New Savage Mk II BTVS

[randver]

i got 2 10 round mags and almost never us the 5 round one any more. think i will get 3 more so i can just load up a whole box of 50 then shoot away

[xxINKxx]

Awsome!

I just picked up my Savage Mark II TR-SR last week. The guy originally tried to sell me the gun you got (MK II BTVS) But i wasnt a fan of the stock.

I even have the same scope from walmart, the center point 4-16x40!

Post range report on the scope too. I havent got to shoot mine yet. Im dying too. Nothing but good reviews on that scope also

[Gatotsu77]

@ Mr. Burns - I was taking shots at targets 200+ yards away pretty much off the bat, just to see what this little rifle can do. :P I did hit several targets at 250 yards away (broken clay pigeons) and a couple steel targets at 300 yards away. All with Winchester Bulk ammo. :P

@ randver - My friends were quite enamored with the rifle, to say in the least. I would have been well suited to have 3 or 4 10 round mags with me, so we could each hold onto and load our own magazine. Would make it easier to rotate through shooters as well.

@ xxINKxx - I had read phenomenal things about the Mark II action, and they were certainly not unfounded. As for the stock, different strokes for different folks. :P I like my BTVS, and I'm sure I'd love the gun just as much with a different stock on it, I just loved the look of the stock, and it felt great in my hands.

The CenterPoint 4-16x40 performed admirably for a sub-$100 scope. I had used it on my pellet rifle previously, which it worked well on. (picking off paintballs at 20 yards was a piece of cake on that thing, even with it only turned to 9x) At 50-200 yards on 16x, the picture was pretty clear, and had good contrast. (given we were shooting on an overcast day.. looked even nicer once the sun started to come out right at the end of the day) The crosshair itself did feel just a tad thick, but not excessively so. Knocking the scope back to 9x took a lot of the "haze" out of the image, and brightened it up quite a bit. (and was still plenty magnification to be shooting at spent .223 cases at 50 yards) It seemed to hold its zero well, though that brings me to my report on the rifle...

I really enjoyed shooting this rifle, and I am very much looking forward to shooting it again in the near future, but something caught me off guard, and something really disappointed me. After my initial range-session and bringing it home, I cleaned up the barrel a bit and called it a night. The next morning, I pack it up and take it out to Angeles Shooting Range with my buddies. As I'm unpacking my rifle, I noticed that my scope mounts had come loose, and the action screws had loosened considerably. I did not bring my tool kit with me, and was devastated. I went and asked the staff at the range, and they told me that neither did they have the tools, nor could they lend them to me if they did. Having just spent a long time driving to get there (including stopping to pick up a friend in Arcadia and at a Big 5) I was not leaving without at least attempting to remedy the problem. I found one of my brass/bronze keys had an end that fit well in the action screws, and I tightened them to what I felt was even and appropriate. They did not loosen the rest of my time at the range. The scope rail screws were smaller than the allen key I had brought to mess with the scope rings if I needed, and none of my keys fit in them. I was fortunate that the end of a pair of scissors I brought was a snug fit, and that I was able to tighten them without any real damage. I re-mounted my scope, and off I went to start shooting.

Probably an hour later, I realized the scope mount had come loose again, and again I took the scope off and tightened the screws with my scissors. (this time just a bit more snug than I had originally) This tightening lasted a good 2-3 hours, which eventually ended up loosening off enough for the scope to shake around a bit. I tightened them up one more time, fearing that I may have slightly damaged the screw heads, and decided that if it loosened again, I was done. Inevitably, they did loosen, right as we were about ready to pack up. I ended up buying a 3-pack of thread-lock (purple, blue, and red) and opted to put a small dab of purple on all 4 screws before I re-installed the rails with a proper allen key. I don't know why these didn't come thread-locked from the factory, but I genuinely believe they should have been. I could have gone straight for the blue, but figured the purple would be a bit more forgiving, should I want to remove them and place a full-on rail vs. the two small plates Savage had mounted.

Aside from these frustrations, the rifle performed phenomenally. As mentioned above, I did manage to hit several targets out to 250-300 yards. At 50-100 yards, this thing is a machine, even with cheap-@$$ ammo. Picking off paintballs at 50 yards was a lot of fun, though not particularly challenging. (only had a couple I aimed at which took more than one shot... one of which was because over half of the paintball was protected by the wood stand, and I wasn't being patient with myself, I was just shooting for fun)

The weather wasn't "ideal" for shooting a .22, but not bad overall. (it was much cooler out than any of us expected it to be) We had a breeze going pretty much all day, swirling between 10 o'clock and about 3 o'clock, at anywhere from 2-15 mph, though it never did rain as anticipated. My hands got cold enough at a couple points where my trigger-pull was affecting accuracy, but swapping shooters and putting on some gloves easily remedied that. Overall, it was a phenomenal day at the range. We got to the range at about 10:00am, and were leaving just as the final cease-fire was being called at 5:45pm. I'd say I got my money's worth on admission that day. (and if we have it our way, we'll be going back in just over a week )

[straykiller]

nice i have the same brand scope on my .22 i believe its a 4x22, got it from walmart also, eye relief isnt the greatest but it works

[Gatotsu77]

The eye-relief on the 4-16x40 is a little finicky, but not bad once you get used to it. (also a bit longer than some folks are used to) The biggest problem I was having was maintaining a good cheek-weld without having my ear-protection touching the stock. (I have MASSIVE ear cups on my hearing protection... they look almost comical) I may invest in a new set once funds become available... hopefully something much more low-profile.

[randver]

i had the same problem getting a good check-weld so i just you the type of hearing protection that goes in your ear when shooting my BTV.

[Gatotsu77]

I'd thought about going that route... my ears tend to get really waxy, and those get rather uncomfortable after a little while for me. I may yet find myself wearing a pair of 'em, but I'd probably have a pair of over-the-ear protection with me to switch to if need be. I've found a position I can get my head into that works, it just keeps the ear cup really close to the stock.

[brantly04]

pretty sweet lookin

[Tom-ADC]

I've got three of the Savages now a MK II FV, a 93R17-FV and just picked up a 93R17 BTVS haven't shot it yet but both the other shoot very well this target is from the 93R17 FV at 100yds with a cheapo Centerpoint scope. 25 rounds back to back.

[RickyB]

I've got three of the Savages now a MK II FV, a 93R17-FV and just picked up a 93R17 BTVS haven't shot it yet but both the other shoot very well this target is from the 93R17 FV at 100yds with a cheapo Centerpoint scope. 25 rounds back to back.

Hmmm, I'm having doubts on this, as I only see 11 holes.........

[kris&bela]

Nice set-up!! Did you check out the Rimfirecentral.com website yet? A lot of good info there about your toy. Have a good day.

[Gatotsu77]

I actually signed up on Calguns and RimfireCentral on the same day. :P I've gotten lots of good info from both sites, and anticipate good things in the future. I already love the feel of this firearm so much that I'd seriously consider the Savage Model 11 BTV when I go for a .308 spitting monster. Since I've got a 30 day membership w/ OC Indoor, I'm pretty much looking for excuses to hit the range and spend at least a little bit of time there. I'll hopefully be going again in the next few days to ensure my thread-locking job on my scope-bases worked.

[mrduke]

ive got the same gun in 17 hmr, i love it, way more than i thought i would, it,s the most fun ive had with a rimfire in a long time, i mostly use it for ground squerrals, and it,s devistateing on them, i don,t realy shoot it much at paper but if a remember right i was holding about 3/4 inch groops at 100 yards, i bought mine at a pawn shop all set up with bi pod and scope for 300.00 in perfect shape,the only problem i have with the rifle is my wife want,s to steal it from me, which is a problem i have with a lot of my guns,