it in 1:8" or even 1:7.5" twist so I can shoot the 78 and (maybe) the 80gr match projectiles. I think this rifle would shine with those wind-bucking rounds.
Use : Coyotes, skunk & Fox
Savage Predator in .223 Rem
This one is brand new and I've just broken it in with the usual 1 shot - clean (times 10); 3 shots - clean (times 5); 5-7 shots - clean (times 5) and then I'll start shooting five 5-shot test groups.
So far, I'm very impressed with the accuracy, light recoil and ease of shouldering. It's a tad heavier that my Model 16 Weather Warrior but it shoulders great (as does the Model 16 WW) and that Accu-Trigger is sweeeeet! I can't wait to start in on some sly critters around here in Minnesota and in central N. Dakota.
F-Class compitition :
Savage's [not-out-yet (another 2 months!)] F Class Precision Target rifle in 6.5mm x .284 Norma
I got one reserved with money down for when they finally get to the gun shops. this one will have the
Target Accu-Trigger that is adjustable down to 6
ounces!
It's not the best-lookin' rifle out there (in my humble opinion) but I'm willing to bet that it will give the $4000-$6000 custom F-Class rifles a run for the championships at the F-Class compitition meets.
