Savage M64 Semi Auto

[Buckshot]

...........My neighbor bought one of these several months ago on sale at Big 5 Sporting goods. I'm 22RF poor, but haven't had a semi auto for ages. His rifle didn't too badly with the Remington bulk ammo, and was way better then a Ruger 10-22 I once had. That was such a poor shooter I sent it down the road. So this past week Big 5 had the Savages on sale again for $149. I couldn't resist so I bought one. I can pick it up on Nov 3rd. Anyone have any long term exposure to one of these?

...............Buckshot

[Splatter]

I've had one for about 20 years now, couldn't even guess the number of rounds through it, but it would be in 10,000 range.

Draw-backs...
> Heavy trigger pull and no easy way to fix it. shimming will help a little; but it's still not a great trigger.
> Gets dirty fast (like any semi-auto .22)
> Mags are limited to 10 rounds (If you find bigger ones, please let me know!)
> Not easy to strip for cleaning, and lots of nooks-and-crannies to hold gunk. (not hard to strip, just not easy)

Pros...
> Mags are very durable.
> Decently accurate. Mine is my current gopher gun, mounting a 6x-24x. not the red dot in the pic.
> Easy to keep functionally clean... spray action with penetrating oil, work the action a few times, wipe with a rag, and it's good for another 500.

[troy_mclure]

I have the 64btv, heavy barrel, thumb hole stock.
Never got beyond mounting a scope. Work and moving has just kept me too busy.

[Multigunner]

Heres disassembly for cleaning instructions.
Edited to simplify

Put the bolt forward (closed chamber).
Move the safety to the Fire position and pull the trigger to disengage the sear.
Pull the bolt back and lock it open.
Remove the 1 or 2 stock assembly screws with a 5/32" Hex Wrench and separate the action from the stock.


Remove the magazine housing screws.

Remove the front stud and barrel clamp. You need a 7/16" wrench.
Gently pull the barrel forward, you may have to give it a slight twist.

Unlock the bolt and slowly slide it forward, remove the cocking handle (pulls out).

Slide the bolt assembly forward and out.


The barrel clamp is a flimsy piece and easily bent out of shape if over tightened.

[Buckshot]

Remove the front stud and barrel clamp. You need a 7/16" wrench.
Gently pull the barrel forward, you may have to give it a slight twist.

Unlock the bolt and slowly slide it forward, remove the cocking handle (pulls out).

Slide the bolt assembly forward and out. The barrel clamp is a flimsy piece and easily bent out of shape if over tightened.

..............So the barrel is easily removeable? Or so the instructions seem to indicate? Thanks for the remarks guys.

..............Buckshot

[Multigunner]

..............So the barrel is easily removeable? Or so the instructions seem to indicate? Thanks for the remarks guys.

..............Buckshot

Just take extra care when putting the barrel back on.
The rifle I had may have had very poor heat treatment of the clamp. I doubt all these clamps would be so easily bent or they would not have been able to sell many of these rifles.
The bent clamp and overall inconvenient method of stripping for cleaning was enough reason for me to take mine back to the store and trade it in for a MkII bolt action.

Both these Savage rifles were nearly choked with a black powdery dust when I got them, I had first taking this for fouling left after test firing, but I'm fairly sure this was some grinding dust picked up by the black synthetic stock (static electricity ? )during manufacture that then migrated into every opening.

My bolt action Savage is extremely accurate, best bolt action .22 I've owned.

[I'll Make Mine]

That black dust might also have been unbonded powder coating material; I've gotten the impression that the aluminum (alloy) receivers on the rifles in this class are powder coated or painted rather than blued or anodized. I've seen a number of photos of well-used examples where the black has flaked off the alloy...

[Buckshot]

That black dust might also have been unbonded powder coating material; I've gotten the impression that the aluminum (alloy) receivers on the rifles in this class are powder coated or painted rather than blued or anodized. I've seen a number of photos of well-used examples where the black has flaked off the alloy...

..............The actions are steel, which is one thing that impressed me with their friendly sale price. I'm thinking with the length of the reciever they must have some trigger/sear setup like a couple bolt action Steven's and Springfield M84C's I have.



Not bad rifles, but it just makes the action longer then it needs to be.

............Buckshot

[Multigunner]

That black dust might also have been unbonded powder coating material; I've gotten the impression that the aluminum (alloy) receivers on the rifles in this class are powder coated or painted rather than blued or anodized. I've seen a number of photos of well-used examples where the black has flaked off the alloy...

The powder was in both the 64 and the MkII, in every nook and cranny.

As Buckshot pointed out both rifles have steel receivers, unlike some .22 semi autos.

I am fairly sure the powder came from the synthetic stocks not being properly cleaned before being mounted to the barreled actions.
I haven't seen anyone else post of finding this powder in their rifles, so it was probably a temporary problem and since then it has been taken care of at the factory.

This was years ago, before the Accutrigger was available for the MkII, and I don't remember having seen Savage .22 rifles with synthetic stocks on sale before that.
Its possible that the dust contamination of rifles they had in stock was why these were marked down by around 1/3 of the Manufacturers recommended prices.
Either that or they wanted to get rid of remaining rifles that did not have the new accutrigger passive safety.


PS
The old style adjustable trigger on my MkII has worked fine. I polished the mating sear surfaces first then adjusted it to suit me.
Only other alteration was when I reshaped the rear sight leaf. The stock rear sight looked like mickey mouse ears.
I filed the leaf square, then cut a double notch. A broad shallow quick sight picture notch and a very narrow blade alignment slot in the center.