Here is my Savage story. I currently own 4 Savage bolt guns and the least accurate one is still capable of producing 5 shot MOA groups. That' s ok because it' s on the cheapy 111L models in .250 Savage that I paid $200 for and use as a beater.

I have 2 heavy barreled rifles. 1 is a model 110 FLP in .25-06 Rem, the other a 116 FLCSAK in .270 Winchester. The FLCSAK is thought of as a hunting rifle, but the barrel contour is closer to a varmint rifle than a sporter weight barrel. Both of these rifles average 5 shot groups under 1/2" (for dozens of groups) and both have shot a few groups in the .2" s. 300 yard groups of 1.25" are the norm for both of these rifles. I am not talking about rifles that occasionally do this, I am talking about rifles that will shoot 10 groups in a row this good.

Now that being said, my 2 heavier barreled rifles could never be mistaken for a out of the box stock rifle. I have stiffened the cheesy stocks with acraglas and valve rods, installed a 12oz trigger on one and a 20oz trigger on the other, and bedded the action properly on both.

All in all to have spent as little money as I did, I am very happy with the accuracy I get from both of these rifles. Considering I am a lefty, it would have cost me a pile of money to have 4 bolt action rifles made up in the calibers I wanted from Remington or Winchester.

I see quite a few more people diss Savage on the Internet than I do when I am shooting my Savages at the gun range. I have angered more than a couple of shooters with far nicer guns. On the other hand, on the internet I hear about a lot more 1/2 MOA Savage rifles than I have ever seen at the range However, I think that last comment really applies to shooters instead of the rifle.

It is not reasonable to expect an out of the box factory rifle to shoot 1/2 MOA. You may get an occassional group of 1/2 MOA, but to really get a sense of the rifles accuracy - take the average of at least 10 groups. Heck, I have fired a 0.6" group at 200 yards with a Savage 99 before. However, I wouldn' t even joke about it being that accurate. It averages about 1.25" at 100 yards.