I've owned or own everything from Remington to Ruger to Winchester and everything else back up the alphabet. For a project rifle or even one from the box, I'd as soon have a Savage as any. With a Savage you can do it yourself and save a bunch of money. Provided you intend on hunting only, an out of the box Savage might do just fine. My Savage 16FLSS .308 with my loads will do three inside 5/8" at 100 yds on demand.