Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014Originally Posted By: pahntr760What price point do you want to have?
It is hard to beat the 223 for colony shooting and it is certainly a good paper puncher.
The first step in planning a build is to choose a bullet and speed you want to see that bullet. Then you choose a chambering that will meet that speed requirement.
I'm not really caught up on speed I'm more for accuracy and affordable to shoot. I almost purchased a 308 a year or so ago and seen how much bullets were and said nope and went with a 223rem heavy barrel. Everything I read says its really only a 200yard gun and kind of sucks when your sitting in a woodchuck tower and guys are hitting woodchucks at 300-350yards with 250's. My thinking was rebarrel it and throw a boyds on it and a boyds on my heavy barrel or scrap that idead of almost 200 for a boyds and get a model 12 or 110.
Don't blindly believe what you read. I shoot PDs reliably to 300 yards with my precision AR, and do OK to 400. If I can shoot PDs you should have non issues hitting chucks.
Good news with a Savage is you aren't married to the bolt face just the action length. Never shot an Axis but assume it shares the changeable bolt head. If you want longer range but affordable shooting I'd recommend a 243. If you want to stick with the 223 bolt head you can shoot that, bump up to a 6X45, or neck down to 20 Practical to cut shooting cost considerably (but then you do really have a 300 yard gun with wind temperament).
They all have their advantages. For varmints, if range is an issue I have a 243AI, I take the precision AR in 223 for bulk shooting, as well as a 20 Practical, and just a couple days ago finished a 6X45.