Savage Mark II Minimalist 22 LR Bolt Action 18 in Matte Black 10 Round

Has Been Accurate, But "Buttom Metal" and Magazine Aren't Great

The "bottom metal" of this 22LR gun is basically a piece of blued, thin sheet metal. When torquing down the action bolts to the stock, it bends before achieving proper torque. The rifle came with loose screws and a loose action and, consequently, on top of a couple other disappointing quality rifles of this make, will probably be my last Savage. I've never had an inaccurate Savage, but that company seems to expect me to finish assembling their rifles for them. Obviously that really made me unhappy with the rifle. Then I shot it, and it has been extremely accurate. I use it for squirrel hunting and general range plinking (if I can find 22LR ammo) . I should have gotten the Ruger 10/22, to be honest, but I have an affinity for bolt action rifles. Speaking of the bolt, it took a lot (and I mean a lot) of cycling and oil for this bolt to operate smoothly. It does now, but it's not great. Finally, the magazine that is supplied is annoying to have on the rifle and frankly stupid. It should come with a 5 round magazine (which I had to buy separately) so that you don't poke your arm with that AR-style magazine when using the rifle off hand. Worse, the magazine easily wobbles once clicked in and is kind of a pain to get clicked in firmly. Finally, the bluing is pretty budget rifle-grade. I took this thing into a dense forest for the first time getting to the squirrel colony I know of and it didn't fair as well as other blued rifles I have. It cleaned up fine when I got home, but I expected better for the price. The trigger on these is really nice, though, and the stock is beautiful.