I used to think, especially as a kid, that Savage was not a very good weapon..back in the late 60's and 70's they were considered a low grade rifle..I don't think that anymore, especially after shooting some of my friends Savage rifles. The ones I have shot were incredibly accurate.. in fact two years ago I pickup up a unique model of theirs with a twisted looking barrel, laminated stock in .22 Mag. rimfire...shoots way better than my Ruger model I have...

Have another fried who has a plain model in 223...factory ammo, shoots 1/2 in groups..

EVERY manufacturer makes a lemon once in a while..I had a Swarovski scope die on me in the first 30 rounds on a 26 Nosler last year..have had the same thing with Zeiss and pretty much any other manufacturer you can name..but I still buy them all...

Personally, for the money, I feel they are an incredible buy...many of their models are still very inexpensive..but accurate as well..was not always the case..

Ripp