RE: Savage rifles
Not a darn thing wrong with a Savage, what-so-ever. They are GREAT guns for the money. I own a 10ML-II muzzleloader and it is, by far, the finest built, easiest to operate and clean (I use smokeless powder) and most accurate muzzleloader I've had the pleasure of owning...and Lord knows I've owned several that I haven't been completely satisfied with (the worst was a Knight, believe it or not).
The only thing about the Savage's I really dislike are the really cheeply made synthetic stocks. If they made them a little nicer (i.e. no nasty mold lines) and a little less clunky, then they'd be great. The Savage laminate stocks like the one on my 10ML-II, on the other hand, are very good stocks.
I recently bought myself a combo elk/mulie rifle because I'm moving west this summer, and I ended up going with a Tikka T3 Lite over a Savage because the Tikka was a better deal and I really liked the Tikka's handling, fit and features over the Savage of the same price. Both the Tikka and the Savage are well known for their accuracy, and my Tikka has proven to be a great shooter. With that being said, probably the most accurate non-custom rifle I've ever personally witnessed shot was a Savage 12-BVSS in .308Win (pre-Accu-Trigger). The only modification was that it had a Jewell benchrest trigger installed (set at 4 OUNCES!), but the stock, barrel and action were all factory stock. It'd shoot honest quarter sized groups at 200 yards all day long. It was truly amazing.
Mike