I just bought one and my feelings are mixed. I was in the market for a basic 22 mag to serve as both a utilitarian piece and occasional plinker. The 305 fit the bill nicely as far as the sales type was concerned. Took a lot of work to make it a shooter though. After reading too many posts about unsatisfacory parts changing from Savage service, I decided to just accept it as a project and tackle it all myself.
From buttplate to muzzle here's what I had to do:
1. Buttplate was ill-fitted so I had to tweak that back onto the stock.
2.Trigger had an ugly, gritty, heavy "4-stage" pull. I dropped the trigger group and did the usual fixes to make it right. Including a 0.018 shim beneath the rear mounting screw. Nice now but I may go back to a 0.025 and reinstall the factory return spring. It was too light for a field gun using the larger shim/light spring combo.
3. The occasional light strike and misfire. I disassembled the bolt and deburred where needed. No extensive polishing to the entire thing.
Also took a few fine file swipes off the two places which would allow the pin a couple thou more in forward travel. Seems to be working fine now.
4. Problems with the mag seating consistently. The spring/release wasn't staked down nearly enough so the clip got snugged down to where it belongs. No more wobbly magazine with up/down slop and it works great.
5. Initial groups were 18" high and right at 50 yards. Had to move both the front and rear sights to compensate and remove the sight elevator to get it on target with a 6 O'clock hold. Further investigation showed a ragged crown so I recrowned the muzzle.
Hoping the recrown sets things right so I can install a better set of sights for my old eyes.
The other petty things were no plug screws for the D&T in the top of the receiver. Rather than buy them I made them myself. Figured it was already a project so what the heck.
Other one was a sling swivel stud indexed 45 degrees off. Simple fix was a small o-ring and crank it back down tight.
Overall I think it's a nice rifle and I could expect doing a few tweaks to something in the entry level price range. If only to meet my own likings. However some things could have been remedied at the factory if they had only taken a few more seconds to properly finish the job they started.
For myself its an expected annoyance as I've been shooting since 1964 and doing my own smithing since the early 80's. For a new shooter getting getting going with an entry level arm (like this particular one) it could be an aggravating and disheartening experience. For their sake I hope I got a lemon and not all are as bad as this one was.
I'm looking forward to taking it out again this week for a resighting and measuring up for new sights. If all is good I know I'm going to be very happy with it. It certainly has the potential from the box if not any of the refinements.
That's my take on the 305. Anyone else experience similar or better?
Cheers,
JB
From buttplate to muzzle here's what I had to do:
1. Buttplate was ill-fitted so I had to tweak that back onto the stock.
2.Trigger had an ugly, gritty, heavy "4-stage" pull. I dropped the trigger group and did the usual fixes to make it right. Including a 0.018 shim beneath the rear mounting screw. Nice now but I may go back to a 0.025 and reinstall the factory return spring. It was too light for a field gun using the larger shim/light spring combo.
3. The occasional light strike and misfire. I disassembled the bolt and deburred where needed. No extensive polishing to the entire thing.
Also took a few fine file swipes off the two places which would allow the pin a couple thou more in forward travel. Seems to be working fine now.
4. Problems with the mag seating consistently. The spring/release wasn't staked down nearly enough so the clip got snugged down to where it belongs. No more wobbly magazine with up/down slop and it works great.
5. Initial groups were 18" high and right at 50 yards. Had to move both the front and rear sights to compensate and remove the sight elevator to get it on target with a 6 O'clock hold. Further investigation showed a ragged crown so I recrowned the muzzle.
Hoping the recrown sets things right so I can install a better set of sights for my old eyes.
The other petty things were no plug screws for the D&T in the top of the receiver. Rather than buy them I made them myself. Figured it was already a project so what the heck.
Other one was a sling swivel stud indexed 45 degrees off. Simple fix was a small o-ring and crank it back down tight.
Overall I think it's a nice rifle and I could expect doing a few tweaks to something in the entry level price range. If only to meet my own likings. However some things could have been remedied at the factory if they had only taken a few more seconds to properly finish the job they started.
For myself its an expected annoyance as I've been shooting since 1964 and doing my own smithing since the early 80's. For a new shooter getting getting going with an entry level arm (like this particular one) it could be an aggravating and disheartening experience. For their sake I hope I got a lemon and not all are as bad as this one was.
I'm looking forward to taking it out again this week for a resighting and measuring up for new sights. If all is good I know I'm going to be very happy with it. It certainly has the potential from the box if not any of the refinements.
That's my take on the 305. Anyone else experience similar or better?
Cheers,
JB
