[Doglips]

My 10yr old is out grown her Cricket 22 and I seen a Savage 22 Bolt action with a small (7rd?) banna style clip and black syntic stock at Wal-MArt for $100...she like the bolt action more than the autoloader we have (Marlin Modle 60) so it got my attention.
Since this is the Savage form I figured Id ask, Are the Savage 22 any good? We plink and shoot soda cans out to about 50 yards max. Ive never realy paid attention to Savage on the boards so I dont know their reputation in terms of how they hold up, accuricy ect.....Any input would be appricated.

Thank You.

 

[Mark]

Just got a MkII LV myself. Can't shoot it yet until I get a scope on it. It's my first Savage rifle. I purchased it based on wonderful comments I read from others on this particular rifle.

I can tell you this-- the trigger sucks! I was told that it needed to be lightened, which was an understatement. Rifle Basix just started manufacturing a target trigger for Savage .22 bolt actions.

Of course, this probably doesn't apply if it is your kid's plinker. For your purposes, it'll may be fine as is.

 

[squirrelsniper]

I've had good luck with all the Savage rifles that I've owned, including the centerfires, and any of the rimfires would be more than sufficient to plink soda cans at 50yds. I have a Savage Mark II LV (heavy barrel, laminated stock) that even shoots the cheapo Federal bulk ammo from Wal-Mart into .75" at 50yds which makes it fun and cheap to play around with. Even in a worst case scenerio of getting a not-so-good shooter (I've never had a poor shooting Savage by the way) and shooting crappy ammo, it would still group inside a soda can at 50yds. As Mark stated in his post, the trigger pull is pretty bad as it comes from the factory, expect a 5-6lb pull with some creep and half a mile of over-travel; in other words, it's about like every other factory trigger these days. The trigger can be made much better with some careful work, but the simplest fix is to buy a replacement from Rifle Basix for about $75. Considering the rifle is just going to be used for plinking though, I'd leave it alone and spend the money on ammo.

 

[Doglips]

I checked and was going to edit my post it is the MArk II I looked at..basic barel ect....I'll probly go with it....still kicking the idea around...I looked at the 10/22 auto loader lots of accessories ect...but from what I read out of the box its a POS .. I just have a hard time buying a NIB firearm and haveing to spend $$ to fix it...can accept that from used but not new.. The triger is not that big of a deal...she still dont have the best triger control....but were wworking on that....thanks for the input..Ill let you know how it goes.

 

[Mark]

Rugers aren't bad

POS?!? Well I wouldn't say all that. I've got a stainless 10/22 that came from Wally World. It is a blast to shoot. Just as accurate as any of the other standard autoloaders on the market. And if you DO decide to upgrade the stuff is there to do it.

I just wanted the Savage because I believe it is a good buy (thanks for the info Squirrel sniper!). A bull barrel, free-floated, laminated stock gun for $200 is great. Heck, even after paying $69 for the trigger, it'll still be a great deal.

Personally, I think kids should learn how to shoot a bolt action first, just to learn good shooting skills. I'm glad to hear you did that with the Cricket .22. Either choice you mentioned from here out would be a good one.

 

[Big Dog]

The Savage is on a par with the Marlin for accuracy, which is to say very good. The Savage generally runs a bit cheaper, but they have more options, like left-hand actions and heavy barrels. I have an old Savage semi-auto which outshoots my new Marlin 60.
Both companies have nice youth models, though with your child already having some experience is probably ready for a repeater. Add a good scope and you can't go wrong.