46 replies to this topic

[ehd]

within tollerances.? what a crock of crap. I could drill those holes straighter off the tailgate of my truck!. that statement by Savage is whats wrong with America . Good enough,send it out the door ,and then come up with a lame excuse for crappy workmanship.

[ratassassin]

Yeah, what Savage has told you so far doesn't sound very comforting. But it's hard to tell until you actually get the rifle back and see how it is. It might be worthwhile talking to Scott Null at http://www.savagegunsmithing.com/ and see what he thinks. I was reading on rimfirecentral.com awhile back that Savage's CEO and his management team have been speaking with Scott since he has built a business out of accurizing them. Scott may have some good suggestions about how to get Savage's attention if it turns out you're still not happy with what they've done to address the problem. Very interested in this thread. Let us know how it goes. I like Savage and have had good luck with their rifles. I purchased a Model 116 FCSS Weather Warrior .270 Win a few months back and it's a beautiful rifle. I hope you get satisfaction from them.

[clampdaddy]

That's crappy! What would happen if you wanted to ditch those two piece mounts and use a single weaver type rail? I doubt it would work without obliging the holes in the rail. I'm surprised a company that prides itself on the accuracy of their rifles would let crooked scope mounting holes pass q.c. like that.

[Bennie]

I would write them a letter and tell them you do not feel right about the way they are fixing the rifle. I would tell them that you want a new action installed to fix this rifle right. I would also show them all these post. I personally will never buy another savage if they do not fix your rifle right.

[rude robert]

Just when I was thinking my next rifle would be a savage in 223. Nope!

[Karl]

A friend of mine bought a Savage a year and a half ago and it had to go back to Savage three times before they got it right. About every 5-10 rounds it wouldn't fire until you tried to open the bolt.In Manufacturing a 3%-5% failure rate is considered great.

[Bisley]

Not defending their actions, it should be fixed correctly, but as far as buying one that had a flaw............Can anyone here HONESTLY say that they could make hundreds of thousands or rifles and not forget to check every single part on each one? I don't know about y'all, but I'm a far cry from perfect myself. It does happen, HOWEVER, it should have been properly addressed. I myself am a huge fan of Savage, and their Stevens line also, and would have liked to have seen more promising results of obvious errors.Maybe you could have a good gunsmith plug(weld) it and redrill it for a reasonable price (even if you should not have had to).

[XR100]

What's your opinion of Savage's evaluation and fix???

I had been seriously considering a new Savage MKII 17HM2 / 17 Mach 2 - you talked me out of it. I'm truly sorry you have had so much trouble with this, but do appreciate your sharing the story. I'll save my money and buy the Ruger. Thanks for the info.My disappointment with this story isn't that Savage released a poorly finished rifle to the market, it's with the attitude of the company with respect to this customer complaint. "Within specs." doesn't tell me anything except that, perhaps, they need to re-examine their specs. and quality assurance and/or find a team of engineers who can tighten the tolerance on the specs. with the machinery they are using. Maybe it's time to update the machinery.I spent a few years in quality assurance with an electronics firms that made high quality extremely linear tracking resistive elements for the military and space industries. If I had allowed a finished control piece to leave the shop that I even suspected might be refused by the customer I'd have been sweeping floors the next day. I won't do business with a company that ships something like PBM bought and then disavows any responsibility for correcting the problem with the statement, "it's within specs."

[Bisley]

Just so you know, we had a friend in the family that had a Ruger Blackhawk that had lands so shallow on the left side that the bullets were keyholing!!! Ruger's reply was the same, "Within factory tolerances". A purchase should be made on the number of total products, weighed against the number of total problems, not just 1 or 2 bad experiences you've heard about. We always hear about the bad, but who ever really writes about the good. If we never bought a product because "somebody" had a problem with it, we wouldn't own anything!I find it funny too how some people will drop hundreds of dollars in Vegas, knowing they are pretty much surely going to lose it, and don't complain. Yet they are not willing to drop much less on a firearm that odds are WAY, WAY BETTER that they will come out absolutely fine with no problems. But I guess I just see things in a different, simpler perspective. Nothing in life is 100 guaranteed.

[PBM]

I'm in ageement with you. I don't fault Savage at all for letting something slip by them once in awhile. It's hard to get even close to 100 percent on everything that goes out the door. BUT, once a problem is identified, this is the time when a company shows their true commitment to quality. Some are great and some fall short.

[Karl]

I think I should add that I have the same Savage as my Buddy and it is flawless.My Brother was on a duck hunt in South Texas one year and he was carrying a Browning Field Grade O/U. Due to the amount of salt in the air the gun started rusting while he was hunting! When he got home he called Browning and told them what happened.The response, "Send it to us, we will fix it free of charge, our guns aren't supposed to do that!"He got his gun back and they had completely gone thru it, and it looked brand new.That is customer service!

[Frank]

Nothing in life is 100 guaranteed.

D E A T H ?LOL... Sorry, I just couldn't help it. But good post, Bisley, and you are correct of course. It is the companys that stand behind their products that seperate the good from the bad IMO. Karl's example is a good one.While I have sent "stuff" back on certain products with excellent results, when it comes to firearms I usually either fix it myself or have it fixed &/or sell it if there is a problem or just end up not liking it.After waiting many years to purchase a Savage 22-250 and finally doing so early last year, I personally am done with Savage. It was a lone experience & may not be fair, but once was enough for me. What's the old saying? Burned once, shame on them, burned twice, shame on me. Frank

[Bennie]

I agree no manufacturer can produce products that are 100% defect free. But I think they should fix it right when one goes out to some one that definitely has a problem and the customer is not happy with it. I am in construction and have been for years. I can tell you that I have made mistakes in my life building things. When we make a mistake at work we tear it up and rebuild or repaint or what ever. Some times it is not even our fault when we have to tear up new construction = concrete not passing a break test. We don't bitch when it happens. We jack hammer it out and start over. What I am trying to say is it would not be that hard for a company like savage to tear that rifle apart and put a new action on it. I would melt the hole rifle and send a new one before I would let something I built go to a customer that is not right.

[BPS]

Amen Bennie. Pat I hope they make it right for you, if not then we'll find you a nice Remington.Lee

[PBM]

I'm sure I can get it right with the right mount and rings. Just need to get it back now and get it on the range. Thanks Lee

[keale73]

Write them a long letter about how dissatisfied you are with their customer service and their product. Make them buy the rifle back and get a 700

[Shoot-it]

Maybe all of us from the forum can send them an email demanding them to fix your problem or we stop buying their products.