Best rifle to progressively build?

[J E Custom]

Best rifle to build... Easy... Remington 700. There are more aftermarket parts out there for them than anything else, and every gunsmith worth his salt knows how to build them in his sleep.

+1

I am not going to get into a Chevy vs Ford debate because both Savages and Remington's have their place.

From a Smiths point the Remington would be my first choice for many reasons. (They respond to all improvements very well, they have an unlimited supply of aftermarket parts for personal likes, They are very simple in design and this makes them very consistent action to action).

If you are a do it yourselfer, and don't want to involve a smith , the Savage might be the best route to go. The downside to this is that you are depending on Production barrels and chambers and the chances of a less than stellar barrel and chamber is greater.

If you know a reputable Smith the chances are much better that you will end up with a good chamber and a quality barrel + some expertise in trueing and assembly.

The old saying that you get what you pay for is true and If you are looking to build a long-range shooter, your chances are better that you will end up with a 1/2 MOA are better rifle if you have someone that knows how to build one and there are some very good Gunsmiths on this site.

If you go with a do it yourself rifle the odds are not as good but some have had very good luck with the Savages.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[Ragnarnar]

I think savage rifles are garbage. STAY OUT savage lovers.

Good thread about savages and some of the problems they have/create from someone who knows a thing or two about shooting.

 

[Barrelnut]

I think savage rifles are garbage. STAY OUT savage lovers.

Good thread about savages and some of the problems they have/create from someone who knows a thing or two about shooting.

I read that post. He knows a thing or two about shooting? LOL. He's nothing more than an ignorant a**hole troll. You are probably not much better for posting a link to garbage like that and having folks waste their precious time reading it.

Since you posted something so stupid for me to read. You should view the following. It's about Team Savage and their shooters. They are for real and seriously know a few things about shooting, unlike the a**hole troll's whose link you posted. Get real man.

Since these guys are mostly from the NW, I have bumped into them a few times. Great guys.
[ame]https://youtu.be/pA72dqb8EhQ[/ame]

 

[7magcreedmoor]

Don't be so hard on him Barrelnut, that link was hilarious. Dude tells savage lovers to stay out then addresses nearly every statement directly to us. Too funny. Clearly a cry for help.

 

[MudRunner2005]

You get some pretty bad luck with purchases.

That's not even all of them, I also had a bad factory barrel (I bought used) 700 .338 WinMag, and a nearly shot-out (that I finished-off) Browning A-Bolt II 7mm RemMag, that only laster about 150 shots before it was shooting 2" groups, then I rebarreled them both, and blueprinted them, and everything was great.

 

[Ragnarnar]

Barrelnut,
That video was hilarious. Its been on youtube since 2011 and I was just now the 19th viewer. Clearly that speaks volumes as to savage's popularity among F class shooters.

I'm so sorry to offend your delicate savage sensibilities, but I've seen Greg's body of work and its fairly obvious that he knows a thing or two about shooting.

I'm interested to see your contributions to the sport.

In the second post in this thread, I say that I pulled the bolt handle off my savage, a sample size of one, yes, but it seems fairly in line with what that post had to say.....

And the link warned you to stay out, why would you read it?

 

[Barrelnut]

The post didn't offend my sensibilities, you do however. Your posts are clearly antagonistic. Glad you are enjoying yourself, but please F off and don't address me anymore.

 

[Zerk]

I do like the idea you can change your own barrels with Savages. But two rifles that have not always gone off, is a big concern. Plus the awful magazine, and just the way Leupold bases work with them.


You spend time on Savage forum, you will see their is debate on the accutrigger. Some replace, some take the safety blade off.


I actually like the safety blade. I use it when getting ready to shoot. First stop with finger is blade, before putting any pressure on trigger.

I was working up loads in 243, and it is accurate. I will probably keep that one, cause I really don't care about it. Not like a 30-06 where you could have a prized deer or bear on the line. I was debating about putting a nice scope on it, but not sure it is worth it. It came with a better Nikon, holds zero, but you lose alot of the DNR suggested shooting hours.

 

[Zerk]

I read that post. He knows a thing or two about shooting? LOL. He's nothing more than an ignorant a**hole troll. You are probably not much better for posting a link to garbage like that and having folks waste their precious time reading it.

Since you posted something so stupid for me to read. You should view the following. It's about Team Savage and their shooters. They are for real and seriously know a few things about shooting, unlike the a**hole troll's whose link you posted. Get real man.

Since these guys are mostly from the NW, I have bumped into them a few times. Great guys.
rl]

I am afraid to spend to much time on savage forum asking for help with the problems, cause I get labeled a troll. Don't want to get banned in case I have a question I can't find answer too.


They get touchy.

But I do get it, they are good cheap rifles and fill a need. Now that everyone has a cheap rifle, I am not sure if they are as needed.

Manufacturing has gotten easy, it is not hard to make a cheap accurate rifle. Will they hold up over time, all these $4-500 rifles, I dunno.

 

[Zerk]

I have been thinking a little bit about a control feed rifle, not that I really need one. I just like the idea. But push feed are quick loading on the side of the road.

 

[Barrelnut]

Zerk,

I have 4 Savages, a Mossberg, A Browning, and a full custom Remington built by a well known smith who makes excellent benchrest rifles. Guess which one has fail to fire issues.... the Remington.

The Remington has issues with CCI primers. About 2~3 in 50 will fail to fire. This is because the Remmy has a custom light firing pin to reduce lock time. CCI primers tend to have tougher cups and the light pin seems to lack the inertia to always set them off. The Remmy has no issues with Federal, Remington, or Winchester primers. The lot of CCI primers have no problems with the Savages and Browning.

If I were having FTF issues on two different Savages, and they were using the same brand primers. A primer change may fix it. I think Federals are the softest and that's what I use in the custom. Work great and lowered the ES too.

The plastic magazines on Savages do suck and the stupid saw toothed latch on them too. I like the ones with the metal lips though. But I do think Savages like to be cycled fast and adjusting the tension on the metal lips may help the cycling issues.

As far as the Accutrigger goes, ya gotta admit, Savage shook up the industry with it and it is being copied. But yea it does have issues. When trying to set the target trigger down under a pound, at some point is becomes almost as hard to pull the blade back as it does to to trip the trigger. This makes it very hard to compress the blade and be able to rest your finger on the trigger. You have to keep so much pressure on the blade that the trigger can trip trigger unexpectedly. They are just a pain. Keep em at 1lb. to 1.5lb. and they are pretty darn good though. The Remington has a Jewell set to under 4 oz. I could probably drop it off the roof and it wouldn't trip.

I'm not a fan of the Axis, I think Ruger American is a much better rifle. A lot of Savage stuff just seems to be getting worse and that concerns me, because I have grown to like them for the trigger and the ability to install a quality barrel myself. And some Savages are far from "cheap" these days, they can cost more than a comparable Remington.

As far as controlled feed goes. I think about it myself too, especially for hunting, and not just for dangerous game either. One time I did short stroke my Browning, many years ago. I was chambering a round and had pushed the cartridge about half way into the chamber and had a brain fart. I forget that I was already pushing that round in and I pulled the bolt all the way back again to grab a round with the bolt. The bolt grabbed the new round and started to push it into the chamber on top of the round that was already half way into the chamber. Obviously the rifle jammed badly and the deer was laughing as it trotted off into the woods. One of these days for a carry gun or truck gun, I might just get a controlled feed action.

Good luck.

 

[Zerk]

Only FTF, that other failed to feed I think. There was one time, it might have failed though.

The 116 has FTF with factory remington Corlockts, and WLR primers. Trigger still set from factory I believe. Doesn't feel real light, but never put a gauge on it. If a factory gun can't shoot corelokts, which have killed more deer that CWD, you got a problem. It also failed on my handloads.


As for your remington not setting off certain primers when you set the trigger really low, is that a function of the gun or primers, or you setting the gun to low?

None of my triggers are really low. 2.5-7. The old remington with 7 lb pull has never failed. Don't need to bend the lips. Sooner or later the lips will probably bend back out, possibly not at a good time.


I also don't like the sloppy long magazines on savages. I end up loading at an angle and having to get a screw driver. My 700, magaizine is about the length of shell. Maybe savage does that so you can build on it, or just sloppy. But this why my bases are cantalevered over blind magazine with Savage and Leoplold.


I toss and turn on whether to get rid of it. I am not happy with it. I don't enjoy it, but I hate selling guns. If it went off everytime, I would take it out when weather was bad. Which is what I bought it for.

Last time it went about 150 since it FTF. Do I want to waste that much ammo, to prove it? And if it does fail again, then what?

No hunter goes in the wood, thinking I probably won't need to shoot, so this gun is good enough.


I don't have alot of rifles to compare to. Last year I almost took out muzzle loader, cause it was more reliable. But I threw a scope on my pump 30-06. But my muzzle loader, 70s 700s and 50s Mosin Nagant are more reliable than my two Savages.

I have to admit I don't have hundred through the Nagant. But it is reliable.

 

[Barrelnut]

I did not mean to say that light trigger pull had an effect on failure to fire (FTF). Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was saying that my Remington has FTF issues due to the custom light firing pin it uses. It has those problems with primers that have hard cups.
If you are having FTF issues with factory and handloaded ammo, I would be concerned too.

If I were in your shoes, I would sell the rifle. I have done that with rifles I had lost confidence in. Believe me it is the best thing to do. It will probably never be your favorite. Confidence in a rifle is a big deal and the fact that you would pick a muzzleloader over it is not a good sign.

A Savage 116 in 30-06 would probably be easy to sell. 30-06 barrels last a long time and I'm sure this barrel is in good shape. I would try to sell it in the classifieds here.

 

[Zerk]

I need to prove it works, so I feel ethically ok with selling it. If it goes off 50 times, I feel after that you are buying a Savage and you know it. I haven't shot it since I had the bolt apart.

The problem is it goes so long between failures. Failed fall 2015, factory, then next fall working on loads. If it needed to be cleaned should it went a hundred some rounds between failures?

Most rifles bolts never get taken apart. Most never see 100 rounds in their life either.