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Let’s face it, there are really two types of rifle hunters out there. There are those who get a deep thrill out of developing a load for a rifle and milking every ounce of accuracy from it, and there are those of us who are okay with factory loads. Unfortunately, I have been part of the latter group my entire life despite my best efforts to get into the precision reloading world. Time is a commodity and because of my other hobbies, it’s unlikely that I will be able to give up any more time to learn how to develop an accurate load for each of my rifles. This means that a gun that likes factory loads is an absolute must for a hunter like me.
This season I’ve had the pleasure of shooting a Savage Arms Model 11/111 chambered in .300 Win Mag and it is just that – a pleasure. Our managing editor, Dan Turvey Jr. set the gun up with with a Zeiss Conquest Rapid Z 800 scope and we went out to the range to sight it in with factory ammunition from Hornady. I wasn’t expecting accurate groups from a gun straight out of the box with factory ammunition. However, I was in for a surprise.
The rifle loved the 150 grain bullets and once sighted in, a sub 1 MOA group graced the target. After some quick calculations with the Zeiss Rapid Z ballistic calculator program, we were sending lead 500 yards downrange and knocking over steel targets, punching them smack dab in the center. It’s really hard to ask for much more than that when taking a rifle to the range for the very first time.
As it would turn out, this isn’t out of the ordinary for this model of Savage firearm. Brandon Mason has been using a 111 chambered in .270 Win for several years and it loves factory ammunition as well. His rifle has been responsible for the harvest of one bull elk, four antelope bucks, and many freezer-filler does. Not a shabby kill count for a rifle that is less than three seasons old. With a little luck, I was able to add a bull elk of my own this season with the aforementioned .300 Win Mag and 150 grain bullets.
Even better is that this isn’t the only Savage model in our office that likes the factory loads. We have two model 16/116s chambered in .300 WSM and .270 WSM that use the factory ammunition can knock down whatever western big game animal is unfortunate enough to end up in the scope . Between Guy and Ike more animals have met their demise over the years with these rifles than we could count in one sitting. The pinnacle trophy harvested with these rifles was Guy’s 2013 Montana 350+ bull elk. With a Zeiss Rapid Z scope perched on top of his .270 WSM model 116, he made short work of atop notch bull.
If you are looking for a rifle that shoots factory loads with consistency and puts animals down with ease at reasonable ranges, the 111 or 116 from Savage may be exactly what you are looking for.
Model 11/111 Specs:
MSRP: $746.00
Barrel Color: Blued
Barrel Finish: Satin
Barrel Material: Carbon Steel
AccuTrigger: Yes
AccuStock: Yes
Stock Material: Synthetic
Stock Color: Black
Stock Finish: Matte
Magazine: Detachable Box
Model 16/116 Specs:
MSRP: $769.00
Barrel Color: Natural
Barrel Finish: Matte
Barrel Material: Stainless Steel
AccuTrigger: Yes
AccuStock: Yes
Stock Material: Synthetic
Stock Color: Black
Stock Finish: Matte
Magazine: Detachable Box
Years ago growing up in N.C.in the 50’s all we had was a cheap Savage Stevens single shot .22..Boy was it a shooter..I spent many youthful years taking squirrels and rabbits with it..Also won a few shooting matches..Later life found me in Wy. and Co. but I remember that rifle got me started.
It’s got a lot to do with the Hornady ammo. I use it in almost all my guns. ( Wish they made some 22 rimfire.) Their ammo is reasonably priced and, more importantly, extremely consistent. (For my 22 I use CCI.)
Just bought a savage 16 .300 wsm. Going to shoot it today. P.s. 116= long action, 16= short action. So your .300 wsm is actually a 16
I have the Savage 116 chambered in 30.06 and I can’t get the gun to group any better than a12″ grouping. I even sent my snipe back to the manufacturer thinking my scope was bad. I’ve used 180 grain and 150 grain bullets. I have had a gunsmith loom at it and said that he couldn’t find anything wrong. Only suggestion was to try different ammo. Very disappointed in this gun so far. My son has a savage, different model, that shoots perfectly.
Try removing the scope bases and checking the top of the threaded holes for any burs. Remove with a small file then reinstall with high temp locktite. You can also “fit” or lap the top of the receiver and/or bottom of the scope bases so they mate as closely as possible. If this doesn’t fix the problem I would send the gun back to Savage.
I got addicted to savage years ago with a 17 hmr. My last purchase from them was a model 11/111 308. With only about 100 to 150 rounds through it so far I run Hornady btsp 150 gr with 43.3 grams of imr 4064. I get about .5 inch groups at 50 yards and can knock down steel at about 275 yards.