This is a story about a young hunter and her first hunting rifle, a Savage Axis XP. Late deer season in 2020 is when this story and review starts. That was the season my daughter, who was 16 at the time, expressed interest in going hunting with me. She and I had gone a good number of times over the years, but those times it was more about walking around in the woods and just generally being together. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, we had good times that I cherish to this day. This time when she brought it up, however, she expressed that she really wanted to learn and take a deer.
Getting The Lead Out
The first thing first of course was to knock the rust off her shooting. She has gone to the range with me multiple times and we have done a lot of plinking with .22s. She didn’t have a lot of experience shooting rifles with scopes though. So we focused on that. My deer guns were a bit “much” for her, 30-06, 300 PRC, 45-70… it wasn’t that she was afraid of the recoil, but we were having some flinching issues while squeezing the trigger. With some work and practice, she was able to get some 3-inch groups at 200 yards with my Ruger American 30-06. I knew she could do better with a rifle that fit her better with less recoil…
It’s a month before Christmas of 2021 and I am out looking for a rifle and ammo to go with it. I’m sure most of you can recall that was not the best of times for firearm shopping and ammo was even worse. I also wanted to keep the price to around $500. So, I was looking for a bolt action rifle, with an adjustable length-of-pull or compact size, in the following calibers: .243, 7mm-08, or 6.5 Creedmoor. I found a very nice Ruger American Compact in 7mm-08, but never could find any ammo for it. Finally, I came across a Savage Axis XP in 6.5 Creedmoor. It has an adjustable stock, came with a 3×9 Weaver scope and, most importantly, the shop had two boxes of Hornady Precision Hunter they would sell me if I bought the rifle. Give me a Form 4473 and take my money. With a sling and a simple padded case, my total was just under $500 with taxes. Perfection. Or was it?
A Christmas Miracle
My plan was to give it to her as a Christmas gift. Our gun season opens up for a week on the 26th. A few days before Christmas I took it to the range to check zero only to be reminded that the Axis doesn’t have the Savage AccuTrigger. I knew this, but in the excitement of actually finding what I was looking for, I had forgotten. The AccuTrigger is arguably one of the best out-of-the-box bang switches on the market. The standard Savage trigger, yeah, not so much. This one didn’t have a lot of creep, but it was a brutal 7.5 pounds with noticeable side-to-side play.
I can deal with a less-than-ideal trigger so I set up a target at 200 yards and proceeded to check the zero. I shot a three-round group that was just over 1 MOA and called it good. Back into the box, apply wrapping paper, and stick it under the tree.
On the 26th a very excited daughter and myself are in a deer stand for her first hunt with her very own rifle. Which she has not shot yet. Our plan was to hunt in the morning and then get some range time after. And wouldn’t you know it, a nice 8-point steps out of the woods at about 200 yards. “Breath. Steady. Remember, slowly squeeze…” Boom. Miss. Dirt kicked up in front and to the left of the buck. Ok, so we had some Buck Fever, a rifle she has never shot with a not-so-good trigger.
Range Time
We get to the range and start at 100 yards. She fires off 3 and we check. All 3 are a good foot lower and 8 inches to the left of where it shot for me less than a week before. Hmmm. So I let 3 more fly and they all land in about the same spots that hers did. I get my wrenches out and double-check the rings and mounts for tightness. They were in spec. I pull the scope off and check the bases, they are good too. So back on the scope goes and re-zero.
“Dad this trigger really sucks,”. Yep kid, it does. But I tell her if she can shoot a rifle with a bad trigger well, she will do even better with a nicer one. We shoot a couple of more groups that are 2-ish inches and let the Savage rest for the day. Remember that I only had 40 rounds for it to start with and haven’t been able to find any more since. After letting her shoot some groups, and two times zeroing the rifle, we only had 10 rounds left.
The First Upgrade
Flash forward to summer of 2021. I am starting to think about deer season coming up. One of the things I want to do is work over the trigger on the Savage. A quick Google search later and I come across M Carbo’s Savage Axis Trigger Kit. It was around 20 bucks, and had some springs, and most importantly shims to help with the lateral trigger movement. I Ordered it and installed it a few days later. Massive improvement and super easy to do. The big issue with the trigger was the weight of the trigger return spring. M Carbo send two different ones, I used the heavier of the two and left it in. With the kit the trigger now broke at just over 3 pounds and gone was the side-to-side play. Probably the best $20 gun part I have ever bought.
Back to the range with my daughter, the Savage Axis with the M Carbo trigger kit, and some newly found ammo! She lets 3 rounds fly and we check. The group was all over the place. One was high but good on windage, one 3 inches left and 5 low, and the other was right but only a little high. So I send 3 and it’s just about the same. I’m starting to suspect the included Weaver scope might be an issue. So I swap scopes around from another rifle I had with me to confirm. With a different scope on the Savage, my daughter and I were both able to shoot some sub-MOA groups at 200 yards. We need a new scope.
The Second
I picked up a Leupold VX-Freedom 4-12×40 Creedmoor scope for my daughter’s Savage. The Creedmoor in the name means that Leupold has made the reticle with holdovers for different distances based on the 6.5. With a 200-yard zero, the marks give you holdover for 300, 400, and 500 yards. Obviously, they are not going to be exact with the range of different bullet weights available for the 6.5.
With the new Leupold mounted up, we head back to the range. Night and day difference. Tight groups, the trigger is night and day better, and the clarity of the Leupold is great. I have shot a handful of rifles with the Freedom series scopes on them and am very impressed. They are not as fancy and lack a few feathers found on higher-end Leopulds, but bang for your buck they are hard to beat. And made in the USA.
In Conclusion
To recap on the Savage AXIS XP. The sticker price before taxes at a “big box” retailer is currently $399. It was about 20 bucks less a few years ago, there has been some inflation going on if you haven’t heard. Currently, an Axis II is $479. The Axis II has the AccuTrigger and a Bushnell Scope on it. AccuTrigger is fantastic. Stock trigger on an Axis is not fantastic. But I did improve it for $20 and about 10 minutes of work. As for the scope issue, I don’t know much about the Bushnell, but it has to be better than the Weaver that was on the Axis I bought. It was probably a defective scope. I didn’t bother Savage with the issue. They would have either replaced it or gotten it repaired. I know from experience that the folks at Savage make great products that they stand behind.
But even with a replacement of the Weaver, I do not think I would have trusted it. I slapped a $350 Leupold on there and the problem was solved. In hindsight, I should have bought an Axis II. That is assuming I could have found one. But with a little work and an upgraded scope, my daughter has a very nice rifle.
Oh, and you might be wondering how the hunting went. During deer season in 2022, she harvested a nice 8-point with her own rifle.
