Savage model 111

[*Klutch*]

By better, I mean more quality. I'm looking to have a good platform to start and keep for many years. In the past few days I've been doing some research and come up with both guns being good out of the box, but from personal experience I have never fired the Savage, I have owned a Rem 700, but with the Weatherby after 5-6 rounds it would start throwing the shots all over the target. So I guess I'm looking for out of the box quality without being $1k. I'm leaning toward the Savage 110/111; I don't care if it has a scope or not cause I'm putting a Nikon Monarch on it with Weaver rings, so for now I'm concentrated on the rifle itself.
In your opinion what do you consider better?

[Rundownfid]

Savage makes rifles that are exceptionally accurate for price. In this regard the Savages, especially with the Accu-trigger, are excellent. The stocks on their least expensive models, and the Stevens 200, are a bit too cheap in my opinion. the hollow plastic just feels cheap. However, even with the stock they are generally excellent shooters. Personally a decent trigger is important enough to me to go accu-trigger or put some money aside for a Rifle Basic or Timney trigger.

[dodge]

I have the same thing only with a wooden stock. I say go for it as mine will hold 1 - 1 1/2" groups all day long and alot of times even tighter. I've had mine for more years than I care to remember it has never let me down. If you end up not liking the factory stock you can always change it out for a wooden stock from people like Boyd's.

[firemanmark]

I have owned and shot many Savage rifles over the years and have to agree that all with the exception of one 111 .270(don't know what that ones malfunction was and ended up rebarrelling it anyway) have all been very accurate out of the box and have performed dependably. They may not be the flashiest gun out there but IMO are a good value for a good gun.

[Chip W]

IMHO the 111 is a nice rifle in either plain Jane form or even better with the accutrigger.
Be warned however that if you get one and buy new glass, you may need a scope with a long body on it to get the eye relief you need.
Due to the long action the rings are spread pretty far apart and doesn't give mug wiggle room.
EGW make a rail to make more accommodations, but with a Nikon Prostaff the tube is short and the rail needs to be trimmed/milled down to accommodate the scopes objective diameter when hunting for the correct eye relief (mid height rings would negate that issue but then messes up the cheek weld). You mentioned a Monarch scope which I believe is longer so ymmv.

[dodge]

IMHO the 111 is a nice rifle in either plain Jane form or even better with the accutrigger.
Be warned however that if you get one and buy new glass, you may need a scope with a long body on it to get the eye relief you need.
Due to the long action the rings are spread pretty far apart and doesn't give mug wiggle room.
EGW make a rail to make more accommodations, but with a Nikon Prostaff the tube is short and the rail needs to be trimmed/milled down to accommodate the scopes objective diameter when hunting for the correct eye relief (mid height rings would negate that issue but then messes up the cheek weld). You mentioned a Monarch scope which I believe is longer so ymmv.

I have a Prostaff 3-9X40 on mine and I didn't need any rail but did need medium heigth rings so that the objective lens would clear the barrel.

[Chip W]

I have a Prostaff 3-9X40 on mine and I didn't need any rail but did need medium heigth rings so that the objective lens would clear the barrel.

Yep, I prefer the cheek weld afforded by low rings better. Purely a personal preference but one that caused me a few err....headaches.
As it stands now cheek weld and eye relief are just right for me, it's pretty darn close to the barrel though.

[Pector55]

I'm in the market for a new hunting rifle and came across the Savage 111 in 30.06 for under $400 new with some POS rings and scope on it. I don't care about the rings and scope as I'll be putting a Nikon Monarch w/ some Weaver rings on it, but I don't know much about these rifles. I would greatly appreciate any info I can get on these. It's a 22" barrel with a free float barrel I think it's got an accu-trigger but there is a trigger lock on it and I don't remember looking that hard at it. The stock is synthetic and the bolt has a jeweled pattern on it. I'm not overly hyped about it but for the $$ it's not bad. I have also been considering the Weatherby Vanguard in 30.06. Any other suggestions would be great I'm trying to keep the rifle $500 or less. What do you guys think about these 2 rifles?

OK I was wrong no accu-stock or trigger.

I have a Savage 111 in .270. It just has the Bushnell Bone Collector 3-9x scope on it. The best thing I ever did for that rifle was to add a rifle basix trigger. I got two deer with it this year. One was only at 80 yds and the other was a nice buck at 160+ yds. Both were in the woods.

[WVneighbor]

I have a Savage 110 in .270 with a Nikon Monarch scope. The long action does cause problems with mounting the scope. We had to push the limits of travel to get the right eye relief with mine.

Also, the bolt contacts the rear of the scope with the flip-up cover installed. Without the flip-up cover there is about 1/16th of an inch clearance between the bolt handle and the scope. I had to shave the front flip-up cover a little so it would not contact the barrel. It was juuuuust barely touching, but with as much magnification as the Monarch has available and as much as a barrel moves when you shoot, I didn't want even the slightest pressure throwing things off. With the next size up in rings the clearance wouldn't have been a problem, but I went with the lower rings, shaved a bit off the front flip up-cover, and don't use the rear one when shooting.

When I bought the rifle new, I got the package deal, rifle, cheap (but serviceable) scope and rings. With that set up I was getting 5 round groups within the diameter of a quarter at 100yds, off sand bags using commercial ammo.

The Nikon hasn't improved the accuracy, however, the sight picture is MUCH brighter and a little clearer. I've also got a little more magnification if I need it.

[jerkin]

Go with the savage, I will guarantee that you won't be disappointed. You can pick up the one with the accutrigger and scope for $385 at Walmart or online. I pitched the scope and rings and went with a leupold 1-piece base and extended rings to get a little more clearance. 110/111 are synthetic, 114 is wood and the 116 is synthetic/stainless.

BTW, my buddy had one of those Vanguards and it didn't shoot anywhere close to what my Savage does. Best we could do out of his after trying multiple 30-06 factory loads was around 1 1/2". Mine will keep Core-lokts or Federals inside an inch easy. I zeroed it this year at 200 yards and my last 3 shots were at 1.6" across the centers. I think I could have done a little better if I had a little more scope.