I shoot nothing now except Savages. Kind of an agreement between my wife and I. I'm a gunsmith want to be. I love to buy factory rifles (new/used) and tinker to get them to shoot as best I can. Once I get them shooting, I tend to loose interest and move on to the next project. Usually selling the last rifle at a loss. I bought a new Savage FP 10 308, dropped it into a Bell and Carlson stock and shot .5-.75" groups. Sold that dang thing right away at a loss (no fun trying to get that to shoot). Went back to my Ruger Hawkeye, tinkered with that for a few months, then bought another Savage a FV 12 .223. I bedded the action into the factory stock (every one knows, those things are Tupperware), knew it wouldn't shoot prone off of a bipod.To hedge my chances, I got my 12 year old son to shoot it first ( told the wife I was buying it for him). Dang kid shot a .7" 5 shot group with the very first load we worked up. I was consistently hitting at a 1000 yards in good wind conditions. I hated that one to so I sold it (wishing I had it back now). Back to my Ruger (I actually do love this rifle, I am a crf guy). Well to make a long story short, a couple more Savages just to make sure I just didn't have bad luck and guess what, not one would shoot over MOA.
Well then the wife got involved.Once she found out I could switch out almost every part myself on a savage, and change calibers to boot. She said honey don't you think it would be cheaper to just stick with a Savage and change the parts when you got bored with it. I said, "dear, sorry that is a horrible idea". Savages are not crf, they are made from to many stamped metal pieces, it'll break so often, we live in the desert, the dust will wear it out so fast! It will COST so much to keep repaired! I got back, "Well DEAR, this is the deal, if you want to keep shooting and playing with rifles, start with the Savage of your choice and keep it till it either breaks or stops shooting accurately enough for you, THEN and only then will we talk about another rifle". Bought a Savage 16 7mm WSM (that was 3 years ago). That is a sporter barrel (I'll teach the wife a quick lesson to think she knows more than me about my hobby.) Dropped it into a Choate Tactical stock (love this stock). Just came in the door from shooting a .7" group at 100 yards with Hornady hunting bullets. Well maybe since I shoot every weekend in harsh dusty conditions it will break (what do you think).
Oh, and by the way DO NOT buy a Savage if you are married, on a budget with a family and want a custom. Tried to pass that one by the wife to. Honey I shoot so much, I think it is time I owned a custom. She says back, Ok Dear, what will that get you. I said, the accuracy I need to shoot long range. She askes me, "Honey can I see that target you showed me from last weekend again please". I just hung my head and walked away.
