Hey all, I recived a savage 110 in 300 win mag for Christmas, I know it might be a cheep gun but I want to make it look good. Does any one know where i can buy a synthetic stock for this rifle? Also how good or bad is this gun? how do they shoot? thanks
Congrats on your receipt of a fine gift. I bought a Savage Model 10 Sierra in .243 for my birthday last February, and I really wish I'd have tried a Savage sooner.
The more I shoot it, the more I think that Nicholas Brewer, the guy who designed it, was a forward-thinking genius. The design has a lot going for it. Mine appears to have been assembled by people who cared about that they were doing. There aren't a bunch of errant tool marks on it and the metalwork was evenly polished and blued. It is sub-MOA with a variety of factory ammo. It feeds reliably and the Accu-Trigger makes it easy to get all of the accuracy that the rifle can deliver. I have spent major bucks on custom work, trying to get other bolt action sporters to shoot as accurately as my Savage Model 10 does. This Model 10 of mine, however, is the most accurate bolt action centerfire rifle that I have ever owned.
It is faster for me to discuss what I don't like. The bolt lift effort of the Savage action is a little higher than it is on other brands of rifle and much of that is engineered in, it seems. I am not a fan of the aesthetics of black synthetic stocks, which my rifle has. My synthetic stock is a little more upmarket than what Savage supply on their Walmart package guns, but it is just as unattractive to me as any other synthetic stock is.
I wouldn't personally go for a polymer stock because they have some of the same issues of wooden ones but lack the beauty of real wood. But that's me.
I am going to have mine re-stocked with a laminated wood unit. I would like to install the "tactical" bolt handle, too, in hope of reducing bolt lift feel a bit.
Most people seem to think that Savage's bolt guns are kind of homely looking. I think the issue really is that they don't look like what we're accustomed to bolt actions looking like because there is nothing behind the bolt handle but the fastener that hold it on the bolt body. No shrouds, cocking pieces, etc..... I like that because I can run the rifle without wacking myself in the face with the back of the bolt when I retract it fully during operation. This lack of stuff behind the bolt handle also allows the safety to be placed in the most ergonomic location, at least to my thumb. I like that it is a three position unit, too.
As long as Savage maintains their current level of build quality and attention to detail, I will buy another. I plan on buying a Model 14 with the cut checkered walnut stock. Can't decide on caliber, or it would already be bought.
You've got a good rifle that should perform well. Nothin' to be ashamed of. Nothin' to apologize for.
And while I got a good deal on mine buying second-hand at a gun show, my rifle had a pretty steep MSRP when it was new in 2003 -not much different than a Remington or Ruger ultralight of similar vintage and certainly not different enough for me to want to go Savage just to save a buck or three.
-JP
