First Report on Savage 'Target' Action

Forum member Flatlander recently received a RB/RP Savage Target Action with a .473″ boltface. He reports: “I like what I see, and that new Target AccuTrigger is pretty sweet for a factory trigger. I didn’t check it with a scale, but I estimate pull was set for well under a pound. I set it up in my truing fixture, checked the receiver face with a B&S Bestest .0001″ test indicator, and got just a hair over .002″ wobble. A single .0025″ pass cleaned it up completely, as did a very light pass with a boring bar on the lug seats. The action and bolt alone weigh 2.25 pounds. Add the AccuTrigger, recoil lug, trigger guard, and bbl. nut, and that goes up to just a hair over 2.5 pounds.

The recoil lug is double ground. I could not measure any deviation in thickness with my old Lufkin 1″ mic. It also has an indexing stud threaded into the backside, instead of depending on a punch-displaced lump as on Savage’s standard actions. This saved me the $22+shipping a SharpShooter lug would have cost. One note on this action’s screw hole spacing – the front hole is .125″ farther forward than that of a M12.

I’m favorably impressed with the action, but am also impressed with Savage’s initiative in supplying something like this to those of us who want a good basis for an accurate rifle. For those of you who haven’t seen a photo of this action, there’s an article on Savage’s new F/TR rifle in the April ’07 issue of Shooting Times, accompanied by several good shots of the rifle. The guy who wrote the article showed a photo of a 3-shot group fired at 500 yards. that measured .875″, which is kinda impressive for an out-of-the-box stock factory rifle.”