savage 110 or Remington 700

[KsSkaEnthusiast]

This is not for a practical reason, but would you take a current savage 110 or a Remington 700 price and availability equal. Personally I am partial to savage as I have not been impressed with Remington having grown up during the final downfall and not really experiencing their earlier works. On the flip side I just personally enjoy the savage actions more and they have all shot fantastic for me. I can disassemble a savage bolt, clean and reassemble in 5 minutes so it has continued in a go with what you know for me.

Which one would you choose and why?

 

[LoonWulf]

Remington, they look nicer and generally run a little tighter.....IF you get a good one.
Ive got enough good solid rifles im willing to gamble on getting a good one since I just LIKE them better. If I were buying a rifle that I needed to work, and shoot straight, it would probably be the savage.

Ive owned Remingtons from the 70s...which makes them noticeably older than I am...upto last couple years production.
The only one I got that was BAD was the 700 SPS I bought in 2010. It was an utter money pit. receiver was drilled for mounts out of square, the neck was either slightly lop sided, or WAY over size, and the trigger sucked. Paid 800 bucks for it too, so after having a smith fit bases to it, and cleaning out and adjusting the Xmark Pro trigger, I ended up reaming it to 7mm STW to get rid of the factory chamber. After that It shot fantastic and was everything I wanted in a 700...So i sold it.

Ive worked on a few others that had problems, all fairly recent, but none that severe.

In contrast, I've had 5 Savage rifles, with 4 of them being 110s, and NONE were bad guns.

 

[Dale Alan]

I like the Remington 700s , mainly for the ease of finding triggers,stocks, etc . I have had a few of the Savages , I liked them as shooters but they just did not have soul .

 

[army_eod]

It depends. I had a new Savage Scout last year. They managed to hose up the iron sights. Bad engineering. It put me off Savage. They did not acknowledge the design flaw and would not fix. So I doubt I will buy a Savage again.
I have had some great Remington 700s. I guess it mattered when they were manufactured.

 

[Broccolis]

Several years ago purchased a Savage rifle for long range match shooting, w/ sling and micrometer sight system and found that in prone position the bolt lift was so stiff that it would pull me out of position. Struggled with it for a year or so and then switched to the Rem. 700 action and never looked back. Perhaps Savage has improved on that over the years as they did with the then horrible trigger. Replacement parts or aftermarket parts scarce versus the Remington 700 rifle and have found the Varmint model w/ 26" factory barrel is quite capable of winning a match with good loads(308.)
Due to age and health issues no longer compete and my current rifle is a 700 w/Douglas 22" barrel, carefully tuned older Remington factory trigger and HS Precision "police" style stock. Use various scopes and metallic sight system and rifle gives sub MOA accuracy at about any range you select.

 

[Elkins45]

I’ll take the one made by a company that still exists.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I own several of both, at both ends of the price range. If you are comparing the wal-mart 700 Adl to the wal-mart Axis, then I'd take the Axis. The 700 action is smoother but the Savage is more accurate and a little TLC can smooth the action some.
If you are comparing a 700 Cdl or Long range to a Savage 110 or XP, I'll take the 700.

 

[Sniper66]

I've had and still have lots of 700s. Same with my brother. I recently bought a Savage 110 Desert Tactical 6.5CM. Also have a Savage model 25. All of my Rem 700s are very good....better fit and finish than the Savage. My Model 25 had to be returned to get it to load out of the magazine...pain in the neck, but now works and shoots very well. My new 110 has a very stiff bolt, but shoots good. I'm hoping it will shoot better after some barrel use and if I can ever get bullets for loading. To me Savage rifles are the best modestly priced rifles on the market, especially the barrels. But, if I had it to do over again, I would spend more and buy a Bergara 6.5 CM....much better fit and finish and an excellent barrel. It gets tiresome wrestling the clunky bolt of the 110 and the cheap plastic magazines in the Model 25. My newest Rem 700 is a CDL .243. It is a beautiful, smooth running, very accurate shooting rifle. My favorite deer rifle.
Last comment......I've shot several Savage rifles; my own and those of friends. They shoot well, but generally fall short on the fit and finish. I've also shot many Rem 700s with sport and heavy barrels. All of them shot very well and all of them had sigificantly better fit and finish than the Savage.

 

[stillquietvoice]

I would buy either one again. My 700 sps is a real accurate rifle, I did change the trigger to a Timney, but o KY because I couldn't get the pull weight light enough, 3 lbs was OK but still too heavy for shooting groups at longer distances. The only thing that I don't like is the mag box on the short action limits an oal to 2.81"

I've liked savage rifles since I got my first one in the early 90's, so far they have all been quite accurate, my most recent m11 223, hasn't been as good accuracy wise, but shoots between 7/8 to 1.25 in groups. It has a rifle basix trigger, installed when I bought it, that wasn't adjusted properly. Mag boxes on savage rifles are quite generous, allowing longer oal's, easier to tune loads.

 

[gotboostvr]

I've got one of each, a 700 and a pretty new 110.

There's things to like inherent in both platforms. I like the Savages' safety, 3 position locking, tang mounted. I like their barrel nut system and floating bolt head design too. I like how easy it is to change bolt handles as well. It's a very modular system.

I prefer the Remingtons' triggers though. The actions are smoother and a little more svelte in hand.

The 700's are maybe just a little nicer. But picking up a used Savage just for the action is a viable strategy for the home tinkerer that wants a full blown rifle just theway they want.

 

[BWS]

Love the old flat back Savages. New ones just look dumb/fugly to me..... and I have a cpl. The other thing is stocks. Remingtons are either long or short on screw spacing.... Savage? I don't know how many variants there are on spacing.

I like both,buy whichever one lights your fire.

 

[FL-NC]

Of the 2 you mentioned I would choose the Savage, for the reasons you mentioned. And this is from someone who "grew up" with the 700 in many guises- sporters in the deer stand, as well as M24 SWS in the military and similar other "custom tactical" versions as a contractor. That said, I am really partial to the level of performance for the $ I have experienced with Ruger American rifles.

 

[LoonWulf]

Love the old flat back Savages. New ones just look dumb/fugly to me..... and I have a cpl. The other thing is stocks. Remingtons are either long or short on screw spacing.... Savage? I don't know how many variants there are on spacing.

I like both,buy whichever one lights your fire.

Long 5, short 4.275, 4.4, 4.5 and target guns had a couple variations, tho cant remember what.
The axis is unique also but I don't remember what it's spacing is.


The savages do have one usually heavy bolt left for a 90° gun. They're a number of things you can do from lightning the pressure on the firing pin spring which will also affect your ignition, doing roller bearing and other mods to help smooth out and reduce them lift. I've never managed to get one as nice as your average Remington without reducing the tension on the firing pin spring.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Savage for the safety location and the barrel nut.

Now if it was just a bare action we are talking then I would take the Rem 700 and build a Remage out of it. Savage actions feel a little clunky.

 

[jmr40]

The issue with the pre 2007 Remington/Walker designed trigger are very real. I wouldn't own a 700 series rifle made between 1946 and 2007 unless the trigger were replaced with aftermarket. This flawed trigger design resulted in over 100 multi-million dollar lawsuits that Remington settled out of court. Remington also settled a multi-million class action lawsuit over model 870 and 11-87 barrels splitting back in the 1990's. This is really what killed Remington.

Paying lawyers to defend them, paying off plaintiff's, and repairing millions of rifles returned to the factory left no money to put into R&D and led to cutting corners to save money on production. Remington redesigned the trigger starting in late 2006 but due to an error during assembly adhesive dripped into the trigger assembly on some guns between 2007 and 2014 which resulted in a massive recall. This is a safe trigger design, but still a costly error on Remington's part.

There are some design features on Remington 700 series rifles I don't particularly care for such as the extractor and the fact that they solder the bolt handles on, but in reality those rarely cause problems. Once the trigger issue is dealt with MOST Remington bolt rifles will be just fine. I've had several over the years, but currently only have one. I rarely use it anymore, but it was my 1st rifle purchased new in 1975. I've moved on to other rifle designs I like better, but keep this one for nostalgic reasons.

Savage has a well earned reputation for making accurate rifles at reasonable prices. I've had 3-4 over the years. They shoot well enough, but I just don't like many of the design features. I wouldn't have a Savage in a long action as a gift, they are loooooong. The short actions are still longer than other short actions, but are tolerable.

This is a close one for me, a toss up really. Neither Savage, nor Remington is currently making anything I'm interested in. If possible my answer is neither. There are a handful of older Remington's that I like well enough. I suppose it would depend on which individual rifles if forced to choose between the 2. It's not that I think either brand is junk, I just prefer others better.

 

[Dale Alan]

The issue with the pre 2007 Remington/Walker designed trigger are very real. I wouldn't own a 700 series rifle made between 1946 and 2007 unless the trigger were replaced with aftermarket. This flawed trigger design resulted in over 100 multi-million dollar lawsuits that Remington settled out of court. Remington also settled a multi-million class action lawsuit over model 870 and 11-87 barrels splitting back in the 1990's. This is really what killed Remington.

Paying lawyers to defend them, paying off plaintiff's, and repairing millions of rifles returned to the factory left no money to put into R&D and led to cutting corners to save money on production. Remington redesigned the trigger starting in late 2006 but due to an error during assembly adhesive dripped into the trigger assembly on some guns between 2007 and 2014 which resulted in a massive recall. This is a safe trigger design, but still a costly error on Remington's part.

There are some design features on Remington 700 series rifles I don't particularly care for such as the extractor and the fact that they solder the bolt handles on, but in reality those rarely cause problems. Once the trigger issue is dealt with MOST Remington bolt rifles will be just fine. I've had several over the years, but currently only have one. I rarely use it anymore, but it was my 1st rifle purchased new in 1975. I've moved on to other rifle designs I like better, but keep this one for nostalgic reasons.

Savage has a well earned reputation for making accurate rifles at reasonable prices. I've had 3-4 over the years. They shoot well enough, but I just don't like many of the design features. I wouldn't have a Savage in a long action as a gift, they are loooooong. The short actions are still longer than other short actions, but are tolerable.

This is a close one for me, a toss up really. Neither Savage, nor Remington is currently making anything I'm interested in. If possible my answer is neither. There are a handful of older Remington's that I like well enough. I suppose it would depend on which individual rifles if forced to choose between the 2. It's not that I think either brand is junk, I just prefer others better.

That's a lot of words to say , neither .

 

[Newtosavage]

This is not for a practical reason, but would you take a current savage 110 or a Remington 700 price and availability equal. Personally I am partial to savage as I have not been impressed with Remington having grown up during the final downfall and not really experiencing their earlier works. On the flip side I just personally enjoy the savage actions more and they have all shot fantastic for me. I can disassemble a savage bolt, clean and reassemble in 5 minutes so it has continued in a go with what you know for me.

Which one would you choose and why?

Savage guy here. Remingtons look prettier on average, but Savages tend to function and shoot better in my experience.

If you enjoy tinkering, Savage all the way. I just swapped barrels on my son's Savage last night and it took me about 10 minutes.

 

[Armorer 101]

I prefer the 700 BDL old actions for myself because I have been building custom 700 for over 50 years. Plus I have the tools to do the work. However, if I liked the Savage and knew the gun, and could build a Savage without a problem, then I would certainly go with what I knew.

 

[doubleh]

Savages seem to be good accurate rifles. That said they are butt ugly. If I were in the rifle market right now I would be seeing what I could find in a 700. All I can say is it's your money so make your choice and if not satisfied with what you choose do some trading. I have done that very thing more than once.

 

[tws3b2]

I can't say anything about Savage, good or bad. All I can say is that I got my Remington 700 in 1975. When it wears out, I may try a Savage. But looks as if that could be awhile.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ive got a handful of 700s, a 79 BDL 243, a 2013 SPS 308, an unknown 80s or 90s BDL custom in 223, and a 722 in 222.

Also a big fan of winchester model 70s.

Never owned a savage bolt action rifle. Couple old 99s, 29A, and a Striker bolt action pistol, based on the 110 action. The striker has a tight chamber but they all work well.

 

[jdh]

Given the current situation, the one you can find in the dealer's rack in the caliber you want.

Having said that, sadly, due to the circumstances at the time I was spending insurance money about 10 years ago I own more Ruger 77s than 700s and 110s combined.

 

[Varminterror]

New, I couldn’t be persuaded to spend money for a Remington.

Used, Remington. But the Savage isn’t far behind, and likely to be more accurate.

 

[bigpower491]

I've got a couple Savage rifles, a 110 30-06, composite stock,and an 11 223, in a wood stock. Those 2 rifles are pretty good for out of the box. Good load development over the yrs, they're both more than capable of the tasks they are called upon to perform.
I have 1 700, an SPS heavy barrel 22-250. I got a great deal on it 10 yrs ago, NIB, but the stock it came in left much to be desired. As did the scope. They promptly hit the round file in favor of a Bell and Carlson Medalist and Bushnell Elite. That one is probably one of the best shooting rifles I own. Coyotes out the kitchen window at 255 yrds.....no problem

 

[cdb1]

Looks aren’t at the top of my list as a rule when it comes to rifles. But, I just flat out don’t like the looks of the 110 series. Everything else being equal, and it seldom is, I’ll take a 700.