Originally Posted by
LoneWolf
If you want to shoot well on a stage like this you need an action that cycles reliably 100% of the time. If it continues to catch or have other issues you will lose time and not even have an opportunity to get most of your rounds off. It's not just Savage Actions that have issues, anything that is not fitted together correctly or tuned just right. However, I see lots of guys that shoot well get held up do to actions not being able to cycle reliably. Actions I saw have issues yesterday:
Savage
Factory R700
Sako
Shilen DGR (seriously just get a Savage)
and a few other random brands that I wasn't familiar with.
Actions I did not see fail:
Mausingfield
Surgeon
Defiance
GAP Tempest
Ruger RPR
Basically any of the customs.
This is a match ran from a clean covered firing line. Not even harsh conditions. I have to go with what I see on a monthly basis. When I knew it was my gear holding me back and I wanted to beat these guys knowing I was a better shooter I had to get better gear. If you just want to screw around in these competitions for some fun and hang out with a good group of guys then a Savage is a perfect intro rifle. However, I strongly believe you'll rarely if never see a Savage at the top of a serious Precision Bolt Rifle Competition that is ran with most stages being done in this manner unless perhaps it is a factory class.
This is what I observe on a monthly Basis. Go look at the standings of the recent NorCal match I shoot with James Jeffries, Soloman Manasala, Rich Chronister, and many other names on that list. I see this month in and month out.