Originally Posted by
turnburglar
So a little update for the forum since I like to keep everything transparent. For a quick recap: I put 300 rounds through the gun and experienced 2-3 double feeds, but most importantly the bolt lugs really developed some odd wear. I contacted Savage the first time to initiate their warranty process. The first time I had to send it out on my dime, and they returned the rifle in 4 weeks, with only a “deburr and polish” to the bolt lugs. I shot about 60 more rounds through the rifle, and the wear on the bolt lugs continued and got worse. I contacted Savage a 2nd time and explained my dissatisfaction. My contact at Savage arranged for them to pay shipping both ways, as well as throw in a spare mag for my time. Fast forward 5 weeks, and I received the gun back from its SECOND trip to the factory. Upon initial inspection, it appears that they may have changed out the barrel and bolt carrier; but NOT the bolt with the worn out lugs. The only thing I have been telling them to replace since the beginning. Now if this was an AR-15 and I still cared about fixing it: I would simply buy the parts myself, and what I couldn’t replace I would take to a qualified smith down the road. Since this is a proprietary gun, that isn’t an option and Savage has claimed they will not use a 3rd party for the labor. At this point the gun has spent half of its first year at the factory. I can't use imgur anymore to host pics, so if someone could suggest another web host I will upload pictures.
I REALLY wanted to like this rifle when I first bought it. It’s a handy, innovative, and well priced 308. Unfortunately it appears Savage is in the same camp as Sig. “We will pay an engineer up front, but the QC and Smiths are gonna be bare minimum.” I feel confident at this point in saying that Savage is not an AR manufacture and should be avoided. A good manufacture will fix a gun the first or second time it comes in for warranty. I won’t be buying a bolt gun from them in the future. Tikka it is.