Polish a Turd......Savage axis rifle.

[hunter399]

Well I got this rifle.
Not sure if I got a beater with a heater or what.
I'm gonna update this topic as I go along.
So it will be many posts down the road here.
I'm sure I'll get lots of buy this or that.
The goal is a decent shooting rifle,with as little money as possible.
Caliber is 270 win.

Right out the box,stock is tweaked to one side.
I grinded the inside barrel channel on the one side till that 5 dollar bill slid smoothly in.

[hunter399]

Picture of the scope based removed, cleaning oil out the screw holes.
So I can blue lock tight them back down.
Did all this,but will have to be redone.
I'll show ya why in the next post.

[hunter399]

The scope base are crap.
I mounted the scope all level and all that.
Then noticed a gap where the rings meet the bases.
I bought new Weaver scope rings ,thinking the rings are just cheap whatever.
Only to find out the gap is still there.

In the picture. Arrow is pointed to the gap and scope base that came with rifle,with rounded corners.
The bottom base close to table is a true weaver base off another rifle,without gap,crisp corners.

So another 50 dollar bill ,parts are on the way,guess pictany rail it is.
I'll post links later.

[birdshooter1189]

If you were really wanting to keep it a cheap budget rifle, I'd use the cheap existing scope base and rings, but JB-weld them together.  I'd JB weld the base to the action (careful to keep JB weld out of the screw holes).  And then Possibly JB weld the scope rings to the base too.  If you careful wipe away the excess it'll hardly be noticeable unless you look carefully, or try to take it apart, and it will give you confidence that it isn't moving.

There's nothing wrong with what you are doing though, and by most people's opinions, what you are doing is the right way to do it.  It just costs a little more money.

[hunter399]

So right out the box,these rifles are scope mounted ,bore sighted.
Mine came cross hairs canted. Rings screwed all the way down one side.
Huge gap on other side.

This topic isn't a rant,or complain special.
It is meant as educational,to help other users of this rifle improve there investment.
I do like savage axis ,just needs some spit shine and some help.

I fully realize.....
You get what you pay for.
Buy once ,cry once.

But we will red neck it up. Poor boy style

[hunter399]

The scope bases on my son's rifle from a few years ago ,does not have this problem.
That was the first rifle I checked ,when I noticed it on this rifle.
Crip corners ,no gap, good attachment.
Not sure how this is so whacked out .

Parts that are on the way.

Monstrum Precision Picatinny Scope Rings | 1 inch Diameter | Flat Dark Earth https://a.co/d/dkvy4HA

Monstrum Picatinny Rail Mount for Savage Axis/Edge Rifles with Integrated Level Bubble | 0 MOA https://a.co/d/dYtK18i


Im not exactly sure how far I'll go down the rabbit hole.
I did do a trigger job on my son's rifle,few years ago.
But it's kinda tricky,not sure I want to show that on the forum for safety reasons.
Also I may dura coat the rifle,flat dark earth,just cause these rifles rust so easily.
Last thing I want to do is ,spend an hour coating with oil,every time I come home from hunting in bad weather.

I do not recommend anybody buying same parts I did.
I won't even know if they fit till next week.

[Special T]

I have done several "trigger jobs" onmy own stuff where I never touched the Sear. You might be amazed how much resistance you can remove by just sanding and polishing  parts that rub against each other. It made a huge difference on my wheel gun and made cleaning I much easier. I think with an inexpensive gun you can get noticeable increases in trigger feel by doing so. Several grades of fine grit sandpaper, a block down and a cheap dremmel with polish compound goes a long ways.

[brokenvet]

Have to concur that the stock on those are a POS. 

I bought an Axis stainless from Wall Mart for $299 in 30.06. 
My plan was to upgrade it.  Boyd’s at-one stock and an ER Shaw barrel in 6.5x55, installed the barrel myself.  About $600 for the stock and barrel.  I get 1/2” groups at 100 yards.

[hunter399]

I'll post this.
Just disclaimer.....
YOU ARE REASONABLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY.
I DO NOT PERSONALLY RECOMMEND.
Pretty sure any modifications void warranty.

Also there are other options, depends on how much money you got to burn.

https://timneytriggers.com/axis-edge-trigger/

https://www.mcarbo.com/savage-axis-trigger-pro-kit.aspx

https://jardinc.com/savage-axis

Probably more out there. Just quick Google search.
For the life of me,I can't remember if I cut or replaced the trigger spring on my son's rifle.
Problem is I built his for myself,that year he out grew his 243.
I never got to hunt with it. He took it over.

[BD1]

Sorry that happened to you...my son's Axis .270 drives tacks once we sighted it in. Maybe we lucked out 

[buckfvr]

Never leave the store before you give it the once over top to bottom so you can refuse upon finding flaws.  Id have left that one on the counter.   

[elkslayer069]

Get what you pay for unfortunately. Those (every brand) cheap rifles are like harbor freight tools if you want to use it seriously you’re going to be disappointed every time. Do the tools work? Sometimes yes, sometimes it works but not well. Do those cheap rifles shoot? Yes. Sometimes not well…. The fit and finish is never great at best it’s ok ish. Ive never understood buying a cheap rifle and putting a different stock, trigger etc on it when you could’ve bought a nicer rifle. Same as buying a prefit barrel to put on an action and “building it yourself”. Your only saving about 300 dollars doing it that way and when your done there’s no guarantee or any accountability to the shotty workmanship.  Rant done

[hunter399]

Let's just say I got a smoking deal on it.
So dumping a little money on it ,might be ok.
But it might not if it shoots like crap ,so who knows at this point.
I guess others will know what to look for if they decide to drop some dime on one.
270 I have die,powder,brass ,some components,that was just sitting otherwise,so just being able to use some of that as well.
I'm not disappointed yet,will wait till I'm at the bench,then get sad.lol.

[castnblast]

I think this thread is awesome and look forward to reading more about your adventures and lessons learned.

BTW...my buddy has done the $20 MCARBO trigger spring swap on three different Axis rifles and has been happy with the improvement.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Remnar]

If you were really wanting to keep it a cheap budget rifle, I'd use the cheap existing scope base and rings, but JB-weld them together.  I'd JB weld the base to the action (careful to keep JB weld out of the screw holes).  And then Possibly JB weld the scope rings to the base too.  If you careful wipe away the excess it'll hardly be noticeable unless you look carefully, or try to take it apart, and it will give you confidence that it isn't moving.

There's nothing wrong with what you are doing though, and by most people's opinions, what you are doing is the right way to do it.  It just costs a little more money.

 :bdid:imhop