This is the Savage Axis (formerly Savage Edge) that belongs to my 16 yo son.
The Savage axis is a bolt action rifle available in eight calibers, this one is chambered for .223 REM. The rifle has a five round box magazine, a 22" carbon steel barrel, a rate of twist that is 1 in 9" (that means the projectile takes 9 inches to complete one full revolution) and the only stock available is a matte black synthetic stock.
The rifle does not have any sights but it comes ready for a scope. The scope we have on it is a Targus we picked up on sale at Wally's.
This is the first mag I fired and as you can see, the rifle is sighted in for my son. I started out low right and walked it in to my last shot, just a hair low left of the bullseye. I did shoot this rifle before it was sighted in and it shot nice, tight little groups right where I put them. I wanted to "fix" it so I could get my groupings back but figured my son wouldn't appreciate my fiddling with his scope. Kentucky windage didn't help me much, I'm used to iron sights so I found that I emptied the magazine just about the time I got my bearings and had to start all over again after reloading. In this case a second or even third magazine would have been handy and a higher capacity magazine would have been ideal.
Pros:
This is a light, comfortable, accurate rifle.
I prefer wood stocks but this one fits the rifle very nicely. It doesn't flex or feel flimsy and it really helps keep the rifle down to a not too hefty 6.5 pounds.
I like the recoil pad it came with. Not that the .223 rifle has that much recoil, but what it does have is nicely cushioned down. I'm just coming off of a lay-up having damaged the AC joint in my left shoulder and this rifle barely made my left shoulder tingle. (I am right handed and fire right handed but recoil carries)
I really like that the rifle is chambered for a wide range of calibers.
It's quite affordable and easily available, we ordered this one at Walmart, and I could see outfitting the whole family (five rifles) for less than what I paid for my first car.
Cons:
I would prefer a semi-auto with a larger clip. Even if I can't have it as a semi-auto, I'd like a larger magazine. I'm sure there are, or will be soon, higher capacity third party magazines.
Savage says it has a silky smooth bolt action. Silky smooth my aunt fanny. It's not rough but easy it ain't. This rifle was purchased new six months ago so I would imagine it's not broken in yet and the action will smooth out with use.
It's awkward to manipulate the bolt since there isn't enough room between the bolt lever and the scope for my thumb. This might be fixable if one fiddled around with different scopes and scope mounts but nah, it's not my rifle, and my son doesn't have that issue since his hands are big enough to rest his thumb on the scope while he lifts the bolt with his fingers.
The rifle has no sights. I love my son dearly, but grace is not something he's acquainted with, a problem exacerbated by his having grown another inch this past month. The first time we took it to the range he loaded it up in it's case, put it in the car, remembered he had the mag in his pocket so he stuck it in the case, and then we were off. About half way to the range I braked hard and here came the Savage, poking it's butt into the back of my seat to say "How YOU doin'?" He'd forgotten to latch the case after he put the mag in it. My car wasn't particularly nice to the finish or the stock, and the scope took more scrapes than either of the other two. Had the scope been damaged the rifle would be out of commission, not something you want to happen out in the woods or when the zombies are feeling peckish.
Would I recommend this rifle? Yes. I think this would be a good rifle family for when you're ready for something beyond the .22. I think it will become a steady eddie and am considering one of my own.
