Remington Model 7 Predator VS. Savage Model 10 Predator ....WHICH ONE ??

Packratjim, The ol' Savage surprised you did it? I know I'm pleased with mine and haven't even found "THE" load for it yet. My 10xp has the Simmons 4-12, with blind magazine. I think the 10 Pred. came with a DBM, but I'm fine without it, just something else to lose and replace,IMO, so I'm o.k. with blind mag. I bought mine in summer 2007, so maybe the ones now come with Pentax Scope and DBM. I haven't looked at their site lately. Do you reload, or use factory ammo ?
 
I checked out some guns today at Gander Mountain. Not the predator models, but a model 7 remington in 22-250 and a savage grey synthetic version in .223. I was amazed how light both guns are. I am used to carrying my ruger 300 win mag and model 70 375 H&H so the very light weight of these surprised. You can tell the savage is not as precise as a rem, win, or ruger. But from all the great things I have heard about them, they certainly seem to be up to par. I liked everything about the model 7 except the 50cent recoil pad. I was looking at it and was afraid of it falling off, it moved all over the place. Not just on that, but on all the remingtons I looked at. For such a nice gun, you think they would put a more solid recoil pad on.........I could not check out the accu-trigger as all the guns have trigger locks and they were busy at the counter selling other guns and doing paperwork.......Many of the combos I have read about or seen advertised have the Pentax scope. My dad called me and stated he has an ad for a gun shop that has the savage in snow camo and it has a simmons. Maybe the brush combo has the pentax ??..........Does the Nikon Coyote Special Brush Camo match the savage ????? The pics of the remington predator brush camo looks much darker than the savange. Both are supposed to have mossy oak brush camo.
 
The Model 7 Predator has the R3 pad. Very nice. I have never had any issues with the remington recoil pads, thats a little odd to me.

My scope is a couple shades "browner" then the "greener" Model 7. But not enough to really care about.
 
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Mountain State, I'm handloading and still trying different loads, but it seems to be happy with 55 gr. V-Max and Varget powder. Sorry to say it doesn't group near as well with Barnes TSX 53 or 62 gr. but with a little tweaking that might improve. Hope so, 'cause that is a great bullet.

nyfemaker, the Coyote Special Brush Camo actually matched my gun better than the Pentax that came with it. The Pentax had a little reddish-brown tint while the Nikon was greenish like the rifle. Same pattern, but the tint seems to be a little different from company to company. Not enough to get excited about, like pahntgr760 said.
 
The model 7 CDL I saw today had the supercell recoil pad. Maybe its been on the shelf awhile and they have changed, I am not sure. I actually thought the recoil pad was going to fall off. It was way too spongy. I was thinking all the model 7's including the predator had this. If its a R3, thats much better. I know they had an issue with the R3 at the beginning but have since fixed it from what I have read.
 
I love all 5 of my savages and have 3 remingtons that I'm not to crazy about.
BUT do your self a BIG FAVOR and keep a few hundred bucks in your pocket go buy a MARLIN XLong7 OR XShort7 FOR $259.00 mine was with tax $282.80 out the door.
plus you can switch all the $50.00 takeoff Savage or Stevens barrels on them.
 
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I have never shot the Rem model 7 but I do own a Savage model 10xp .223 and love it. Dont know if you aware of this but the model 10 is desinged for preadator hunting by a professinal predator hutner that teamed up with Savage. I cant recall his name but he has been predator hunting for like 30 years or something crazy. Anyway I would say try and find a buddie who has both and go shoot em. Good luck man I hate when I decide to buy a new rifle it makes for hard decision
 
ive got remmys and savages...i hate the safetys on savages..when its cold there a pain to push foreward...2 friends have the 7 predator..and i dont think theres a nicer quick handling little gun..and both are tack drivers with factory ammo...
 
I'm a lifelong Remington man and most of my rifles are Remingtons. My Savage Predator Hunter in .204 is the first Savage I've owned and it's one of the most accurate rifles I have. It has shot 3/4" three shot groups at 200 yards the last three times I've checked the sight on it. I love the MO Brush camo--no shine. The barrel on the PH is a medium contour so it will be a little heavier than the sporter weight you handled. I think it's a great compromise if weight isn't a big issue for you.

The bads: I agree with Happyyoter about the safety. I much prefer the Rem safety. And, the Accutrigger is great but mine occasionally fails to hold the sear. I need to send it back to Savage. I have no doubt they will take care of the problem.

What would I buy if were starting over? Unless I could actually shoot the model 7 and see for myself that it could shoot with the Savage, I would definitely buy the Savage. Its an amazing shooter.
 
tt35, Do you by chance have the spring adjusted to lightly. I had my trigger to lite when I first got it and would act funny sometimes. These guns have a built in saftey function so that if the spring is to lite the gun wont fire.
 
I am still so on the ropes about these two rifles. Not sure which one to go with. I never was a fan o the accu-trigger, always seemed like a gadget to me. To me, its too wide in the trigger guard. I have been shooting guns for 30 years and I am used to a trigger, not something else in there as well. Its a comfort thing I guess. I was looking at a PA gun shop ad and both guns are the same price, so it pretty much boils down to preference. I hope to handle one of each over the weekend. I dont have any firends that varmint hunt, so being able to shoot them before hand is out of the question. I see the savage is very accurate, does anyone have this kinda of accuracy with the remington ??? I am a ruger guy and if ruger made what I am looking for ( camo predator gun ), I would get that, but since they dont, thats why I am looking at others. I have neither a savage or remington. I was heavily leaning towards the remington as it seems to be much better built. As far as the scope, I hope the gun shop has them so I can check out the bdc-pred rectical. Decisions Decisions, its nice to have options though...lol.
 
I have been following this thread and you appear to be going through the same process I was when I started. I went out and bought a factory camoed Remington 700 LVSF and picked up a used Leupold VariX III 4.5-14. I wanted to make sure I had enough scope for whatever shot came my way. Then after actually predator hunting with someone over an electronic caller and having to pick up a moving red fox in low light at 40 yards when he magically appeared out of nowhere I found that the leupold set on 4.5 power wasn't so great. Then after finding that the vast majority of shots are well under 100 yards I now have a Leupold VariX III 1.5-5 heavy duplex, it weighs half as much as the 4.5-14 and sitting in a set of Talley lightweight mounts the gun handles much better. I am also in PA, it is pretty rare to get a shot over 100 yards on a predator in the spots I hunt so the higher magnification scopes did absolutely nothing but ad extra weight. The other thing about scopes is who cares if it is camoed? The camo paint isn't going to make any difference whatsoever to a fox or coyote, the scope is camoed for us, just a marketing thing to sell scopes to people who want the scope to match the paint on the gun for appearance. Any matte finish scope will do the same thing as a camo one, for that matter, any matte finish gun will do the same thing as a camoed one. Stainless is another story, the stainless stands out in the woods. If a predator can tell the difference in the finish of the firearm you are carrying, he already busted you and knows you are there long before he noticed if your gun was camoed or just had a matte finish.

A buddy of mine had one of the Nikon Coyote Special scopes, he sold it, he didn't care for the reticle, I didn't like it as much as a simple duplex either. If I were shopping knowing what I know now, I would watch the forums and pick up a used matte finish leupold Vari-X III or VXIII in either 1.5x5 or 2.5x8 with a standard or heavy duplex, I like the heavy duplex since it is so easy to pick up quickly in low light. I can shoot both eyes open with the 1.5x5 HD and be on a moving animal very quickly. They are both very light and compact and can be mounted in low or medium mounts. Used matte finish 3-9 VXII's can be had for $250-$275 shipped and the VXIII's for around $300-$325 shipped if you watch the forums a little while. The Nikon's are nice, but with a little bit of looking around I feel there are better options for the same money.

As to the gun decision, the Model 7 Predator has the same 22" fluted barrel as my LVSF's do and it is on the smaller Model 7 action. A buddy of mine has one in .223 and it is sweet. Light, handles great, and drives tacks with just about any 45-55grain bullet he runs through it. If they were available when I bought my LVSF I would have bought one of them instead. The 22" barrel on the Model 7 action makes a great lightweight balanced gun. As for the Savages, I prefer the more refined build of the Remington. The Savages shoot great, just not my cup of tea though.

Just some things to think about.
 
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I am going to look at both guns early next week if the shop has them. They are advertised in Grice's Ad, so I am sure they have them. Both guns are in the $650 range. If the savage was alot less, I would probably go with that, but since they are the same price, even though they shoot well, I am pretty sure I will go with the remington. The remingtons are much better made and are every bit as accurate as the savage, so I am not giving up anything in accuracy. I also want to go with the .223 Here in PA, I will probably not have any shots 300yds, and I think my max shot in the areas I plan to go will be 200yds with most around 100yds, so the .223 will handle any coyote or any other little critter I see at that range. Plus its cheaper to shoot. As far as camo goes, I know it doesnt make a difference. But it looks cool and they are pretty much the same price as a blued one anyways, so I might as well go with the fancy one. I am still debating on the 3x9 or 4.5x14 nikon. I wanna check out the rectical and see how I will like it. Since my ranges are going to be shorter, I will mostly be using the 100 yard circle anyways. I would buy the leoupold in a heartbeat if they made one in the matching camo. I have several of their scopes and really like them. I know a 3x9 will be big enough, but sometimes you wanna get up and personal with the animals. But I would worry about balance of the rem. 7 and the long nikon. I am used to carrying my ruger M77MKII in 300 mag with 3x9 leoupold, so this gun will surely be a lightweight compared to this. Heck, my 10 gauge double barrel with 32" F&F weighs 12 lbs, I will not know how to act with something that weighs so little. Cant wait to check them out !!!
 
+1 for Remington - If you try to trade a Savage later, you will get much less in return. If you buy high value, you will retain a higher value
 
Originally Posted By: Dubtt35, Do you by chance have the spring adjusted to lightly. I had my trigger to lite when I first got it and would act funny sometimes. These guns have a built in saftey function so that if the spring is to lite the gun wont fire.

Dub: Yeah, I tried to increase the pull weight. That worked on another Accutrigger but didn't seem to fix this one. Thanks for the idea though.

Tim
 
hi, i am new on this forum and iam not very good in english,so
please forgive any mistakes. first of all i just want to tell you that i got both of these rifle,the savage predator brush in .243 and the remy predator 7 also in .243 to me the savage is a best shooter and the only thing better with the savage is
the barrel medium size. if you want a hunting rifle get the remington 7 a bit less accurate but everyting else is much better like the trigger,the stock, the safe and alot easier to carry. if it's for the bech the savage is number one. i hope it can help you.
 
Originally Posted By: liberty40hi, i am new on this forum and iam not very good in english,so
please forgive any mistakes. first of all i just want to tell you that i got both of these rifle,the savage predator brush in .243 and the remy predator 7 also in .243 to me the savage is a best shooter and the only thing better with the savage is
the barrel medium size. if you want a hunting rifle get the remington 7 a bit less accurate but everyting else is much better like the trigger,the stock, the safe and alot easier to carry. if it's for the bench the savage is number one. i hope it can help you.
 
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