If you like your father, get him the Savage; if you don't, then get him the Remington. The only things that I don't like about the Savage package rifles are the cheap scope and rings supplied. Of course, you could give him the Savage this year and then give him a better scope and rings next year. As vapodog pointed out, the Howas are also worth a look, providing an excellent rifle at a reasonable cost.

If the choice is between a Savage and a 710, I'd go with a Savage. Remington brought out the 710 to compete in price with Savage and others. It sounded like a good idea until I saw one in the flesh. I was underwhelmed to say the least.
Vapodog raises a good point with a Howa or Weatherby Vanguard. These are excellent rifles for the money and are definitely worthy of consideration.

SAVGE. If you must choose between the 2. But do bear in mind..the weatherby vanguard does deserve a look. If you look around you may be able to find a Savage with their new accu-trigger. And the price shouldnt be too bad. The savages are very accurate rifles. UGLY. But accurate. Leave the 710 on the shelf. It looks like cheap junk. Thats because it is. I wouldnt give one of those to someone I didnt like.

Couple things to think about as I have had both a Remington 710 and a Savage 116 FCSAK 300 WMg - the drop box version of the SS/Synthetic fluted barrel gun with the factory "twist on/twist off" muzzle brake.



The Remington 710 is not offered in a 300WMg as I understand it, only in 30'06 and 270. The Savage will have a wide assortment of calibers to choose from depending on model and grade.

The Remington 710's synthetic stock has an integral synthetic trigger guard and the Savage has a steel trigger guard.

The Remington's bolt rides in a "plastic" sleeve that after it has been subjected to some light use will become sticky and preclude any quick followup shots - my 30'06 would shoot about 1 1/2" groups with Fed Prem 165 GK's, the Savage 300WMg I have now will shoot 5 shots under 7/8ths"s measured OUTSIDE TO OUTSIDE!!! with no stock or trigger tuning!!! with the Hornady 180 gr SST's I like, and even though it is butt ugly and the bolt throw is long and clunky it works as fast as I can with no hangups or short strokes. Only thing I've ever found bad about this Savage is that it won't shoot some 20 year old 180 Gr Corelokt's I was given worth a damn.



The Remington 710's bolt release is probably the most exciting feature of the gun...it is a simple hinged jam wedge arangement that can - and mine did more than once when I was struggling to cycle the bolt - come loose and flop around enough to allow the bolt to come out of the receiver when you least planned for it...pretty exciting watching a criter scamper off and you feel like you're standing there with your "part" in your hand...wondering how the #@!# did that happen??? The Savage on the other hand is a little tricky and a third hand would be helpful to get the bolt out of the gun...but it ain't never gonna fall out like my 710's did.



So to wrap up if you gave me another NIB Remington 710 I would consider you an enemy who had no respect for me...and if you gave me a Savage I would consider you a cheap connoisseur..but a knowledgeable one and value your friendship even if you had no money...you proved that you valued functionality, accuracy and not cosmetics.



I hunted my 710 once for one day and owned it for 3 trips the range and the one hunting trip...and I still own the Savage 2 years later.



So my opinion on your choice between a 710 Remington and a Savage anything is ..."A POX on the Remington engineers who foisted such garbage on the inexperienced and income challanged shooters who trusted the Remington name!"

And thats as nice as I can put it. JMHO

Ron

I agree entirely with the general consensus so far. I might also add that the Walmart stores around here often carry an entry level Win model 70 or Rem 700. These rifles will also be equipped with injection molded plastic stocks, and are competitively priced with the Savage or the 710.

I vote for anything other than the 710..........DJ

again any thing other than the 710. I think the general consensus it is a disposable rifle.

Savage!

Good Luck!

Reloader