Bought my son his first rifle for Christmas

[Tiny Tim]

Definitely a big smile, I probably over think it, but I generally don't put my kid face on the internet. But very happy indeed.

I assumed as much. Just another thing that makes you a great dad!

 

[crazymonkey]

Savage axis can be good shooters . The big let down is usually the trigger if it's the non adjustable . Lots of creep and pull for a mile . A quick clip of the spring will help that or a replacement aftermarket spring and your in business. Cut just a coil at a time and check the pull .
Glad to see he already put it to good use ! Best memories right there!

 

[rlshrumva]

Great work!! Looks like a solid truck riding buck!!

 

[fguenther0925]

Finally got the courage to take my 8 year old out deer hunting. I say courage, because kids are the loudest known creatures in the world. We saw exactly 1 deer in two trips this year, but it might be my favorite hunts so far. Good on you for getting out there. Anymore, i get the sense that hunting will die out… however, places like this site are restoring my faith.

 

[FlGunner]

Here's the thing with taking kids, or at least my approach….. take em. When they get ready to go, leave. Make it fun as you can. Track them a long the way. Let them be kids. You can't force it. I had to learn to be more patient and just change the way I want to hunt. We've shot bucks I normally wouldn't shoot on our private property. But for my son to be able to get a deer and have a good time, it's well worth it. Kids don't care about QDMA or score. They like having fun and feeling like they're doing it right. My son has came a long way over the last couple seasons. I let him help with cameras, picking trees for stands and when we go run dogs, I let him help turning the hounds out and I got an extra tracker I let him play with. Just got to let them be apart of it and teach along the way but don't make it a chore.

 

[Tr444]

Very nice! Great job!

 

[Bombcity]

Wonderful. Your a great Dad!!!

 

[Calvin45]

Got him a lil Savage Axis 6.5 Creedmoor. Threw a 4-12-50 vortex on it and took it out and zeroed with Factor Hornady Precision Hunter. Will cut one ragged hole 3 shots in a row at 100 yds. He's pumped as we're now sitting in the blind looking for a volunteer to ride in the back of the truck. View attachment 628412

Man that's great to see. I must say, working at a gun counter myself, I have a newfound respect for that savage axis series. I do still try to steer folks towards the 110/111 as it is in my opinion and experience a better gun - I do not work on commission so they know not just trying to make their bill as high as I can. - for whatever reason I've seen axis rifles, both blued and stainless, with surface rust developing. Never any pitting or real concern but nonetheless I've never seen it on a 110 series, maybe a fluke, but it seems like even the finish and bluing on the metal is better.

But anyway! It's crazy what level of performance can be taken for granted with a cheap savage topped with a cheap vortex! Bonus points if you epoxy bed the stock in some of the harder kicking chamberings like .30-06, the stocks are admittedly pretty flimsy. And, counterintuitive as it seems to some, if youre not going to go cheap on just one part of the chain, my advice to people at this point is to invest in decent rings and bases. That's the source of most issues o do see at the gun counter with guns or scopes that supposedly are defective or won't shoot or whatever…9 times out of 10 the gun and scope themselves are fine, and savage axis' and vortex crossfires are no exception. The rings are often the weakest link and most likely point of failure in the chain, it's the cheap rings and bases that aren't good. We really like WARNE brand rings and bases at our store, they deliver the goods and aren't cheap per se but don't have to break the bank. We sell a ton of savage axis rifles, both scoped package guns and the iron sighted carbine length ones in .308 and .30-06 - that particular iteration is a favourite among the local indigenous subsistence hunters for moose hunting in the heavy brush of the Cumberland delta region of the province. Pretty guns need not apply for that particular job haha.

I have yet to have a single real issue reported from one of these rifles. What I have heard is a bunch of very happy reports, often from parents like you, of their boy or girl having filled their first whitetail tag with the rifle we sold them at a price us working class stiffs can afford to buy for our kids without stressing too much. Lots of those stories. They make me feel good about what I do haha, especially when the kid comes in grinning ear to ear eager to show me the picture of the spike buck they got with the rifle I sold their mom or dad for them . It's a small town, I know half these people outside of work haha. And a fella brought in a target the other day, no "one ragged hole" stuff haha but 5 shots with an axis 223 all inside an honest one inch circle at 100 yards WITH sellier and bellot 55 grain FMJs haha, that's actually quite something!

Only exception was my own experiences of surface rust being a bit too easy to set in and the usual questionable job that's been done on any of those package guns regarding torque on the screws and leveling - that applies to savage axis and 110 combo guns, ruger Americans, Winchester xprs, mossberg patriots () and any of those package guns that come with an inexpensive scope pre mounted. I never sell one and let it leave the building before verifying the proper torque on all the ring screws and that it is actually level to the rifle and boresighting it. Let me tell ya, I've seen some things that just make me scratch my head .

But both myself and my boss whose been running the gun side of our business for close to a decade now agree…you simply can not beat the savage axis for an entry level rifle at the price, not even close. The now discontinued rem 783 and the Mossberg Patriot have real problems that we ourselves have seen and they simply do not compare and, as a rule, do not keep up in the accuracy department. There are exceptions of course to every rule, doesn't mean the rule is void.

And the ruger American and Winchester xpr that the axis is often compared to aren't in the same price point anymore for one thing, so not a fair comparison, and for another….they don't outperform it anyways! Certainly not the Winchester! The Ruger American does generally shoot well, has had some real magazine issues we've seen in a customers rifle that we've never seen with the axis, but I do like the American very much, it feels more solid but is also much more a competitor to the savage 110 than the axis.

The axis in my opinion stands alone in its field at its price point.

So do vortex optics. As far as an entry level scope you won't beat them at the equivalent price. They have their issues, I have indeed had to help customers find the warranty information from time to time as they've needed it. I will say, we love working with Vortex Canada at my store, they have absolutely unparalleled customer service and when they say unconditional warranty they actually mean it, you can take that to the bank. To be fair, leupold says much the same thing and i can't confirm or deny it, because in my time at the store we haven't had a single Leupold come back with a problem. We do also sell a ton more vortex scopes just because of what most people want to spend. So there's that to skew the data.

But all this going on and on to say….holy smokes we really are spoiled these days with what is possible for rifle scope setups WAY under 1000 bucks. Like it's actually nuts haha. And I do think more than anyone else in the game we can thank savage arms for that. They really forced everyone else to try to do better while staying in reach of the common man, everyone and their dog has their own version of an accutrigger now, and hell, the Bergara B14 HMR pro, not a cheap rifle at all, about another 600-800 more than the standard b14 HMR I think, differs from the standard model BY HAVING A SAVAGE STYLE FLOATING BOLT HEAD (as well as a better stock, nicer finish on the metal, better trigger, other cosmetics, but that bolt head is the single biggest difference) - that savage style headspacing just freaking works and it's ANNOYING how dang good cheap savage rifles can be made to shoot stacked up against much pricier guns. They are ugly and they work.

Except the old 99. That's not ugly. It also works

Vortex optics also has my utmost respect at this point, they really have pushed the envelope for what's possible at a given price point in a way no one else has, and they really do have something for just about anyone's budget. I'll never turn my nose up at that. I respect the hell out of that.

 

[P7M13]

Congrats and way to go. Is the buck still hanging?

Was about a 80 yd shot. Deer went maybe 25 yds. Easy to find with ample blood.

What? 6.5 Man Bun is supposed to go boom-flop!

for whatever reason I've seen axis rifles, both blued and stainless, with surface rust developing.

I bought my oldest a Marlin XL7 for her first rifle. Accurate, but that sucker would rust just looking at it.

great story till I read "one ragged hole"

Consider changing your name to BuzzKill.
(I knows you's teasing).