bolt gun that has a major problem

[williejc]

My guess is that among rifle manufacturers few if any c.s. workers ever heard of "threads being off", and when their supervisors learned that the problem pertained to suppressor baffle strikes, then they quickly lost interest. About Mossberg quality control, I have had to put up with defective new shotguns and then fix them myself after convincing customer service to send me the parts. For this reason, I would never buy a Mossberg center fire rifle, which I could not fix.

[elephantrider]

Savage confirmed the barrel was off and are replacing with new barrel. The guy that threaded it offered to thread the new barrel at no charge. Still have to send the can back to yhm for rebuild.
So here's the short list of my last few manufacturers that have terrible quality control :savage , remington , h and r , mossberg . That does not leave many options for purchasing a workable firearm.

DO NOT let the same shop/guy thread the new barrel. If he did not know, or care enough to do it correctly the first time, then he likely does not have the skill/knowledge/tooling to get it done correctly at all. The bore being not concentric to the barrel O.D. should not have been a problem in the first place. Even the BEST, and most consistently manufactured barrels will be off center at least a small amount. Lower quality barrels will be off significantly, but are still workable. Gunsmiths that do muzzle threading correctly know this, and do NOT use the O.D. of the barrel as a reference point for chambering, crowning, or threading. Some smiths might ask and charge more for threads that are for suppressors, but I feel that this guy owes you whatever you paid him for the first go round, plus the cost of any additional parts and hassle.

[Lost River]

"Customizing" a Savage Axis is the epitome of putting lipstick on a pig. It would be hard to find a more cheaply made POS, unless you went with a Rem 783.

This makes absolutely NO sense to me. You can buy a substantially higher quality rifle that is used for close to the same money, if budget is an issue. That said, if I am going through hassle and expense of paying someone to thread a barrel, buy an NFA item, deal with tax stamps, etc, I certainly would spend a few more dollars on the base platform. There are racks full of old Rem 700s, Mausers, Ruger 77s, various Winchesters, etc, in most used gun stores.

I would suggest using the Axis as a tomato stake and grabbing an old 700, and then having a shop experienced with cutting and threading barrels do the work. Personally, my .30 can is attached to a T3 Varmint .308 that was properly cut to 20"s.

There are times and places to go cheap. Center fire suppressor hosts are not one of those (in my opinion).

[williejc]

I recently bought two Axis rifles, .223 and .308, and agree with Lost that there are indeed more higher class rifles for class 3 doings. My purchases were mission specific. The .223 will be used for shooting coyotes and hogs at cow pasture distance and plinking. The .308 will be a cast bullet rifle. After tinkering with barrel and bullet, I hope to be putting 170-200 grain lead slugs in the same hole at 50 yards and will accept 2inch groups at 100. That's the best that I can shoot these days. I know not to waste money on these little pigs, each of which wears a fine vintage scope worth more than the rifle. The rifles cost $207 each after rebate. They are bad ugly and have zero cool and no soul like that found in a classic firearm. If I'm able to get them to shoot well, I will be content. If not, I will curse them and regret wasting my money.