Savage B.Mag 17 Winchester Super Mag Teardown

[BCarroll85]

Haven't shot mine yet got it all put together the other day and I'm a little nervous how it will shoot after all the reviews I talked to an older guy I know and told me to buy the limb save barrel rubber thing (can't remember the name) he said it's helped him if he had trouble grouping be very similar I guess 2 the o-rings

 

[HighPlainsDrifterCA]

So, I was on a Wait List for the longest time (seemed like about six months). Just before Christmas the dealer called and asked if I was still interested. Since I had a $50 deposit on it, I told him to go ahead and ship it.

It arrived at my FFL on Christmas Eve. I decided I didn't want to waste part of the day dealing with the paperwork, so I put it off until the 26th.

When I was at the FFL's, I took a look and sure enough, I've got the "barrel out of alignment in the stock" issue. FFL says "I wouldn't worry unless it doesn't shoot straight." (LOL at that one. It is true. What should one expect from such a flimsy stock?)

I picked it up with the intention of getting a scope on it for some shooting on Sunday. I put it in a gun vise and put a (known good) level on the rear mount and level the rifle. Move the level to the front mount, and VIOLA, it doesn't match.

Hmmmm. What am I supposed to use to level the gun to get the scope mounted level? Is the front mount straigt? Or the rear? If I mount it as is, the scope is going to be slightly tweaked by out-of-true mounts.

Frustrated to say the least and not wanting to look for something else on the rifle that might allow me to find straight up-and-down, I put it back in the plastic bag and stowed it in the gun safe.

I doubt I'm going to do anything with this other than try and trade it in on a rifle that I can reload for.

Questionable quality control... hard to find ammo (at least in my part of CA)... too many negatives.

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BTW: if anyone has some suggestions for how to get a scope mounted level on this thing... in case I change my mind?

 

[HntWhtTail]

Just received some good news from Boyds!!!

 

[varmintH8R]

I picked it up with the intention of getting a scope on it for some shooting on Sunday. I put it in a gun vise and put a (known good) level on the rear mount and level the rifle. Move the level to the front mount, and VIOLA, it doesn't match.

BTW: if anyone has some suggestions for how to get a scope mounted level on this thing... in case I change my mind?

Here you go. Add this to the growing list of ridiculous fixes to make this budget rimfire a $800 mishmash of parts, band-aids, fixes, and work-arounds.

PS if the mount requires more rail than the B-Mag allows, just take it to a smith and have him remove the factory rails and precision tap and cold-roll pin a EGW to it. Or maybe have him precision weld a new one right to the action. Or something with plasma or cold-fusion, that sounds expensive enough.

 

[HighPlainsDrifterCA]

Thanks, but I didn't last very long as a B.Mag owner... I'm in the process of trading it for another "plastic" rifle... the Ruger American in .308. This one seems to be built a little bit better. And I've got boxes of .308 bullets (been playing with shooting .308 from my 7.62x39 bolt gun since .310/.311 seems very hard to find also) waiting to be put on top of brass and powder... just need to figure out what recipes others are using for it. Doubt I'll ever be wanting for rounds to shoot in .308.

BTW: if anyone wants the B.Mag, it's at Guns4US (760.375.1004) with 200 rounds of 20 grain and 50 rounds of 25 grain.

 

[gsperaz]

Very interesting, gsperez. Thanks for the suggestion. Who woulda' thunk that some O-rings can improve the grouping?

Referring to my BMAG, I got it back from Savage on Friday. Externally, the stock looks the same as the old one but the forend is much more rigid. Unless I apply lots and lots of pressure, the forend of the new stock cannot be pushed against the barrel, as compared the original stock witch was very flimsy.

I haven't yet removed the stock to see what mechanical changes Savage made to the forend, and it has been too cold to shoot. I will get to these things and keep people apprised.

If anyone has any 20gn-25gn accuracy comparisons, I would like to see the results.

Each Bmag seems to be different as far as grouping the 20's or 25's from what I have read on several different boards. The 25gr seem to shoot more consistent groups for me. The 20gr always seem to have flyers on a regular basis.
Best advise is to shoot a box of each under the same conditions and see what your rifle likes.

 

[johnhhernan]

I have been following this thread for a while, I do have some accuracy issues as some of us do....

So now that Savage is back to work after the holiday break, I called and waited for 34 minutes to talk to a customer service rep.

Here is the good news I talked to Marrisa Lopez at Savage Arms, I told her that my 17 B-mag was shooting 5-7" groups at 100yds. She said they guarantee 1.5" group at 100 yds. So, she sent me an RMA immediately to have it fixed.

I'M IMPRESSED WITH THAT SO FAR....

So I'll box it up tonight and ship it in the morning.

She asked me what grain of ammo I was shooting I said 20, she replied oh, you need to try 25, that is what they (B-mag) prefer, my response to her was:

A. put it in the stores and
B. don't sell ammo that doesn't work in this rifle. That is the S-word (S)afety issue.\

Stay tuned

 

[gsperaz]

Good luck with the return to savage for better accuracy, been down that road with them with little improvement. Maybe they have it worked out by now.

 

[Irishgun]

Just ordered a stock for my B-mag from Boyds gun) woo hoo .. can't wait...

 

[HntWhtTail]

Which stock did you choose, I am torn between Rimfire Hunter and tacticool, I have the tac on my hmr and love it..

 

[Irishgun]

Which stock did you choose, I am torn between Rimfire Hunter and tacticool, I have the tac on my hmr and love it..

Tacticool...I ordered an ss evolution for my hmr

 

[HntWhtTail]

Nice I went with the tacticool as well.

 

[Ben6548]

I have shot similar patterns with my B mag.
Sand bagging it up at 100 yards it has not been close to the accuracy of my 17 HMR.
I have had some split brass as well as a number of miss fires.
I am ordering another stock from Boyd's and by the information posted my grouping issues may be a thing of the past.

 

[dave3240]

Hi Irish, how does that stock thing from Boyds work , I have emailed and tried calling but no answer yet. Do you just order the configuration and color you want and they send it or do you need to send in rifle. If not is there any final fitting that you have to do.