When Savage learns how to make a reliable extraction/ejection system, I will begin to take them more seriously.

Ever watch a YouTube video of somebody sighting in their new Savage? - Quite often, the empty cartridge case is not ejected, but winds up laying in the action, where it must be tipped or plucked out by the proud new Savage owner.

I noticed the same thing with the Savage rifles that I have owned. The ejection can be characterized in a number of ways... "Reliable" is not one of them.

So, on one end of the reliability spectrum, we have controlled-round feed with a massive claw extractor and fixed ejector - and on the other end we have the push-feed Savage with an ejector that sometimes works - and sometimes doesn't.

Other manufacturers appear to have no trouble getting a button type ejector to work fairly well, it is only to Savage that the proper application of a button ejector is an impenetrable mystery.

I do not want to have to deal with plucking out a case from the action at the range, much less on a hunt - so guess who quit buying Savages?

Charles,

I'll stand on this soap box right next to you, and help you rant. For the exact reasons you mentioned is why I went away from Savage, and went to Tikka actions, for only a tiny bit more money. I even built a jig for my welding table to help me hold the bolt while I replaced ejector springs, which happened very often, on Savage bolts. I found myself trying to shoot a timed event in big rifle matches, and getting delayed from having to pluck out a spent case. There was, literally a twelve month span that I searched for spare ejector springs, and could not find them anywhere. I even called Savage and they would not send me springs because I am not a gunsmith. The extractor design on a Savage bolt is something that looks like it wants to come apart. I have lost the little decent ball before, and cut open a grease zert to harvest a new ball, in a pinch.

People say "Savages shoot" and yes, they absolutely do. After you have to double stroke them to get them to chamber, and once you've fired your shot, there's a good chance it won't eject the spent case. When customers bring Savages to my range, the rifles almost always shoot well, and almost always I watch them having to double stroke the last quarter inch to get them to chamber, and even if they have a new ejector spring it is a dismal ejection. I have a Tikka action with about 3000 rounds to its' credit, and zero times has it failed to eject, nor have I had any trouble chambering a round.

Are pigs flying yet???

NO [censored]....my day is gonna be all kinds of jacked up.

Quick someone write this day down somewhere

That is what bugs me the most about this... Everybody else can make a button-type ejector work just fine.

Savage has known about this issue for many years - without taking the first step necessary to do anything about it.

Apparently it is a basic design flaw of some kind, otherwise an after-market solution would have been developed some time ago.

This may have something to do with Savage not offering a dangerous game rifle, or any of the chamberings popular for dangerous game. Some poor Savage owner would wind up being processed into lion or bear poo - and this could lead to bad press for Savage.

I guess i have been the lucky one. Over the years no issues at at all with Savages. From .223, 7mmo8, .270 and 300 win mag. But all have been 110 actions. I guess one day i may have an issue but until then i will stay with them.

I made the same switch JG did. I was able to sell all of my Savages to people that wanted them, and put that money straight back into Tikkas. The savage action is a turd with 1 redeeming feature: the floating bolt head. Everything else about it sucks. For the same price (or less!) you can get a Tikka with an extremely well-designed action that feeds like butter, has extremely tight tolerances, with industrial-grade ejection to boot. Never again.

You are probably have a habit of operating the action briskly. If you are very positive about both feeding and extraction/ejection, the Savage rifles can be more reliable.

This is the main reason why some shooters experience more or less difficulty with Savages than others. That, and the luck of the draw at the on again/off again Savage Quality Control department.

Round count is also an issue. If you just fire a box or two of shells every year, you are much less likely to notice any problems. The more you shoot though, them more likely it is that the Savage ejector design will jump up and bite you.

If they are working OK for you then I'd say stick with what works - but for my purposes, I have had to give up on Savage and move on to other manufacturers.

same here, been shooting Savage before most of here have been around, never had problems, Savage safari express in 458 would not hesitate to go for brown bear.

Same here. Been shooting 110's for 20 yrs and I've never had a single problem.

I thought it was just me when sighting in a model 11 in .308. I was trying not to have to chase brass down, so I was working the action slowly. I sure didn't have to chase any brass. It was right there in the chamber waiting for me. I get better results when using authority.

As accurate as that rifle has been for me, I just don't like it.

I have had savages off and on for years and dont recall any issues. I recently picked up a savage 10 hs precision. Wanted a tikka ctr but could not find one, so figured id give the 10 a try since it was on the shelf, had the money and got a deal. It shoots well, but the detachable mag set up sucked. No extraction issues so far, but have had to double stroke to get it to feed. I ordered new bottom metal from CDI, which came in this week. Got it installed and fed a few rounds through it. Seems to be much smoother. Hope to shoot it this afternoon and see how it works.

I have 6 Savages in my safe right now, my son has 3 Savages, and over the last 10-12 years we have never experienced any difficulty of any kind with any of them! And they have provided us better out-of-box accuracy than our Coopers, Tikkas, Remingtons and Winchesters. We must be living charmed lives!

I've owned one Savage, a .243 with AccuStock, AccuTrigger and hinged floor plate. It was super accurate and I had no ejection issues. I put less than two boxes through it though. Bought because I read so many good things about Savages. Purely personal but I didn't care for the trigger and never could warm up to the rifle. I sold it and bought a Vanguard. I'm not exactly sure what it is but I just don't like Savage rifles. Any of them.

I'm somewhere in the middle. At the range, where I'm trying to keep the brass from hitting the ground, I operate the bolt slowly, and about a third of the brass will not eject fully. In a hunting situation, where I operate the bolt more aggressively, I have never had that problem. Otherwise, I love the rifle.

This. Never owned one but have spent a lot of time shooting them.
Never seen the extractor issue but feeding issues were common.
Just never felt comfortable behind one. No question about the accuracy though.

I was a big Savage fan for a while, was into barrel-swapping. There are a number of good features in a Savage and personally I do not think the looks are so terrible. (Just different) With a bit of elbow-grease, the model 16 at least can be made to look fairly presentable.



The feeding/extraction/ejection issues though with the Savage were more than I was willing to put up with. Customers would bring in rifles that cost about the same as my Savage, but were obviously better designed and built. (Tikka, TC Venture or Howa for example)

These days, Savage just never comes up on my radar any more. The 110 is an economy design that Savage charged economy prices on for years... Now all of a sudden they are charging just as much as a variety of other rifle designs that are better designed, better made. - It just seems like a sucker bet, I dunno...

Charles,It seems like someone calling himself a gunsmith would try to solve what you are calling a design flaw,patent it and make some money.

I bought my first Savage about 18 years ago when I wanted to start shooting long range. It was a 110 FLP 300 WM,from there my safes started getting filled with more Savage rifles or rifles that I built using Savage actions. I have both Staggered feed and Center feed actions in these cartridges - 223,25-06,260 AI,6.5 Creedmoor,6.5-06,7mm-08,308,and 300 WM.
I've never had any extraction problems with any of my bolts,and between all of these rifles and the barrels that I've used in the Savage actions,I've shot thousands of rounds of ammo with them. Yes,I've worn out extractors/springs and replaced them,but that is a part that gets worn on every rifle.

Almost every ejection issue is operator caused,period! It you operate the bolt slowly,then yes,the case will not eject and it will remain inside the action. Savage isn't the only brand of rifle that this happens to!
I actually like this feature when shooting off a bench,I never have to worry about loosing brass or have them fall off the bench in the dirt.

If you operate the bolt like it should be,it will always toss the case clear of the action.

I won't say that I've never had any feeding issues,some have been magazine feed lip problems,and some were from loading the bullets out close to the barrel lands and the tips of the bullets would hit the roof of the chamber causing me to double stroke the bolt in order for the case to go into the chamber. In both cases,there are easy solutions to solve the issues.

I like many brands of rifles,but since I can assemble a Savage with a couple tools in my shop in a matter of minutes,that's why I have a bunch of them. If I could do that with other brands,I'd have a bunch of them instead. Savage actions aren't the best or anywhere near it,but they are simple to work with/use,and they will shoot right with the best custom rifle you can buy with a good barrel on them.

There's plenty of actions/ bolts that eject no matter how fast, or slow the bolt is moved rearward. The "have to open quickly" is the standard Savage shooter's answer, I used to say it myself.

Some brands I have never considered buying and never will. Savage is one of them.

That's because you are closed minded, like you are with politics.

I hear that for years Remington continued to
manufacture and sell rifles that fired rounds
without the trigger being pulled. And people
continue to buy them. Seems a basic design flaw
that would cause people to reconsider.
I know I won't buy one.

That is very true,but with the exception of putting a Criterion barrel on a Remington 700 action,about the only choice the DIY guys have over a Savage action is a $900 Shilen action or a $1600 Mausingfield action. I have better things to do than paying/waiting for a gunsmith to install a barrel on an action,and I accept the flaws of the Savage bolt design that some say they have.

Everyone's standards vary. Mine are such that a Savage action can not meet them, and I buy cut rifled barrels, and wait on the gunsmith to cut, thread, and chamber. The end result is exactly what I want it to be.