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

[Dan-o]

4 of my kids have Savage Axis rifles.
They all shoot somewhere between good enough and really good.
The only mod I've made was the M CARBO trigger kit.
It's only like $20, and it reduces the trigger pull about 40-50% which really helps.

Did you shoot it first just to see?
They're not works of art, but sometimes they drill holes in the right spot pretty good.

[hunter399]

4 of my kids have Savage Axis rifles.
They all shoot somewhere between good enough and really good.
The only mod I've made was the M CARBO trigger kit.
It's only like $20, and it reduces the trigger pull about 40-50% which really helps.

Did you shoot it first just to see?
They're not works of art, but sometimes they drill holes in the right spot pretty good.

Ya I've had the same experience,some are just tack drivers,others are just ok.
I've been looking at that trigger kit.
Might pull the trigger on it.
No I haven't shot it yet ,I've had it for awhile,still brand new.
Wait till spring,when I can drag my shooting bench out. Hopefully find a load it can chew on.

[hunter399]

I specifically remember doing the trigger on my son's rifle.
But I believe I didn't buy a kit. Think it was a do it yourself job.
So I'll update here.
Took the stock off my son's rifle ,this is what it looks like.
Looks like to me,I definitely replaced factory. Put a screw,and different spring in.

[hunter399]

Digging around in the junk box here at the house.
I found these,I might of bought them back then for this purpose.
Like said can't remember.
This is what I got without going to the hardware store.
The one spring looks like I cut some of it off before,maybe that's the one.

[hunter399]

This is the lip stick for this pig.
It's only about a half can,this will be done kinda last .
After trigger,scope mounting is figured out.
Hopefully the tip isn't clogged from the last time I used it.
That's what I got laying around.

[hunter399]

So ya I'll update more as I go.
Rings and base should be here soon.
Then I'll work on trigger.
Then when a warmer day happens,I'll coat it.
That epoxy paint will take 2weeks to a month to cure.

So it's all a process,that I will get finished before spring.
The end goal is......
Cheap as cheap can get.
Shoots decent.
No worries on beating it up.
Lightweight truck to mountain rifle.
All weather.....no rust....set it by the wood stove after hunting.

[wafisherman]

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

We have an axis 270 and a 243. Both have dropped a few deer and no issues.

[270Flat]

Both my boys shoot savage Axis o e in .243 and one in 6.5 creedmore. Both have killed several deer and a real nice bear. Have worked every time the trigger has been pulled. Misses were due to young boys pulling off target. I did too them with Vortex scopes. They only shoot Hornady ammo out of them which has pairs really well. 

[hunter399]

More updates here.
Parts ordered did fit the gun.
Add some made in China stuff ,should add 1/2 horse power at least.

Here is the scope base.
Tiniest bubble level ,that my old eye will most likely never see.
Should help keeping rifle level when I mount the scope.
If I have a bright flashlight to see it.

[hunter399]

Rings fit much better than factory did.
Definitely a snug fit on the rail,which is good.
It has little notch on the bottom of rings,that pop into the spaces in the rail.
Plus the clamps on the side.
Scope rings and base or rail are made by the same company.
So I was gonna be pissed if it didn't fit.

[hunter399]

Now the trigger ,took me a few minutes to put it together the way I think it should be.
Rummaged through every freaking junk boxes around the house.
The three springs pictured,only one was correct size.
But was worse than the factory.
Then you play the game of over travel,the slack the trigger has after fired.
If you cut a screw long to compensate for over travel,it leaves very little spring travel.

Here is a pic ,trying to figure it out.

[hunter399]

So I came up with this.
Thinking I could take all over travel.
Also thinking I could just clip the factory spring.
Which savage has changed,cause it was a brass color spring,now it's green.

None of this worked out,but I'll show a pic anyway.
At least it didn't for me,the factory spring is strong.
You see all these YouTube of people just cutting the spring.
Cut or not ,the compression of the spring and trigger feels the same to me.
Basically you would have to ride a fine line of function vs any kind of reduction of trigger.

[hunter399]

So what I came up with.

Is ....here we go .....
Is a 1.50 trigger job from the hardware store.
The screw I got is the same length as the safety screw.
Which takes up some over travel,but also allows enough spring travel for it to fire and reset sear reliability.
The spring is just the same size I could find at the hardware store.(diameter)
Then I cut the spring to about the same length as the factory,but compress a lot better than factory.

Spring was 1.19
Another bolt was .20 cent.

That's what I came up with.

[hunter399]

So this will be last post for a few weeks.
As in all I have left is to coat the rifle in that aluma Hyde epoxy paint.
Mount the scope up.
Recheck after coating,that I'm still free floating.

I like to give it a week or two by the wood stove for the coating to get hard.
It's dry to touch in 24 hrs ,but it's definitely not hard coat yet.

That video definitely doesn't do that trigger justice.
After putting the stock back on,handed to my wife to dry fire a few times.
First thing she said.....
Why doesn't my rifle trigger feel like this.

[hunter399]

Time to coat this rifle.

I was gonna not coat it, wasn't gonna buy different base and rings.
Was gonna just plug and play,as I looked at things.
Didn't like the setup "out the box" .
So I guess it's full rabbit hole now,in it to win it.
Even if it shoots crap,it will look good doing it.

This stuff on the can,says don't spray if lower than 60 degrees.
That's hog wash ,BS will fix that.
Warming up the paint on the wood stove.