Yesterday I took my gun club to the Savage factory for a tour. Twenty two of us attended and we were taken on a tour in groups of five. My tour was led by the President of Savage Arms.
We were allowed to ask anything and to visit any part of the factory and witness anything we desired. Cameras were allowed.
Because I've seen dozens upon dozens of box stock Savage rifles shooting well under an inch (5 shot groups @ 100yds) and more than half of them under 3/4" and many breaking the 1/2" barrier, I had to see for myself how they did it.
My conclusion......
A passion for well maintained and calibrated machinery, even though some of it is well older than anyone on this board!
A zero tolerance for poor raw materials.
An extreme low "use" count on the drills, reamers, buttons, cutting tools.
A very simple design;
Drilled, reamed and button rifled barrels
Toggle head bolt
Adjustable firing pin
Barrel nut assuring excellent head space (Watching an action/barrel headspaced is a beautiful example of simplicity and low torque)
Maybe the best factory trigger in the industry
Test,Test,Test.........All along assembly the amount of testing is quite impressive. "They are too small to have a problem and have to stop a whole line "
Pictures here:
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/bang!/savage-factory-tour/
Box stock Savage rifles in the $500 range have customarily broken 15 grade "A" Large chicken eggs at 200 yds with fifteen shots. In 16 years I've not seen a Remington do this. The only other "stock" rifle to ever do this is a Cooper.
Do a search on this here internet for reviews on the new Savage EDGE rifle that lists at $379 with a 3-9X Bushnell scope (Street Price $300)...Exact same barrel and bolt as the top of the line Savage rifles. ....I witnessed this with my own eyes.......Here is one short quote......"For those who are new to Savage bolt guns, it means that this rifle is very accurate; a lot more accurate than a hunting rifle has to be. Several groups were fired that measured under one-half inch, but the five-eighths inch group shown was typical for the day. No groups measured in excess of the magical one-inch mark. I remember years ago when a typical hunting rifle took a lot of tuning and load development to shoot consistently under an inch at one hundred yards. Now, many rifles will do that well or better, if you are willing to spend the money for a quality rifle. This Savage Edge, with standard hunting ammo produces very good accuracy, with no special tuning nor working up tailored handloads. Right out of the box, it shoots like a Savage."
When I read the gun magazine reviews on the semi custom rifles that cost upwards of $4000 (You know the names), and I see the accuracy reports of 1.5 inch groups, I just shake my head...................
The fact of the matter, it's not black magic. Accurate rifle can be mass produced at extremely reasonable costs...IN AMERICA WITH A UNION WORK FORCE!!!!
We were allowed to ask anything and to visit any part of the factory and witness anything we desired. Cameras were allowed.
Because I've seen dozens upon dozens of box stock Savage rifles shooting well under an inch (5 shot groups @ 100yds) and more than half of them under 3/4" and many breaking the 1/2" barrier, I had to see for myself how they did it.
My conclusion......
A passion for well maintained and calibrated machinery, even though some of it is well older than anyone on this board!
A zero tolerance for poor raw materials.
An extreme low "use" count on the drills, reamers, buttons, cutting tools.
A very simple design;
Drilled, reamed and button rifled barrels
Toggle head bolt
Adjustable firing pin
Barrel nut assuring excellent head space (Watching an action/barrel headspaced is a beautiful example of simplicity and low torque)
Maybe the best factory trigger in the industry
Test,Test,Test.........All along assembly the amount of testing is quite impressive. "They are too small to have a problem and have to stop a whole line "
Pictures here:
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/bang!/savage-factory-tour/
Box stock Savage rifles in the $500 range have customarily broken 15 grade "A" Large chicken eggs at 200 yds with fifteen shots. In 16 years I've not seen a Remington do this. The only other "stock" rifle to ever do this is a Cooper.
Do a search on this here internet for reviews on the new Savage EDGE rifle that lists at $379 with a 3-9X Bushnell scope (Street Price $300)...Exact same barrel and bolt as the top of the line Savage rifles. ....I witnessed this with my own eyes.......Here is one short quote......"For those who are new to Savage bolt guns, it means that this rifle is very accurate; a lot more accurate than a hunting rifle has to be. Several groups were fired that measured under one-half inch, but the five-eighths inch group shown was typical for the day. No groups measured in excess of the magical one-inch mark. I remember years ago when a typical hunting rifle took a lot of tuning and load development to shoot consistently under an inch at one hundred yards. Now, many rifles will do that well or better, if you are willing to spend the money for a quality rifle. This Savage Edge, with standard hunting ammo produces very good accuracy, with no special tuning nor working up tailored handloads. Right out of the box, it shoots like a Savage."
When I read the gun magazine reviews on the semi custom rifles that cost upwards of $4000 (You know the names), and I see the accuracy reports of 1.5 inch groups, I just shake my head...................
The fact of the matter, it's not black magic. Accurate rifle can be mass produced at extremely reasonable costs...IN AMERICA WITH A UNION WORK FORCE!!!!
