The other day I asked Gordy Gritters to name the most accurate out of the box
rifles. His answer was no surprise to me: the Remington 700 and the Savage.
Some rifle actions just seem to be inherently accurate. Ever since it began to
dominate bench rest competitions, and then silhouette shooting, the Remington
700 has had the reputation of most accurate “out of the box” rifle. Of course,
a lot of those championships were won with the Remington 40X, but it is really a
700 action in disguise. Part of the reason Remington acquired such a reputation
for accuracy is in no small part due to its superb trigger. Let’s face it: a
wonderfully accurate rifle, when mated with a poor trigger, is like putting
lipstick on a pig.
And that is the way a lot of shooters have felt about Savage rifles. Love the
accuracy, but the trigger is horrible. Many shooters opted to buy an
aftermarket trigger, but lots of others concluded that if they were going to
spend a lot more money on a custom trigger, why just opt for the Remington?
Well, it seems the folks at Savage have listened to their customers, because as
most of you know, many of their rifles, including their varmint rifles, come
with a new trigger called the Accu-Trigger. The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine
contacted Savage Arms to have a Savage Model 12 sent to me for an evaluation. I
wanted a .223 Remington, but instead had to settle for a .22-250. My preference
for a .223 was simply my familiarity with it; we all know the .22-250 is no
slouch, but when I shoot big .22s, I use a Swift.
I also called Bushnell and asked to get one of their scopes for evaluation, for
it seems lots of shooters have had good things to say about their Elite series
of scopes. I ordered a 4-16 Elite 4200 with a 40mm objective lens.
The Savage rifle I received has a heavy stainless steel fluted barrel 26 inch
barrel and a brown laminated stock. The finish of the stock is quite impressive,
but the forend seems a bit clubby to me, and the black tip seems to be out of
place on this rifle. The grip has a palm swell that I found quite comfortable.
The stock has no checkering. The metal finish was as good as any rifle that
sells for less than a kilobuck. This particular model is a bolt action single
shot, so there is no floorplate. This rifle is really more a PD rifle than a
predator rifle, so the single shot is what you want anyway.
I had to struggle a bit to get the bolt in, as I forgot that on Savage rifles
you must pull the trigger while inserting the bolt (and likewise when removing
it). The first thing I did was dry fire with the new Accu-Trigger. Out of the
box, this trigger is hands-down the best. To be sure, I can adjust a Remington
trigger down to a light pull and still stay safe, but this new design is light
and crisp right out of the box, and does not have the problems Remington
triggers exhibit when adjusted too light.
The problem with conventional triggers is their propensity to discharge if you
drop the rifle. Remington triggers must be checked to ensure that sliding the
safety off with one’s trigger finger lightly touching the trigger does not cause
the firing pin to fall. The Accu-Trigger has a mechanical block that prevents
the firing pin from going forward. Depressing the knife edge protruding from
the middle of the trigger shoe removes this block and allows the firing pin to
fall. If the trigger does go off accidentally, or you pull the edge of the
trigger shoe without depressing the blade, you will hear a faint “click.” You
will have to re-cock the rifle in order to reset the trigger. All in all, this
is the most ingenious piece of equipment I have seen on a rifle in a very long
time.
After I mounted the Bushnell scope I boresighted it using the Bushnell optical
boresighter. After playing around with laser boresighters, I am back to using
the Bushnell device, which never fails to put me on paper at 100 yards and is
quite useful for troubleshooting scope problems. For load development, I
initially selected three powders: IMR 3031, Hodgdon Varget, and H335. The first
two are, of course, extruded powders. Varget is fast becoming my favorite all
around powder for anything short of a RUM-type cartridge, but H335 is the old
standby load for the .223 because it meters so consistently. I selected IMR
3031 because it was at or near the top of the velocity list.
The first bullet I tried was the 50 grain Nosler over various weights of IMR
3031. Accuracy was okay, but not great. Groups measured from .935 to 1.087
inches for five shot groups – not bad, but not outstanding. Next, I tried
Varget. The bullets that sat atop Varget landed in groups that varied from .835
to 1.359 inches. Finally, I dumped some H335 into the measure and switched to
55 grain Noslers and 55 grain Bergers. The most accurate load was 34.5 gr H335
under a Berger 55 grain bullet; they averaged .673 inches. All other loads were
right around an inch.
I buy a lot of components from a store in International Falls, MN called The
Outdoorsman’s Headquarters. During these visits I became friends with a guy
named Joe Butera – a shooting nut just like me. Well, it just so happens that
Joe has a Savage 12 in .223 Remington, so he agreed to try a variety of loads in
his rifle. The Outdoorsman’s Headquarters donated the factory ammo for the test,
and I supplied Joe with some H335 and a variety of bullets. His gun was more
accurate than mine (or perhaps he is a better shot?), as all of his groups were
under an inch. Some of his handloads using H335 were around the ½ inch mark.
I presented a symposium on field techniques for long range shooting during the
2003 Jamboree. During that presentation, I needed a prop, so I brought the
Savage rifle for that purpose. After my discussion, I invited attendees to come
on up to the stage and try the trigger on the Savage rifle. I had more than a
few takers, all of whom were very impressed with the trigger on the rifle. I
really liked the palm swell on the rifle, but two members did not like it. I
suspect if you have large hands, you might not like it.
While the Savage Model 12 is an excellent PD rifle, like all heavy-barreled
rifles, this one is not a predator rifle. Most of my hunting this past spring
was for coyotes, and this rifle just isn’t handy enough. Oh, it is accurate in
spades, but a bit too clumsy when wily ol’ coyote comes a running. Consequently,
I didn’t get to kill anything with this rifle, but let’s face it: a rifle as
accurate as this one doesn’t need a writer hunting for a few days to provide the
motivation to buy. Your shooting peers who have already bought this rifle do a
better job of that than me.
The Bushnell 4200 4-16 Scope
I have long been a Leupold fan, but decided to try a Bushnell 4200 scope.
Bushnell makes two popular scope series: the 3200 and the 4200. The difference
between the two is the first number: the 3200 has a 3:1 power boost, while the
4200 has a 4:1 power boost. The 4200 I used has 1/8 minute adjustments. Total
adjustment travel is 40 inches at 100 yards, which should be plenty for any long
range gun.
The optics on this scope are as clear as anything I have used. The power ring
is not too hard, or easy, to turn. This scope has a parallax adjustment on the
objective of the lens, and the numbers are clearly marked. The overall weight
is 18.5 ounces, and the overall length is 14.4 inches.
So what didn’t I like? The adjustment knobs…the rotation counter lines do not
have enough space between them. This is no big deal if you never spin past one
revolution, but with 1/8 inch adjustment, I would say one should plan on it. My
other dislikes are 1/8 minute adjustments and the color of the number on the
target turrets. It just takes too long to click for range with 1/8 minute
adjustments, and they are not necessary in the first place. I cannot ever
recall thinking that I could have turned a miss into a hit if I had simply used
1/8 minute adjustments. I also had an extremely hard time reading the numbers
on the target turrets – gold on black may look good, but white on black is by
far easier to read. I ain’t as old as Steve Timm, but I am getting there and
having a hard time reading small numbers.
After I finished testing the Savage rifle, I put the 4200 on my .223 Remington
for further work. I especially wanted to shoot it at long range and
investigate its performance. The scope did not disappoint; clicking the
elevation knobs moved the bullets as I intended all the way out to 700 yards.
Moving the scope through its power range did not appear to affect the zero
either.
The bottom line: the Bushnell 4200 scope is a reliable performer at a price
slightly less than scopes of similar quality. With the exception of the
rotation counter, it is at least as good as any scope out selling for $500 or
less.
