the savage my not be as good looking cause of that dang barrel nut but...each savage centerfire rifle is fitted for headspacing before it leaves the factory. a round is chambered and the barrel is pushed into the action until the lands come in contacted with the bullet then the barrel nut is tightened.
does remington do that??? no you can take you ever so popular 700 action to your not so local gunsmith and he can fit you a kreiger barrel and a timmeny trigger.
That Barrel nut is an economy move on Savages part. It adds no rigidity to the action or barrel assembly whatsoever, if it did why isn't that design widespread on all hunting rifles ? It makes it easier for an unskilled worker to screw on a barrel properly and check the headspace and that is the bottomline . A company that produces as many rifles as Savage at it's price point has to speed production.Furhermore there is not one gun that leaves any manufacturer that is not checked for headspace intentionally. Why would you have to take your Remington to a gunsmith to have a krieger barrel or a timney trigger installed ? Do you think the barrel on a Savage is better or the accutrigger is an improvement over a Remington trigger? Evidently all the full color ads Savage puts out there must make an impression on a lot of people.