Savage B22 Magnum FV-SR

Sometimes having a birthday close to Christmas is a blessing! Gift cards from Callie and Cara and one from Dad (unspent from Christmas last year) paid for this one. I love my Savage MK II in .22 LR, so how great must the update to the venerated MK II be? Pretty great.

The FV-SR comes with a very, very comfortable synthetic stock, and I might say that it feels a lot more solid than the synthetic my MK II came in. The “SR” designation denotes a threaded, 16-inch barrel and thicker bolt knob. What’s the point of buying a new gun if it isn’t suppressor-ready anyway?

I gave it a decent cleaning, slapped a bipod on it, a one-piece AR scope mount I had laying around, and basically the cheapest 6-24×50 scope I could buy on Amazon (to the tune of $36), and off we went to shoot the first groups.

The kids all decided to come along. Though they didn’t make it through all the shooting due to the 31-degree weather, they certainly were enthusiastic before the chill drove them back inside (Noah stayed the longest). Silas shot his Daisy Red Ryder, Noah brought his bolt-action toy rifle (built from the aforementioned MK II synthetic stock), and Chloe brought a giant NERF gun.

The scope was mounted way to high, and the preparatory laser-boresighting yielded a first shot about eighteen inches high, I had to shoot with gloves on, and the light was waning for the final two groups, but wow this thing shot. For the first sheet of groups, I am thrilled. Five of six groups under one-half inch at fifty yards, from a bench with bipod and rear bag. I cannot wait to shoot some more!

Savage B22 Magnum FV-SR @ 50 yards
31 degrees, minimal wind
First two unsuppressed, last four groups suppressed

Walther P22 Target Nickel

I always wanted one of these after having shot Bart Blosser’s P22 a decade ago. Dad eventually spotted one at the now-defunct Granger Guns just off SR 23, being sold as “Used”, though it showed few, if any, signs of wear. It was priced well below normal retail price for a new one, so I picked it up. I also thought it would make a great trainer for new and/or smaller-handed shooters.

This is the Target model, which has a 5-inch barrel instead of the standard 3.42-inch barrel. It also has a faux-compensator which adds a little weight for recoil management, but also extends the sight radius. The gun is quite fun to shoot, and fits very well in smaller hands. The grip is a little small for me to shoot comfortably, but when plinking .22LR, it is not a huge concern. My hands do get tired if I shoot it for too long though, mostly due to the extra cant in my dominant due to the narrow grip.

Updates

I added a 1/2″x28 threaded barrel adapter to enable suppressor mounting. The factory model comes with a thread protector which is hidden under the compensator. The adapter extends the threads out past the comp. and makes it a standard 1/2″x28. The gun looks pretty comical with the enormous, steel Thompson Machine THIRTY .30-cal suppressor hanging off the end. One almost has to use the suppressor as a foregrip to shoot, and the factory sights have no hope at all of peeking over the suppressors profile.

I also added magazine extensions from Tandemkross to allow a total of 15+1 in the factory mags. It actually took about a year of shooting them in this configuration before the magazine internals loosened enough to allow the extra five rounds. But even if the extensions did not accommodate any extra rounds, they would be worth it for the extra grip area they afford. The gun is much more comfortable with the extended grip.

Future Plans

I would like to add a captured recoil spring, since reassembling after cleaning with the loose spring is fairly tedious and frustrating. There is also a fiber optic front sight post I would like to use.

AR-15 – Anderson Lower & Hardened Arms Upper

An AR-15 style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. After Colt’s patents expired in 1977, an expanded marketplace emerged with many manufacturers producing their own version of the AR-15 design for commercial sale. They are referred to as modern sporting rifles by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade association, and by some manufacturers. Coverage of high-profile incidents where various versions of the rifle were involved often uses the shorthand AR-15.

Savage 112 Magnum Target .338 Lapua

It’s time to bring out the big guns. The Model 112 Magnum Target is built to pull maximum range and precision from the 338 Laua Magnum cartridge. It features user-adjustable Target AccuTrigger™ technology, and the 26-inch, heavy carbon steel barrel is button rifled and perfectly balanced with the gray wood laminate stock. The rifle offers a muzzle brake, oversized bolt handle and single-shot Magnum Target Action.

FEATURES

User-adjustable Target AccuTrigger
Magnum Target Action
338 Lapua Magum
26-inch, heavy carbon steel barrel
Muzzle brake
Gray laminate stock

Savage MK II FV SR

Purchased used from a private seller at the Nappanee Gun Show circa 2015 for $200. This is the FV SR version of the Savage MK II, which features a “tactical” bolt knob and 16.5-inch threaded barrel. From the factory, it is issued with a one-piece Weaver scope rail, synthetic stock, 5-round magazine, and AccuTrigger. The seller had already replaced the scope rail with a DNZ one-piece scope mount, with the one-inch rings integrated into the base.

Updates

I purchased a Boyd’s Pro Varmint replacement stock from Uncle Corb and installed that in place of the lightweight and uninspiring factory plastic stock. With that stock installed, it is very similar to the factory MKII TRR-SR configuration, though the TRR has a 22-inch barrel and some fancy side rails.

I also added a budget 6-9″ bipod from Amazon which is suitable for prone shooting. It also currently wears a Bushnell Elite 3200 10x scope with mil-dot reticle, which is one of the best scopes I’ve used. The rifle still has the AccuTrigger, but a replace RifleBasix trigger has been purchased which should lower the pull weight to 1.25 pounds. I find the stock AccuTrigger to be a little heavy, and can sometimes see the scope reticle move as I apply pressure to the trigger.

In the photos it is also wearing the Thompson Machine THIRTY .30-caliber suppressor. It really is a joy to shoot with this attached, and I suspect it actually groups slightly better with the extra weight on the barrel, though I have not tested that theory.

Accuracy

The gun shoots most ammo types fairly well. I have shot numerous ragged-hole groups with Lapua Midas. Almost equivalent accuracy at a cheaper cost is found in Wolf Match Target and Fiocchi Match.