Author Topic: savage 16 fss accuracy (Read 2228 times)

gunpilot · « **on:** February 24, 2003, 06:44:50 AM »

I am considering buying a savage weather warrior model 16 fss in .308. Any comments on accuracy :?

Zachary · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2003, 08:13:44 AM »

I'm certain that many will tell you, and rightfully so, that Savages, generally speaking, are VERY accurate rifles. I say this not as a Savage owner, but as a commentator who has actually seen several Savages shoot extremly well. I don't particularly like Savages because I think that they suffer from quality, but no one can dispute their out-of-the-box accuracy and great value. Combine that with the .308 cartridge, which itself is inherently accurate, and you should have a gun that should shoot 1 MOA all day. Of course this means that not all loads will shoot as accurately, but I don't think that it will be hard to find a particular load that it will really like. :grin:

Zachary

acearch72 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2003, 02:45:17 PM »

gunpilot,

I have a Savage 16LZ, which is most likely similar to the 16 fss you are talking about. The 16LZ is chambered for the Lazzeroni ammo and sold by Lazzeroni arms.

It is chambered in Lazzeroni 308 Patriot, which is essentially Lazzeroni's short magnum offering a pretty big jump up from the 300 WSM that everyone is so hot about now.

Anyway, that said, I was somewhat skeptical about buying a Savage, but I wanted the cartrige and the only way to get it other than Lazzeroni's custom rifle at $5k was the Savage, so I bit.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprized. This gun is very well made, and the trigger, which everyone always bitches about on the Savage, is a little heavy for my taste at 4# even, but it is crisp and sharp, no creep. I may change it, I may not.

I took it out of the box and shot 3 rounds, all in the same hole. Now I've shot a lot of guns and my Kleingunther K15 custom is the only other one that has shot that good with factory ammo, and it took me a long time to find one that would shoot that good in the K15.

Now I've heard a lot of Savage bashing on here, and frankly I don't have any experience with Savage other than this gun, but I find the 16LZ well built, sound, not ugly and it shoots like hell.

Maybe the other Savages are different. For sure enough posters on this forum say they are poor quality. I don't know, but the one I have I would recommend to anyone.

Check it out at:

http://www.lazzeroni.com/ct_savage.htm

and see if this one is like the one you are considering.

Good Luck.

jamie · « **Reply #3 on:** February 25, 2003, 09:35:21 AM »

Col. Craig Boddington did an article for one of the magazines with John Lazzeroni, in which he shot the $4500 Lazz rifles and then the Savage LZ.
When he was done he stated that this was the smallest group he had ever shot with a rifle in his life, period. The group was around.03" YES .03. With 220 grn round nose bullets.

Zachary · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2003, 11:18:54 AM »

acearch72,

What ammo were you using? and how much did it cost? I understand that ammo for the Lazz costs about $80 a box. Is that true?

Zachary

acearch72 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2003, 12:44:47 PM »

In the Lazzeroni rifles you have to shoot their ammo, no choice. You can buy a die and handload but I don't have time.

The ammo I was shooting is what he calls his accuracy load, which is (was) a 180 Gr Sierra ProHunter custom loaded by Lazzeroni shooting at about 3150 fps. He has discontinued loading this bullet for the 308 patriot in lieu of the 168 gr Sierra Matchking at this point, but most likely in the near future he will be using his new Lazerhead bullet, which looks like a Barnes but custom manufactured for Lazzeroni.

The cost of his ammo is $100/bx of 20 for this particular load. He has a cheaper load with a Rem. bullet I believe at about $80/bx. This is about the same as 30-378 Wby cost I believe, the difference being that you can get the Wby more readily and you have to go to Lazz for his bullets.

I didn't buy this gun to plink away at coke cans or varmits. I bought it for long range hunting as we have some fields that offer 500+yd shots. It does what it is advertized to do and does it well.

Lots of people knock the Savage. I am pretty pleased with mine. Like I said, this gun may be different than a Savage that I could buy in Walmart, I just don't know. But Iwill say that for the person who wants a really accurate and powerful long range rifle at a good price, this one is a good choice, you've just got to recongize that the bullets are expensive and you can't go to the local general store and buy them.

animal · « **Reply #6 on:** March 02, 2003, 11:12:46 AM »

Gunpilot,
I just picked up a L.H. Savage 16 FSS in 7mm08. It is a solid, tight rifle and as accurate as all get out. The trigger is very heavy but no creep and the stock ( butt section) is pretty flimsy but it is as accurate a rifle I've ever shot except for my 14 yr. old Rem. .280 which does shoot true cloverleafs. I think because of the accuracy, the Savage deserves a good quality scope.

Zachary · « **Reply #7 on:** March 03, 2003, 04:58:51 AM »

acearch72,

I'm not cheap, but then again I simply can't justify paying $100 or even $80 for a box of ammo. :eek:

My thinking on the 300 short fat Lazz is that, while it is more powerful than the 300 WSM, the performance simply does not, in my opinion, justify the outrageous cost.

I also believe that Lazz did the joint venture with Savage for strategic purposes. Most people can't afford to pay $5,000 for the Lazz rifle - so have Savage chamber it in one of their rifles for a fraction of the cost, but hit the owners with the SAME price of the ammo. So whether you shoot the $5,000 Lazz rifle or the $500 Savage rifle, you still pay $100 a box for the ammo.

That notwithstanding, if you are very happy with that rifle, and those expensive loads, and since you don't do "plink" shooting with it, then you have every right to shoot whatever you want 'cause that's in part what makes America so great! :wink:

Zachary

acearch72 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 03, 2003, 02:13:49 PM »

Zachary,

You are absolutely correct on the Lazz/Savage connection. I'm not to sure that lots of people are buying the $5k model. He also has a mid-range package with the Sako TRG-S that I would probably have gotten but he only does that one in his long magnums, and that was more than I wanted. I've got a couple of friends who got the Sako version and love them.

The way I look at it is that I wanted a 500 yd. gun. I could have gotten that in another more standard caliber, however to get the accuracy where I needed it would have required handloading, which I don't have time to do, or having a custom loader develop a load for me, which would be pretty expensive and then buy the ammo from them, also expensive. So what I pay to Lazz is admittadely a high price, but it is custom loaded ammo specifically loaded for each class of gun. One of my friends has a 30/378 Weatherby and he pays from $70/$90 per box, and that's not custom loaded ammo.

As I said, I don't plink, so I buy maybe 4-5 boxes per year, 2 or 3 for practice and 2 for hunting.

By the way, I'm trying to talk Conely into loading for the Lazz Patriot. Then I can afford to shoot more if I want, but I'll still probably spend the same amount of money in any case.

TOGO · « **Reply #9 on:** March 03, 2003, 04:18:07 PM »

I have a couple Savage rifles, one in the 116 FSAK 300winmag and the 110 police tactical in .308, both rifles are tack drivers, like others have said, trigger weights are bad on both, but have clean crisp pulls, fit and finish are good on both. I'v fired several hundred rounds out of both without issues other than every locktited screw on the 300winmag coming loose, but I guess that will happen. :-)

TOGO