Opening the bolt on a Savage 111

Hi guys,

I have received my Savage 111 Trophy Hunter XP 243 Win last month, which is my first bolt action. As someone without much experience, I really loved it, including the Weaver scope, the balanced weight, the nice trigger as well as its accuracy.

Its price on Cabela now is $519 (you're right it's the XP version, with the Weaver scope), which may be some pricing error as it's even lower than the Axis II XP. For those who're interested, this is a really good deal, though only selected calibers are available.

Now to my question. Anyone who owns these know that Savage has a 3-position safety: it can't be fired or cycled if safety on, can be only cycled if half on, and can be fired and cycled if safety off. It's natural to think that if I want to unload a round from the chamber, I should put it on half on since it allows the action to open but still blocking the trigger. However, when I read the manual again yesterday, it suggests the user to "put the safety off, lift the bolt, move the safety on, and then pull the bolt reward". Actually this is suggested whenever one needs to open the bolt action.

I'm just wondering if there's anything wrong to do this by putting the safety half on, or is there any particular reason I should do this?

Thanks a lot.

No reason whatsoever, except that Savage really wants to indemnify itself from any negligent discharge that may occur due to operator error.

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Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

No reason whatsoever, except that Savage really wants to indemnify itself from any negligent discharge that may occur due to operator error.

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I always wondered about those instructions. They unnecessarily complicate a simple action if followed.

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Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

No reason whatsoever, except that Savage really wants to indemnify itself from any negligent discharge that may occur due to operator error.

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But isn't it easier to cause negligent discharge based on the manual instruction? It needs to be safety-off (ready to fire) before you remove a live round in the chamber... who wants to do that if it can be done with the trigger blocking (safety half on) all the time...

The bolt on the Savage cocks on open. So in theory, they know that once you lift the bolt handle, the firing pin has been set in a ready to fire position. Hence the putting the safety on full on, rather than 1/2.

Then again, I always keep the trigger pulled when closing the bolt on an empty chamber for storage as well, since it leaves the spring without tension.

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Originally Posted by Bluebulldog

No reason whatsoever, except that Savage really wants to indemnify itself from any negligent discharge that may occur due to operator error.

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You can never blame the person who was aiming it at someone when it went off, gotta blame someone else, such a stupid system.

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Originally Posted by acb_ye

But isn't it easier to cause negligent discharge based on the manual instruction? It needs to be safety-off (ready to fire) before you remove a live round in the chamber... who wants to do that if it can be done with the trigger blocking (safety half on) all the time...

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Don't over think it. Safety half forward to chamber a round or to unload, all the way forward when you're ready to shoot. I have the same gun in the same calibre by the way, great value and very accurate. Yours would be a model 11 rather than a 111 however, as the 111's are long action.

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Originally Posted by GW11

Don't over think it. Safety half forward to chamber a round or to unload, all the way forward when you're ready to shoot. I have the same gun in the same calibre by the way, great value and very accurate. Yours would be a model 11 rather than a 111 however, as the 111's are long action.

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Thanks a lot for the sharing. Just figured that many of the common calibers are actually short actions.