I am about ready to order one, but I would like to hear some opinions from owners here first!

What do you think of the M 12?

How about the 204 Ruger?

Do you think that glass-bedding is neccessary, or is it OK out of the box?

Buying it with prarie dogs in mind.

What scope did you put on it??

Thanks so much!!

Track, my son has a model 12 chambered in 22/250Rem and it will shoot -.5" groups at 200 yds. with my handloads and about 1" with factory ammo, though I don't remember the brand. I don't think Savage rifles need bedding as all of them I have seen shoot very well as is. I had a 204Ruger in a T/C Encore and it was very accurate but I didn't care for the 20 cal (nor the Encore) and sold it and bought a custom 22/250 and haven't looked back. One of the reasons I like the 22/250 better is because the heavier bullets will buck the wind better, and the wind really knows how to blow here in SW Kansas.

3 of my Savage's are still as "bedded" from the factory, and 1 has been rebedded. The one that has been rebedded doesn't shoot any better than the 3 that aren't.

Only 1 is still wearing the factory barrel. Most of the factory Savage barrels I've seen have been rougher than hell inside. They all seem to be machined with an axe. They will still shoot that way though, they are just a royal pain in the ass to get clean. Really copper up like mad.

I still think they're a good buy, even with swapping the barrel out for an aftermarket one. With the floating bolt head and barrel nut, barrel swaps are easy as piss. You can also swap bolt heads for different case sizes. I consider both of those attributes to make it worth the price of admission.

Lucky,
This would be for my 1st PD hunt, and I am looking around for a guide, etc.

I am considering Kansas...know any guides out there?

I have two model 12's. One is factory and the other is re-barreled to 220Swift. Both are sub-MOA out to 350.
I know nothing about the 204 except what I read.
As a PD round my greatest concern would be wind drift at long distance. I have never been on a PD shoot when the wind didn't blow.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!

I've got a Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter in 204 and it is the most accurate rifle I've ever owned. With it's favorite load it consistently puts 5 shots in about 3/8" at 100 yards and works excellently on prairie dogs. The gun is box stock. It came with the precision acu-trigger which breaks at 1/2 pound. After about 50 rounds it needs a bit of bore cleaning to maintain accuracy.