Savage vs. Remington

[upinflames2400]

Alright so, I've been doing alot of research on my next rifle in 308 and I want it to have the capability of shooting 1000 yards. A salty old gunsmith that works on my ar told me he swears that savage with acu triggers are the best out of the box rifles you can get. I have also heard this about Remington. My limit on price tag is + or - 2000. Give me some input please.

[Black Majik]

It seems most of the precision shooters here on Calguns shoot Remington 700s, particularly for the larger aftermarket support.

[Requiem]

Savage rifles have a lower price [generally] than the 700's by a little bit. From what I've heard, they're still great rifles and people swear by them for a starter rifle. Remington 700's have more aftermarket capability, and the reputation of their 700 actions being the base of two of the main military sniper rifles in use right now.

Also, if your budget is $2000, does that include your optics? or are you willing to spend more on that. If you're going to buy a $2,000 rifle and put a $200 scope on it, there's no point in paying $2000 for the rifle.

[upinflames2400]

Ok. Do you know if you can just order Remington barrels and bolts without the stocks?and if so what are the best barrels they offer

[upinflames2400]

No 2k is without optics I'll most likely be going with nf scopes

[264charlie]

Upinflames2400, All the info you need to know from the gents that shoot every weekend.

We see these threads all the time "I only have XXXX money to spend on a rifle, what should I get?"
It's always different for each person, but there are some common things you will see throughout the good recommendations.
In precision rifle competition, the most important things are reliability, repeatability and stability.
The rifle needs to work every time.
It needs to work the same every time.
It needs to be stable both mechanically and physically so you can shoot it well.

We often get too hung up on just the actual gun and scope.
We need to step back and think about the whole system.
In order to shoot matches, you need a reliable system.
This includes the support equipment such as the bipod, sling and rear bag.

This thread should be able to give you some recommendations of gear that's a "known good". The actual gear ranges from very inexpensive to very expensive.
ANY of the rifle packages recommended here are capable of winning matches in the hands of a good shooter.
The added quality and extra features of the more expensive gear just make them a little easier to shoot well.

In addition to one of the rifle packages below, you will want to gather up the other equipment that supports it:
First, you need quality ammo. You can't shoot tight groups without it. Match ammo is expensive. Most people choose to reload for several reasons, the most important being that you get to custom tune the ammo to your rifle and secondly that it's considerably cheaper to reload than to shoot factory ammo.
Top quality reloading gear will pay for itself in savings over factory ammo within less than 500 rounds.
Next, you need good records. That means a log book. It can be as simple as a notebook that you write down everything about shooting conditions and bullet performance observed throughout each shooting session. This will allow you to later recall what you saw in the past when you find yourself in similar conditions.
Then you need good tools. My shooting tools include a laser rangefinder, Kestrel handheld weather station and a spotting scope. These allow me to measure the weather conditions, measure the range to target and my spotter to read the mirage and watch my impacts.
Lastly, you need support gear and a way to carry everything. My shooting pack contains things such as ammo, mags, a shooting mat, a spare scope, an extra bipod that's taller than the one normally on my rifle, a hydration bladder with water for the day, a first aid kit, various small tools to make repairs and adjustments to the rifle and scope in the field, elbow/knee pads and a bandana or scarf to protect my neck as well as allow me to shade myself if I am shooting into the sun.

With all the accessories behind us, lets get to the real hardware.
The following Excel document contains a list of known-good equipment with a proven track record:

https://www.ar15barrels.com/data/builder.xls

The Excel document allows you to choose a rifle and add on a variety of different scopes, mounts and accessories to figure out a total price.
We would like for this excel sheet to be a living document. Many of the prices listed are below the minimum advertised price of the manufacturers so if you can't find the prices shown, ask around the CaPRC subforum and we will point you to the good-guy price vendors.
Likewise, if you find better prices than the sources listed, post them here and I will try to keep the excel sheet updated.

There are obviously other companies making good gear as well, but we have chosen these specific pieces for their value, quality of construction and most importantly for their consistency of quality. We have specifically avoided items that don't meet the general needs of precision rifle competition. For this reason, you won't see scopes with un-reasonably small internal elevation travel or 1/8moa clicks as these are not desireable in our sport. We have also chosen items based on their upgradeability. For this reason we have settled on the Remington 700 platform as the mainstay of the packages. Other platforms may be fully capable of the accuracy, but none share the aftermarket support so we can not recommend them. If you don't see something listed here, it's because it did not stick-out to us as a particularly valuable or desireable enough to make the list.
There are obviously lots of other quality gear that we could list here, but in many cases, we chose the most commonly available brands, simply because they would be easier to actually buy when you want them.

For those without Excel, here is a sample of some recommended configurations, ranging from very inexpensive to very expensive.

Remington 700 sps varmint
bushnell 321040M 10x
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,043

Remington 700P
bushnell 321040M 10x
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,293

Remington 700 5r
bushnell 321040M 10x
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,643

Remington 700 sps varmint
Sightron S2 4-16x42
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,253

Remington 700P
Sightron S2 4-16x42
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,503

Remington 700 5r
Sightron S2 4-16x42
Egw aluminum base
Burris 1" aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,853

Remington 700P
bushnell 652164T 2.5-16
Seekins aluminum base
TPS 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$1,941

Remington 700 5r
bushnell 652164T 2.5-16
Seekins aluminum base
TPS 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$2,291

Remington 700 sps varmint
AICS
bushnell 652164T 2.5-16
Seekins aluminum base
TPS 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$2,491

Remington 700 5r
nightforce 5-15 NP-R1
Seekins aluminum base
Seekins 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$3,063

Remington 700 5r
AICS
bushnell 652164T 2.5-16
Seekins aluminum base
TPS 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$3,091

Remington 700 sps varmint
AICS
nightforce 5-15 NP-R1
Seekins aluminum base
Seekins 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$3,263

Remington 700 sps varmint
McMillan A5
Badger M5
nightforce 5-15 NP-R1
Seekins aluminum base
Seekins 30mm aluminum rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$3,513

Remington 700 5r
McMillan A5
Badger M5
premiere heritage
Seekins aluminum base
Badger 34mm steel rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$4,683

Gap base custom rifle
Badger M5
premiere heritage
Badger steel base
Badger 34mm steel rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Sling
$5,583

Gap crusader
schmidt & bender
Badger steel base
Badger 34mm steel rings
Harris S-BRM bipod
KMW Pod-Loc
Triad rear bag
Tab sling
$7,068

These packages were selected in a manner to attempt to balance the quality of the rifle with the quality of the optics at a specific price level. Therefore, you will see fancier scopes sitting in more expensive mounts/rings on more expensive stocks. For the same reason, you won't see the most expensive scopes used on the lower cost packages as you should budget your money in such a way as to raise the total packages quality, not just a single item within the package.

[264charlie]

... most of the guys that shoot a lot of comps will tell you NOT to get a Savage.

[professionalcoyotehunter]

Here we go again!

Savages are great. My remingtons are the ones that jam all the time even after cycling them with oil 1000's of times.

[Bug Splat]

The aftermarket support for both brands is huge. Remington has more but you will not feel left out with a Savage. The biggest difference is the capability to swap barrels and bolt heads. The savage does not need a gunsmith to do this.

Accuracy for both brands is outstanding. I shoot Savage. Always have always will. My savage has beat more Remingtons than I can count BUT the only rifle I could not beat on the bench was a Remington in 22-250. Not matter how well I shot that guy was always a couple thousands of an inch smaller. We are talking in the .1 group size range. A difference that means nothing in the real world but a "W" in a match.

Either way you can't go wrong. If you want to do you own barrel swaps later Savage is the way to go.

[ChrisO]

So PCH you're remingtons keep jamming? Would you mind telling us wich ones or is it just one? Obviously something is wrong for a bolt action to keep getting hung up. It's not a semi auto... I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have seen a crap load of the same problem with savages in comps the extractor breaking. While they do make accurate rifles but IMHO just not worth the trouble unless it's for a general on the cheap fun rifle.
A remington 700 is the best way to go. a SPS Varmint and if you can find a HS precision take off stock they usually go around 150-250 on snipershide in the classified section and a decent scope. Unless you have major cash to spend you will need to get into reloading. I also said before on another one of you're thread you should check this out http://demigodllc.com/articles/pract...ing-equipment/
There are a couple articles in the sticky of centerfire rifles over on snipershide it's calling getting started in LR faq. I would take a look at it.

[professionalcoyotehunter]

I have a 700, 710, 760 pumpmaster, and 770. all of them are junk.

The 700CDL is decent but it jams at the worst of times. I have been burrs on the ramp and lightly sanded them off but it normally only helps minorly.

[professionalcoyotehunter]

My Weatherby Sub MOA will out shoot the Remington and the Savage and has never jammed.

[X-NewYawker]

Go the Savage Website. Check out the target rifles. The Model 12 Benchrest lists for over $1400. You can find it on gunbroker for around $1300
Then buy a $6-700 dollar Leupold LR scope like a Vari-X III 6.5-20X online and you are there. Done.

[professionalcoyotehunter]

You can get a Weatherby submoa for $600-$700.

[264charlie]

I have a 700, 710, 760 pumpmaster, and 770. all of them are junk.

The 700CDL is decent but it jams at the worst of times. I have been burrs on the ramp and lightly sanded them off but it normally only helps minorly.

Umm... sounds a little harsh. I have four 700s and not one has ever had a single jam. You know what they say, if it everybody else maybe it's you.

Anyway for most people Savage, Tikka, Rem are OK rifles. I think the rem 700 is hard to beat. That, said I shoot LH and don't have the choices you RH shooters do.

Don't overlook the stock... might be as important as the rifle. For 2k I would build a custom .260.

You are going to want 1/4 - 1/2 MOA in the 1000 yrd game. ... and start reloading.