Today i recieved in the mail my much anticipated Savage mark II FVT. For those unfamiliar it is a basic mark II FV that is equipped with aperture target sights. I bought this gun thinking that it would be nice to have a gun that can easily go back and forth between target sights and a scope, and so far i think that it will do just nicely. While i was waiting for it to arrive, as usual i scoured the internet for reviews and couldnt find one that satisfied my interest, so i thought i'd make my own.
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First up, off the bat i have some cons...
The stock, this is a pretty BAD stock. Not only does it flex pretty bad, but it is warped and one side of the forestock is nearly touching the barrel. It is for sure nothing to brag about and does not allow me to get any cheek weld, let alone a good one. It's more of a chin/jaw weld.
Secondly, it is shipped without plug screws for the tapped scope base holes... all in all, not that much to complain about, and certainly nothing that can't be fixed with a boyds stock and scope bases... coming soon.
Now the pro's...
Im an opensight enthusiast, and i've played with many different target rifles including higher end anschutz, BSA martini internationals, etc... and to be honest i wasnt expecting much in the way of sights when i ordered this gun.
But... to my surprise, williams actually made a decent one. It's solid, audible and tactile feedback is good and it seems fairly repeatable from the limited ammount of testing i've done with it so far. It has adjustment knobs that are 1/4 moa at 100m and it is mounted on a rail that attaches to the side of the receiver. It is also easily removable at the turn of a knurled thumbscrew.
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Front sight is also made by williams, and is also removable by a slotted thumbscrew. It comes with 10 different inserts for different ranges/uses... nothing special, but it works and is actually pretty clear. Not as nice as the Lyman globes, but appropriate for this gun.
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Finally the gun itself...
We have all read enough reviews to know that Savages can shoot, but i have to say that this gun has THE nicest... shiniest, cleanest looking bore i've ever seen. It looks like it's hand lapped (it's not, i know) and the dry patches just sing when being pulled through it. Very nice crown etc... Can't say enough about the quality of this barreled action. For the price i paid, i was not expecting this quality. I have owned savages before also, but not one with the newer Beefy E-type receiver that seems very robust for a .22lr... This is by far the best quality i have seen from savage yet. The accutrigger is well known for it's awesomeness so i won't even get into that.
I dont know if it was the lack of wind... Maybe the right batch of bullets... But I shot easily my personal best group ever with this gun today. I only tried 2 brands of ammo, CCI standard velocity, and Fed gold HV Match. It did not like the federal, but it loves the CCI... in a big way.
After a couple warmup groups i shot these 2 targets at 25m and 50m respectively, using CCI standard. Both are 5 shot groups. After the 50m group it was time to go back to work and i didn't dare take another shot for fear of killing my excitement with a lesser group. Hopefully the next time out is just as good!
25m
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50m
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I know some of you are probably thinking this group is not all that small... but keep in mind this was shot with aperture sights. I have only ever come close to a group this small with my Martini international ISU using Eley club.
In contrast to the thumb tack... it's a small group.
In conclusion for an entry level target rifle, I am beyond impressed with the performance of this barreled action. Heck, even with the crappy stock it shoots astonishingly well, and could be left as is to keep the budget under $450 after tax and shipping. But I have absolutely no problem dishing out the extra money for a nice stock and hardware now and still having the whole package come in under $600. For a target rifle that shoots this good... that is a very good price.
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****language edited by Moderator****
First up, off the bat i have some cons...
The stock, this is a pretty BAD stock. Not only does it flex pretty bad, but it is warped and one side of the forestock is nearly touching the barrel. It is for sure nothing to brag about and does not allow me to get any cheek weld, let alone a good one. It's more of a chin/jaw weld.
Secondly, it is shipped without plug screws for the tapped scope base holes... all in all, not that much to complain about, and certainly nothing that can't be fixed with a boyds stock and scope bases... coming soon.
Now the pro's...
Im an opensight enthusiast, and i've played with many different target rifles including higher end anschutz, BSA martini internationals, etc... and to be honest i wasnt expecting much in the way of sights when i ordered this gun.
But... to my surprise, williams actually made a decent one. It's solid, audible and tactile feedback is good and it seems fairly repeatable from the limited ammount of testing i've done with it so far. It has adjustment knobs that are 1/4 moa at 100m and it is mounted on a rail that attaches to the side of the receiver. It is also easily removable at the turn of a knurled thumbscrew.
Front sight is also made by williams, and is also removable by a slotted thumbscrew. It comes with 10 different inserts for different ranges/uses... nothing special, but it works and is actually pretty clear. Not as nice as the Lyman globes, but appropriate for this gun.
Finally the gun itself...
We have all read enough reviews to know that Savages can shoot, but i have to say that this gun has THE nicest... shiniest, cleanest looking bore i've ever seen. It looks like it's hand lapped (it's not, i know) and the dry patches just sing when being pulled through it. Very nice crown etc... Can't say enough about the quality of this barreled action. For the price i paid, i was not expecting this quality. I have owned savages before also, but not one with the newer Beefy E-type receiver that seems very robust for a .22lr... This is by far the best quality i have seen from savage yet. The accutrigger is well known for it's awesomeness so i won't even get into that.
I dont know if it was the lack of wind... Maybe the right batch of bullets... But I shot easily my personal best group ever with this gun today. I only tried 2 brands of ammo, CCI standard velocity, and Fed gold HV Match. It did not like the federal, but it loves the CCI... in a big way.
After a couple warmup groups i shot these 2 targets at 25m and 50m respectively, using CCI standard. Both are 5 shot groups. After the 50m group it was time to go back to work and i didn't dare take another shot for fear of killing my excitement with a lesser group. Hopefully the next time out is just as good!
25m
50m
I know some of you are probably thinking this group is not all that small... but keep in mind this was shot with aperture sights. I have only ever come close to a group this small with my Martini international ISU using Eley club.
In contrast to the thumb tack... it's a small group.
In conclusion for an entry level target rifle, I am beyond impressed with the performance of this barreled action. Heck, even with the crappy stock it shoots astonishingly well, and could be left as is to keep the budget under $450 after tax and shipping. But I have absolutely no problem dishing out the extra money for a nice stock and hardware now and still having the whole package come in under $600. For a target rifle that shoots this good... that is a very good price.
****language edited by Moderator****
