savage 14 american classic

[glock3540]

Anyone purchase or shoot one of these yet.  I'm thinking of picking one up this Friday in 7mm08.  The local Gander Mountain only had them in 308 but said the 7mm should be in later this week

[mountainview]

I don't have the 14 Classic but have some of the other models which only differ in stock material/shape. The 14 has better wood than the 10/110 Series but that is about it. Action is the same on all of the models and with few exceptions, all are shooters. My 7-08 Model 11 gives good accuracy with factory loads but my handloads shrink an already tight group. If you are getting the Accutrigger, you'll likely find that to be a nice feature as well.

[glock3540]

I own about 6 savage rifles, three with accu-triggers.  Can't beat the price and accuracy.  I was mostly wondering about fit, finish, and feel on the wood stock on the new model and how the detachable magazine seems

[RufusG]

I saw a couple at a show last weekend and the wood was above average.  One actually had a good bit of fiddleback to it if you can believe that.  I was impressed.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I picked up a 114 the other week.  I like the wood, for a Savage.  But it seems to be a soft variety of walnut as it picks up dings really easy.  It's not a new gun anymore. :cry:

I had a .35 Whelen bbl put on it.  Just got the sights on this weekend.  Will shoot it sometime after work this week.

I'm quite excited to see what the Federal 220 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claws will do.  

Then I'll get a paper patched bullet mold for it.  Maybe something real beefy, like a 275 or 300 grainer.  Can't run pure lead too fast anyway so might as well make it heavy.

It's a 1:14" twist, would that be enough for a 275 grain bullet going 2200 fps?

[rmtaylor]

What is Gander Mountain selling them for?

Thanks,

Richard

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

This must be an older model because they were really trying to dump it off.  I paid $263 including tax!  It has no trap door magazine, no sights, no accutrigger, and no fancy little black endcap on the stock.

I'm glad I got it, because they were gone the next time I got there.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I read about these Savages doing 1" groups at 100 yards.  I assume these are all with scopes.  I cannot afford a good scope yet, so I'm giving it a go with peep sights.  

Using Federal's .35 Whelen ammo, I got 2" groups at 50 yards.  I'm not impressed.  Some reloads where 1 1/2" at the same distance.  

Has anyone tried Federal's .35 Whelen from a Adams' & Bennet bbl?

Is there a break-in period?

[slayer]

I think they are really nice looking rifles, but I just can`t get by the Accu Trigger, not my kinda thing, but they look very nice, kinda like the Rem BDL, fancy. Jack.

[mountainview]

Slayer, I hesitated before getting the accutrigger (thought it looked a mite funky) but after my first trip to the range, I quickly got past the looks and grew to love it.

Jacque, can you provide a bit more info and particulars? All of my Savages are tack drivers but I've never used the A&B barrels. I thought about rebarreling to the Whelen but my old 30-06 gives such good performance that I decided to leave it as is. Couple things that come to mind (besides the barrel itself):
1) check that the action is tightened down and not loose in the stock
2) is the barrel free-floating or are there some pressure points
3) check the snugness of the sights, make sure that they are not working loose

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Mountainview,

Thanks for the tips.

I've since played around a bit more with the gun.  Got a better front sight which I believe has helped.  I also am beginning to think that the bore needs to be wiped every 10 shots or so.

Action is tight.  I can slip about 3 layers of paper between barrel and stock all the way to the action.  Sights have been snugged up and locktite applied.

Groups now seem to be 1 1/2" at 100 yards which is much better than same group at 1/2 the distance.