Range Report - Savage MKII Classic .22LR (pics)

[Matt / PA]

Just got back from a nice extended range session with my newofficial "Squirrel Swatter"

Savage MKII Classic .22
http://www.savagearms.com/markiiclassic.htm



Topped w/ a Leupold VXII Ultralight 3-9X33 EFR scope (what a perfect match!) with Burris rings.
http://www.leupold.com/hunting-and-shooting/products/scopes/ultralight-riflescopes/vx-ii-3-9x33mm-ultralight-efr/



Ammo was Winchester Super X Power Point HP high velocity hollow point .22LR.

I hammered about 100rds of Winchester Wildcat through it first just to get some rounds down range and blow the dust off this out of the box rifle and even that cheapy ammo printed some very nice groups. After it seemed to settle down nicely i swapped ammo for the stuff I intend to hunt with. There was no attempt made to shoot lower velocity or target ammo.
This is my first rifle with savage's "accutrigger" and WOW. [:-]I would imagine this style trigger would be even better on a centerfire rifle but it was pretty darn impressive even on this little rimfire. I made no adjustment to the factory settings and I wish I had a trigger pull gauge to see what it was breaking at but it was very crisp with no discernable creep and felt in that 3-3.5# range. Really made shooting a pleasure.



The Scope I picked might be the darn nicest possible rimfire sporter style scope you can get. I was very happy with the choice in an attempt to put together a real "high end" rimfire sporter type package. The light weight , and adjustable parallax settings combined with the traditional Leupold high gloss finish made it appear like it was made for this rifle and it's high luster blued finish.



The whole thing has a very "classic" feel and look to it....and at first glance looks like one of it's big brother classic centerfire models.

The weather wasn't the greatest for high end bench rest accuracy with 5-12mph gusty winds and the rifle was shot off a block/sandbag set up with the butt end just freehand shot off the bench.
I don't think it did too shabby! I'll let you guys do the decimal conversions for the center to center group measurements. LOL
All groups are 5 shot at 50yds measured center to center of the widest shots. These pictures are of the 3 best overall groups, but the average over 75 rounds fired with this ammo alone was somewhere bewteen 1/2-3/4"
Really blew aHECK of agroup here with the low flyer!







The only real complaint I had with the entire rig was with the factory magazine.....so much so that I stopped using it part way through the shooting session and loaded singles because the follower was binding up even with only 5 rounds (listed as a 10rd mag) It's a bit of a clunky magazine system and I really think the rifle would benefit from some cleaner lines and a flush fitting design.
I'll mess with the mag a bit and see if I can work out the bugs or just replace it entirely.
I won't let that spoil what a appears to be a fantastic shooting rifle!

I think if I REALLY take the time to mess with different ammunition and maybe mess with the trigger just a bit it's almost scary to think what this thing might be able to do with a real bench session.

For now I think it's quite safe to say that I had better come up with a couple good squirrel recipes! [:-]

[Doe Dumper]

Thanks for the report Matt. Thats a darn nice setup to terrorize the lowly squirrels with I had been considering a Mk II as well. If they all shoot like that it would be hard to go wrong.

[trailer]

Very nice setup. I"™ve always liked the look and on how this rifle handled from the first day I saw one. Hopefully you can resolve the problem with the magazine. Thanks for the report...

[cowboy4513]

Very Nice!

[statjunk]

That is a really pretty rifle you got there. Makes me want one!

Tom

[Cretins]

Hi Matt,
I put a 3x9x42 Sightron SII Bigsky on my Mark II Classic and am getting results much like yours at 50 yds.
Also had a problem with the 5 rd mag that came with rifle, would have 2 to 3 rounds fail to feed from a 5 rd mag.
HORRIBLE! Couldn't imagine what would happen if this was a semi-auto instead of a bolt action! I called Savage and they sent me another standard packaged 5 round clip that looks exactly the same but it doesn't hang up like the other does. They also sent me a new trigger guard because mine was pitted and looked like crap. I've got one other problem Savage told me was normal but it dont look normal to me although your rifle looks like it might suffer the same problem. Problem being the barrel not seated in the stock, there's like a 3/8" gap, I don't know if its warped or what but when I was sighting in my scope it took forever to adjust the elevation to the point where I thought I wasn't going to be able that much lift out of the scope. Anything similar with yours?

[driftrider]

With groups like that the squirrels should be afraid...VERY AFRAID!!

Very nice looking rifle, too. The gloss Loopy complements it well. It looks as good as it shoots, excellent choice.


Mike

[bronko22000]

Nice rig. I have an old MK II in left hand. Not near as nice as that fancy one you got there but you know what? It shoots just as good. I think I paid something like $110 for it. IMO you can't do much better than a Savage either rimfire or centerfire.
Oh yeah - don't you hate those darn flyers?

[stalkingbear]

Now you need to run some target ammo through it and really wring it out to see exactly what it's capable of. That group is very nice indeed. It kind of reminds me of my Kimber of Oregon rifle a little.

[huntnthefield]

i got a barral fed 15 round 22lr