Picked up a Savage Mark II FSS

[Beetle Bailey]

Recently got this rifle in a trade. Previous owner originally bought it for his grandson but when he tried to give it to him, the kid hinted that he really liked grampa's 10/22! So the grandson got the 10/22 instead and the Savage sat unfired in a safe for a few years until I traded for it.

So after the obligatory 10-day wait I was able to take it home and today I got to shoot it. Stock is black plastic and nothing to write home about. The receiver and barrel are matte stainless - kinda dull. Rifle is equipped with the Savage accutrigger, which broke cleanly (I did not bother to adjust it). It came with iron sights from the factory but the previous owner mounted a Tasco 4x rimfire scope on it, so I just used the scope. I sighted the rifle in at 50 yards with Winchester 555 bulk ammo (36 grain HP). Five shots in a little over an inch (picture attached below). Not great but not too bad.

Do I think the rifle can do better than that? Yes, especially if I were to actually use a good optic and good ammo. And maybe put in a better effort. But I picked this rifle up as a plinker I can feed bulk ammo thru. Also, the scope had reticle lag, which made the whole process take longer than I'd like. So after sight-in, I just shot it at my 22lr dueling tree for the rest of the morning. About 200 rounds fired with zero hiccups.

Overall impression? Not a fancy gun but it has a good trigger, is reliable, and shoots well. Thanks for reading.

[cz74]

I have the Savage MK II F and surprised I can get 1-inch groups at 100-yards outdoors! Eley Target is my consistent ammo, tried CCI Green Tag and Federal Gold Match also but Eley still beats them. The only High velocity ammo I get consistency is Federal Black Bulk Pack CPHP 38 grain. CCI Mini Mags I could not even get on paper!

[Paseclipse]

That rifle will shoot 1 MOA groups all day long with a good stock and decent quality standard velocity ammo.

Savage Mark II's are excellent rifles! My Mark II BTV prefers Aguila Super Extra's (standard velocity).

[bergmen]

I've had a Savage Mark II BV for about 5 years and it is laser beam accurate. Savage makes terrific .22 bolt action rifles, they take them very seriously.

Dan

[JackEllis]

I've also got a Savage MK II. One of my favorite things to do with it is shoot spent shotgun hulls. Great shooter and very reasonably priced.

[Beetle Bailey]

Correction: the Winchester 555 ammo is a 36 grain bullet, not 38 grain as I previously said. I corrected the info on the OP.

That ammo shot very well, but I do have a couple other varieties of 22 ammo and this gun does shoot well. So I'll try some Aguila 40 grain Super Extra and Federal 40 grain Auto Match next time.

Also, glad to hear others are getting good results from their Savage Mark II's as well.

[sofbak]

If you can find it, Wolf Match Target or SK Std Plus are "go to" ammo for one hole groups in a MKII.

[JohnnyMtn]

[Beetle Bailey]

I have one brick (500 rounds) of SK Standard Plus, but since resupply is difficult, I am saving that for my CZ 457.

The Savage is a good shooter and great value but I plan to run only bulk ammo thru it until this 22lr shortage ends.

[Beetle Bailey]

As for the provenance, what kind of kid gets a rifle from gramps and says “thank you, but no thank you”? Oh, well. Kids. His loss. Looks like you’ve got a fun shooter.

I think most kids would rather have a 10/22 vs. a bolt action, but yeah. That rifle was a gift from Grampa! From the way he told the story, I think the previous owner was just happy the grandson was interested in shooting.

[Paseclipse]

Correction: the Winchester 555 ammo is a 36 grain bullet, not 38 grain as I previously said. I corrected the info on the OP.

That ammo shot very well, but I do have a couple other varieties of 22 ammo and this gun does shoot well. So I'll try some Aguila 40 grain Super Extra and Federal 40 grain Auto Match next time.

Also, glad to hear others are getting good results from their Savage Mark II's as well.

You're gonna be blown away when you see how accurate that rifle is. Not sure how accurate yours will be with that stock though. If I were in your shoes, I'd plan to get a good stock for it in the near future.

Savage Mark II's are probably one of the most underrated 22LR's available on the market. However, those of us who own one know better!

[LMan57]

Nice I never have owned or shot one of these Savage Mark II rifles definitely something to explore.