Savage 93 FV-SR 22 WMR Bolt-Action Rifle with Kryptek Highlander Stock

This is an update on my previous review of the Savage 93 FV-SR 22 WMR Bolt-Action. The previous review I said that the rifle was grouping very well. Well, I didnt get to shoot it much after that range sessions. I finally was able to take it to the range for some more testing and to confirm the results of the initial test. Things did not go well. The rifle became very erratic in its accuracy. It would not group well at all. Shooting 5 shot groups at 50 yards, about one in ten groups would yield good results. All others would be all over the place. Very, very frustrating.

 I am beginning to think that my initial results and review were a fluke and premature, respectively. I tried and I tried and I tried. I checked everything that I knew to check. Proper action screw torquing. Barrel floating properly. Clean barrel and action. I tried different ammo. Two known good scopes. Original stock installed a Boyds varmint stock and went back and forth between the two. At 100 yards the results were horrible, although it was shot on a calm day the last time that I shot it.

 I retested the rifle four times in hopes that I could figure out what's going on. I know it's not me because when I test the rifle, I would bring along different 22 W.M.R. rifles for comparison. Even the Ruger precision 22 W.M.R. did better than the Savage. Not as tight of a group, but, nevertheless, it was consistent. I also have an older Stevens 35M by Savage that is very accurate. I had no problems getting good groupings with the those rifles.

 Conclusion of the testing is that there is something certainly wrong with this one. I don't know if all models are this bad. I do not think so as I have other Savage rifles and they are excellent. I will be contacting Savage about this and hopefully get it this problem fixed. I have spent many hours and gobs of money on ammo trying to figure this out. As it stands now, my rating is a very low 1. One minus, actually. I'll update again once there is further news.

Everything you've heard about Savage rifles being very accurate, is true. This rifle belongs in that category. I've shot it with the synthetic stock and with a Boyds stock. Both stocks shot well. I couldn't tell whether or not I got better groupings with the heavier laminate Boyds stock. But, I will say that my best groupings did come with the Boyds stock. I cannot scientifically attribute that to the Boyds stock since there are many variables involved to actually isolate the cause and effects of the results. I will say, though, that my best grouping could be attributed to the rifle finally breaking in and the fact that when I got the great group mentioned later was when the wind had calmed to about almost nothing mph.
 The last time that I shot the rifle groupings were made at 50 yards, I was getting great accuracy. It was towards the end of the day when I was probably becoming one with the rifle and the wind had calmed to about 3 mph, if not less, and at one point, I thought I was missing the target completely, when in fact the rounds were going through the approximately 3/8 inch ragged hole that was made with the first 5 or so shots. With earlier groupings, the wind was about 12-16 mph. Not very conducive to accurate shooting. And even with that, I was getting about 1/2 inch with the occasional flyers due to mass produced ammo groupings at 50 yards.
 I tried multiple brands, weights, etc., and the best groupings were withe the CCI TNT Green 30 grain JHP. I was hoping that the rifle would shoot best with 40 grain. Actually, the 40 grain rounds were not bad at all. I can't remember which brand, but they were very, very good. The CCI TNT green were best, albeit, by a slight margin.
 As I said, this is very accurate rifle. That's why I like the Savage brand. I've come to learn that Savage spends their time and money on making rifles accurate rather than spending those resources on making the rifle pretty. Whats the purpose of shooting if you cannot hit your target?! This rifle will give you the best chance of doing just that. P.S. Rounds were hand fed into the chamber without using the magazine.