A couple of things about Savage rifles. They started making left hand versions available in the late 60s and they were the first to give us a reasonably priced option. I have been buying and shooting Savage rifles since the late 60s and I have never got one that would not shoot under an inch with the factory barrel. I also never had one that gave me any grief except for a 110C with the side release mag. I got rid of that one because it would not feed reliably, even though is was very accurate.
The older guns did not have nice lines and that slotted barrel nut wan't real pretty, but a wood rasp and some time, you could make them look a whole bunch better. I have worn the barrels out on more than a few Savage rifles, so I know they hold up well. The last 15 years, they are actually turning out some nicer looking guns, smooth barrel nut, but still very easy to swap barrels if you want to. Also, with the floating bolt head, you don't need to true a Savage action so replacing the barrel is a whole bunch cheaper than it is on a Rem 700. You can also swap bolt heads so you can change cartridges very easily from 223, to 308 to mag class rounds.
Some of you look down your noses at Savage rifles. I can pretty much afford to buy whatever gun I want and I still think Savage is a good gun, especially at that price point. Up until the last year or two, you seldom heard of issues with them and if you did have a problem, Savage was Johnnie on the spot to help you straighten it out. Savage, Ruger, Weatherby Vanguard and Tikka are about the only reasonably priced guns that don't consistently have issue. Bergara, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg, Winchester, Thompson and most of the other common 1000 dollar and under guns have a lot of issues. Savage is also the only gun company I know of that has entered multiple shooting competitions with off the shelf guns and won.
I still own a few Savage rifles and I still think they are a good choice for many shooters.
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