Now for the differences. While the 22 Striker shares much of the handsome profile of the Anschutz, it’s spoiled somewhat by its protruding ten shot magazine that looks something like a miniature AK-47 banana clip. I also immediately saw that the gun was not furnished with iron sights but rather came equipped with a couple of short Weaver scope bases. It obviously is set up for scope shooting only. I also noted that the muzzle was equipped with a standard crown rather than a target type step crown. Similarly, the barrel’s chamber is also a standard configuration and not a match type like the Anschutz.

     Undoubtedly, one of the most important differences between the two guns is the price. When the Savage rep told me the gun would retail for $210, I was totally flabbergasted. (Note: I recently saw the Savage advertised for $148.43 at W.L. Baumler 440-288-1271.) I couldn’t believe my ears. A good stock alone will sell for more than that. I thought that if the Savage would shoot halfway decently at all, they should be able to sell an awful lot of them. I then quickly made arrangements to get a loaner gun to check things out.

     Some time later, the Striker showed up as promised. It looked exactly like the display gun I saw in Las Vegas. I immediately slapped on a set of Weaver’s superlative Grand Slam scope rings and the only spare scope I had available at the time, a Leupold 3 X 9 extended focal range type, and rocketed out to the range with a variety of ammunition. Once there, I quickly discovered the biggest mechanical difference between the two guns - the trigger. The Anschutz has THE best out of the box trigger in the industry - a beautiful, pristine 9 ounces. While the Striker’s trigger was completely crisp and clean breaking, it was also HEAVY. I mean really, really heavy. I sincerely regret not checking the weight with a trigger pull gauge at the time, but I would estimate that it was in easily in the range of around six pounds, or perhaps even more. In fact, while trying to hold the crosshairs on a paper target from a sand bagged rest, my hand actually started to tremble with the effort. The wide plastic trigger shoe also left a deep groove in my finger from the effort needed to pull it. It was immediately apparent that it would be impossible to accurately assess the gun’s inherent mechanical accuracy with the current trigger.

     Shooting groups off the bench was definitely facilitated by the design of the Striker composite stock. It’s fairly flat on the underside of the forend, which helped it snug into the sandbags. Even the protruding 10 round magazine turned out to be a significant help as I could hook it into the sandbags with a little forward push on the stock. This also helped in stabilizing the gun. I also found that the finger grooves in the grip fit my hand perfectly and helped me finesse the crosshairs on the target. However, one of the biggest aids was the wide, flat bottom on the grip. The bottom of most grips is rounded which usually results in side to side rocking when trying to shoot groups. On the other hand, the flat Savage grip did a great job of keeping the gun steady in the bags. Whoever designed this stock definitely had bench shooting in mind and came up with a very successful design.

     As you can see, I used a fairly wide variety of ammo in the evaluation ranging from CCI Mini Mag to the expensive stuff from Eley, Federal, and Lapua. The first thing that I have to say is simply that when combined with the Dewey trigger, the little Savage shoots as well or even better than many expensive competition rifles. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting a lot from the gun, primarily because of the fact that it didn’t have a match chamber or a match crown. However it showed me that it was as capable as just about any other 22 out there. Overall, the ammo used in the evaluation worked the way you might expect them to work i.e. the inexpensive stuff didn’t do as well as the premium ammo. There were a few surprises however. CCI Pistol Match, one of the best kept secrets around, and RWS Target, both put in excellent performances at reasonable prices. However, Federal Ultra Match and Lapua Mida were the real stars of the evaluation by providing stellar and almost identical efforts for the first place spot. Interestingly, almost all the ammo used in the evaluation seemed to cut very similarly shaped patterns, with the only difference being their respective sizes. It would seem like the Savage would put the first three or four shots into nice little cluster and then the next shots would be some small distance away. This occurred with every brand of ammunition except one - Lapua Midas (M) which was the king of the competition by the narrowest of margins. All five shots cut one beautiful little tight group of just over a half inch. One fact was particularly pleasing, and that was this gun’s ability to shoot a wide variety of ammunition very well. With the notable exception of the Mini Mag's, all of the other ammo used in the evaluation would work just fine for silhouette competition. This means the competitor has lots of choices, and as I’ve always said, having choices is a good thing.

     If anything, this little evaluation very forcefully illustrated the extreme importance of a good trigger to good accuracy. You can have the best barrel, the best stock, and the best chamber, etc. but if you have a heavy trigger, you just won’t be able to take advantage of all those good qualities. Let me give you a real world example. My good friend Bob Brisette recently sent me a magazine article that reviewed another 22 Striker equipped with the standard factory trigger. That particular gun was grouping around 2 inches at 50 yards. If we eliminate the Mini Mag results, which were obviously atypical, the AVERAGE group size of the Dewey trigger equipped Savage was a tiny 1.19” at 100 yards - a very large difference indeed. Good triggers are essential to accurate shooting whether at tin cans or steel silhouettes.

     Last thoughts. If I were president of Savage, I would offer a target grade trigger for the 22 Striker, just as they do for their center fire rifles. I’d also drill and tap it for iron sights. If I wanted to get really crazy, I’d also offer a match chamber and a match crown as options, and if I were able to do all these things, I’d make some real money. Dewey Triggers available from: Ken Light Mfg. - The After Market Sight Specialist