Savage again

[starmac]

I have some questions for you savage owners.
I will in the coming year need two rifles one for my son amd one for son in law.
I would like to get the same gun for each (probably 30/06) except one needs to be left hand. These will be meat guns to be used in the field and banged around on a four wheeler, so looks are not important as function and accuracy.
Money isn't exactly growing on trees so cost is another factor that plays in too.
I see lots of guys talking about the savage accuracy, has anybody bought one new or used that wasn't a shooter.
I also see the cheaper ones apparently have a terrible and the package ones have a cheap scope. which one will be the best bang for the buck by the time it is field ready with a decant scope and trigger. all oponions are appreciated I shoot left handed, so have always used a lever and have little experiance with bolt guns.

[snowwolfe]

Personally I would avoid the Edge model unless you want to rebarrel it. I am left handed and in the last 7 years or so owned about 6-7 Savages and all would shoot better than I could off the bench.
The accutrigger model has a better trigger but if you know what you are doing you can improve the older trigger.
I would not be against searching Gunbrokers looking for older models or buying newer stainless versions.
Realize you didnt ask this question, but have you considered Rugers? Most likely they will not be as accurate but still acceptable hunting accuracy. And they are often on sale in the bigger chain stores and include rings. Newer Savages are not as cheap as they used to be.

[starmac]

I am not against buying used at all.
I have thought about rugers, but at least some of the syn stocked ones look terrible to me. I also like the idea of being to swap the barrels, so when big game season is over they can switch to a smaller caliber if wanted for predator hunting.
I have gone through lots of the gunsmith pages and don't see the savage name come uo that much.

[Doc Highwall]

I would go with the Savage over the Ruger any day.

[atr]

I had a savage 788,,, very accurate !!! in 250-3000
I currently have a savage (lever action) Model 99C in 308 Win. A good shooting rifle, not heavy good accuracy a decent trigger. I would not hesitate to buy another one in the same caliber.
I also have a savage model 340 (bolt action) in 30-30. This one is probably one of their cheaper models but in 30-30 it does everything I ask of it....good accuracy out 150 yds which is about my personall limit for a 30-30.

in my opinion you should investigate a savage lever action in 308 Win caliber

[Bodydoc447]

The Stevens 200 is a bare bones bolt gun made by the Savage folks. They don't have the accu-trigger but their triggers can be finessed. I have a couple of them and they are a very good value and available in most popular calibers (.308, -06, .270, etc.).

Doc

[snowwolfe]

Starmac,
Visit this site:
http://savageshooters.com/SavageForum/index.php

You can learn all you like about barrel swapping, rifles, etc.

[starmac]

The 99 I am famiar with as it what I have always used. I have thought about going that route, but would go with 300 savage instead of 308 so we would all use the same ammo.

The prices of the 99's have been going up though to where you can probably get a bolt gun and rig it out cheaper.

[school of mines]

Let me start with my son's youth model .243 savage with an accutrigger. We bought it at Walmart and it shoots lights out! It is very accurate and he has harvested 2 deer with it. On the opposite side, my friend bought a package rifle 30-06 at Walmart as well and it too has the accutrigger. Unfortunately, it has failed to fire several times and has cost him some nice deer. The rifle fails to fire about 30% of the time and we have tried several different brands of ammunition. He is currently sending it back to Savage. Looking at the cartridges that failed to fire, the primer is only slightly indented. It doesn't do it every time, but enough to be frustrating!

[starmac]

From all the reading on the differant forums that seems rare. A rifle not firing can possibly be much worse than frustrating at times. This sounds like a defect that the factory should correct, let us know how they handle it.
I have gone through many pages on the gunsmithing forums and only find where someone is either improving the trigger or changing barrels.