Savage Axis I

The History of Savage Arms

Savage Arms was founded in 1894 by Arthur Savage in Utica, New York. Arthur Savage held two important patents at the time: a patent for a repeating rifle with a single-column magazine lever-action rifle, which he acquired in 1891, and a patent for a hammerless lever-action design. That paved the way for Savage’s quick rise to success.

The company’s first breakthrough came in 1895 when it introduced Model 1895 – the first hammerless lever-action rifle on the market. It was modeled after Model 1892, an earlier design that never saw production due to losing a bid for a US Army contract. Model 1895, however, won the contract for New York National Guard, but it was soon canceled due to getting caught in a contemporary political climate.

Savage continued investing efforts into the production of military-grade weapons. It was named one of the two finalists in the US Army trials for a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and it lost only to the now-famous Colt M1911. Savage used the gained experience to produce high-quality pocket pistols, though, which resulted in the introduction of Model 1907, 1915, and 1917.

During World War I, Savage was merged with the Driggs-Seabury Ordnance company. The joint company focused all its efforts on the production of Lewis machine guns and heavy equipment for war purposes. 

Between the two wars, Savage decided to expand its business inside the USA. In 1920 it bought Stevens Arms of Chicopee, followed by A.H. Fox Gun Co. of Philadelphia and Davis-Warner Arms and CrescentArms Co. of Norwich in 1930. Success followed and in 1939 Savage introduced the Model 24 combination gun which sold over a million copies.

When World War II commenced, though, Savage was once again ready to answer the call of duty. It focused all its resources on war efforts, producing a staggering number of weapons. It already signed a contract with Auto Ordinance Co. in 1938 to manufacture the famous .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun, and most of these submachine guns that were used in WWII were produced by none other than Savage. The company was also contracted by the US government in 1940 to produce .30 and .50 caliber Browning machine guns. On top of that, Savage manufactured one of the most mass-produced bolt-action rifles of WWII, the British No. 4 Lee–Enfield. A record of 1.2 million Lee-Enfield rifles was produced by Savage during the time of war.

Production dialed down after the war, though. In 1946, Savage closed its facilities in Utica and moved all its operations to the Stevens manufacturing premises. Even though the Model 110 was introduced in 1958, which remains one of the company’s most successful rifles to this date, Savage started to experience some issues. In 1960 all production was moved to the current location of Westfield, Massachusetts, and what followed was a series of different ownerships over the company. Savage gradually ran into serious financial problems and in 1988 the company declared bankruptcy.

The company had to cut back on its manufacturing costs to the point where it even stopped producing short-action configurations of its most successful model, the aforementioned Model 110. It wasn’t until 1995 when Savage returned to private ownership led by Ronald Coburn who sort of rejuvenated the whole company.

In 2002 Savage introduced and patented AccuTrigger – a safe and user-adjustable trigger that soon became a success. The following year, in 2003, the company was named Manufacturer of the Year by the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence, further reaffirming Savage’s distinction. Four years later, on May 15, 2007, Savage 93R17 BTVS has been named the best rifle in the Best of the Best presentation by Shooting Times, Sporting Gun, and Shooting Gazette magazines.

In 2013 Savage once again changed ownership. It was acquired by Orbital ATK for 315 million dollars, and it was later handed over to Vista Outdoor which later sold it for $170 million in 2019 to a group of private investors led by Savage’s management.

The company also had its logo changed in the middle of the 2010s when it decided to retire its old logo that presumably featured Chief Lame Deer, a native-American tribesman leader. The latter supposedly approached Arthur Savage in 1919 to purchase rifles for his tribe. In exchange for a discount, Lame Deer agreed to a deal. According to the deal, Savage was allowed to use Lame Deer’s face for promotional purposes. Many doubt the authenticity of this story, however, and Savage itself removed it from its official website as well.

Savage Axis Rifle Review

Savage Axis is a bolt-action rifle that was first introduced in 2010. Interestingly enough, it was first named “Savage Edge”, but the name changes already followed in 2011, only a year after its release. Presumably, it had to be renamed due to legal issues regarding its initial name.

Following the market crash in 2008 Savage tried to cater to the new wave of hunters, ones that were on the lookout for cheap yet quality replacements for the more expensive contemporaries which all of a sudden weren’t affordable anymore. Savage’s main objective when designing the Axis model was thus to produce a modernized but cheaper alternative to the established Savage Model 110. What followed was an accurate, dependable, and cheap rifle fit for beginners and more advanced hunters alike.

Figure 1: Savage Axis XP in .243 Win. (source: https://www.gagnonsports.com/savage-axis-243-youth-ladies-w-scope.html)

Savage Axis is built around a cost-effective action of the push-feed style and hosts a 2-lug bolt with an impressively smooth bolt operation. It features a 1-sided ejection port and is drilled and tapped for scope mounts, and all Axis models have the same overall action length. The mounting surface on the Axis is rounded both at the front and at the back, and the spacing between the front two mounting holes (distance A, see the image below) and rear two mounting holes (distance C, see the image below) is the same as on the Savage Model 110, but the same cannot be said for the distance in-between (distance B, see the image below). Therefore, Savage Axis has two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with long-action and short-action configurations of the famous (round-back) Savage Model 110.

As opposed to the Savage Model 110 which has a 3-position safety catch, Savage Axis has a 2-position one. It features a small dimple that allows for ease of engagement. When the safety is pushed forward (away from the shooter), the rifle is in firing mode. This is indicated by a red dot that is otherwise covered when the safety is on and the trigger is locked.

The barrel of Savage Axis is usually 559mm (22-inch) long, but there are also some versions with a 508mm long barrel (20-inch). It is usually made of carbon steel, with the exception of the Savage Axis XP Stainless’s barrel, which is of stainless steel. We also think it’s important to add that (at least to our knowledge) every Axis comes with a small shank barrel that can be interchanged with Savage Model 110 variants that also have small shank barrels.

The stock of Savage Axis is synthetic and is, according to the Savage’s website, designed to fit smaller shooters, but we didn’t find any complaints regarding its size even from the hunters with a bit larger build. It (the stock) ends in a pleasantly designed recoil pad that is quite satisfying considering the price of the rifle.

Because Savage wanted to cut on the rifle’s cost as much as possible, Savage Axis comes without the established AccuTrigger^TM. This changed with the introduction of Savage Axis II (2nd Gen.) which includes the AccuTrigger – this is also the only difference between the two models (Axis and Axis II).

Figure 2: The design of Savage's patented AccuTrigger (source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwSpbbhIIAE0hUO.jpg:large)

Savage Axis features a 4-round magazine with a metal body and plastic bottom. Savage originally utilized a detachable magazine with a release lever molded as a loop and affixed to the plastic bottom plate, but it changed this design in late 2018 to include a newly redesigned spring-loaded release mechanism. Both designs are compatible with rifles from the Edge/Axis and 110 series that use the so-called "Axis " magazine.

As mentioned above, all Axis models have the same overall action length, but those chambered for short-action cartridges use a short-action length magazine, while those chambered for long-action cartridges use a long-action length magazine.

Savage Axis Calibers

Savage Axis can be chambered for:

• .223 Rem.

• .22-250 Rem.

• 6 mm ARC

• .243 Win.

• .25-06 Rem.

• 6.5 Creedmoor

• .270 Win.

• 7mm–08 Rem.

• 280 Ackley IMP

• 300 AAC Blackout

• .308 Win.

• .30–06 Spring.

• 350 Legend

Savage Axis Variants

There are several Savage Axis variants on the market today. Because this model was first named “Edge” and was only later renamed to Axis, we also included Edge variants on this list.

These are the Savage Axis variants:

• Savage Edge

• Savage Edge Camo

• Savage Edge XP

• Savage Axis Camo

• Savage Axis Compact

• Savage Axis Left Hand

• Savage Axis Compact Left Hand

• Savage Axis XP

• Savage Axis XP Compact

• Savage Axis XP Camo

• Savage Axis XP Compact Camo

• Savage Axis XP Compact Muddy Girl

• Savage Axis XP Stainless

• Savage Axis II Compact

• Savage Axis II Left Hand

• Savage Axis II 300 Blackout

• Savage Axis II XP

• Savage Axis II XP Stainless

• Savage Axis II XP Hardwood

• Savage Axis II XP Compact

• Savage Axis II XP Compact Muddy Girl

• Savage Axis II FDE

• Savage Axis II VSX Camo

•  Savage Axis II SR FDE

• Savage Axis II XP Gray Stainless Steel

• Savage Axis II FDE Web

• Savage Axis II XP FDE Web Compact

• Savage Axis II XP Web Camo Gray

• Savage Axis II XP Web Camo OD Green

• Savage Axis II XP Green Web

• Savage Axis II Bottomland Camo

• Savage Axis II XP Terra Gila Camo

• Savage Axis II XO Break Up Country

• Savage Axis II HB XP Whitetail

• Savage Axis II XP SR HB

• Savage Axis II XP VSX Camo Compact

• Savage Axis II XP Timber Camo

• Savage Axis II Bottomlands Original

• Savage Axis II XP Timber Camo HB

• Savage Axis II Stainless Steel

• Savage Axis II HB SR Wideland Compact

• Savage Axis II XP

There are four holes for mounting purposes on the receiver of Savage Axis, two at the front, and two at the rear mounting surface.

Figure 3: The receiver of Savage Axis in .22-250 with a visible mounting surface (source: https://www.savageshooters.com/content.php?29-Savage-Axis-22-250-Rifle-Review)

A: 21.87 mm
B: 109.75 mm
C: 21.87 mm
BHU: 0 mm
Fi: #6-48 or #8-40 (more on that below)
R1: 17
R2: 17

Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Savage Axis

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Savage Axis

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. Rifles that have one-piece mounts interchangeable with Savage Axis are the following:

• Savage Edge

• Savage Axis II

• Röessler Titan 6

• Röessler Titan 3

• Röessler Alpha

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable with Savage Axis

For two-piece scope mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary. This is because the distance between the two pieces of the mount is not fixed. Rifles that have two-piece mounts interchangeable with Savage Axis are the following:

• Savage Model 110 (SA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 111 (LA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 112 (LA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 114 (LA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 116 (LA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 110 (LA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 111 (SA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 112 (SA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 114 (SA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 116 (SA/Round-Back)

• Savage Model 10 (Round-Back)

• Savage Model 11 (Round-Back)

• Savage Model 12 (Round-Back)

• Savage Model 14 (Round-Back)

• Savage Model 16 (Round-Back)

• Savage A22 (Post-3380376)

• Savage A22 (Pre-3380376)

• Savage A17

• Savage Axis II

• Savage Edge

• Röessler Titan 6

• Röessler Titan 3

• Röessler Alpha

• Stevens 200 Long

• Stevens 200 Short

• Carl Gustaf 4000

• FN Browning A-Bolt III LA (Models with 8-40 Screws)

• FN Browning A-Bolt III SA (Models with 8-40 Screws)

• Remington 783 LA

• Remington 783 SA

• Sauer 200 Kurz

• Sauer 200 Lang

• Swiss Arms SHR 970

Best Scope Mounts for Savage Axis

There is another thing we need to mention that you should pay attention to when you’re buying a scope mount for your Savage Axis.

Up to recently, every Axis model with mounting holes on the receiver was tapped for #6-48 screws. However, some of the newer variants have the receiver drilled and tapped for larger diameter #8-40 screws. This is something to keep in mind when you’re buying a scope mount to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Therefore, we kindly ask you to choose the correct SCREW SIZE when you are ordering scope mounts for your Savage Axis. You will find the drop-down menu on the right side of the product’s image, above the price.

You can also read: How to know which screws fit your Savage rifle?

Picatinny Rails for Savage Axis

By far the easiest way to avoid any troubles with the diameter of the screws on the Savage Axis rifle is to make use of this EGW Picatinny Rail. Since September 2021, EGW is drilling these rails to accommodate both the #8-40 and #6-48 screws. The head diameter on the #6-48 screws provided with this mount is larger than on EGW’s normal #6-48 screws, which is a rather simple yet very effective solution to the problem.

We think this would be the best choice of Picatinny rail for your Savage Axis.

The buyers get both types of screws included when they purchase the mount.

Order EGW Savage Edge / Axis Picatinny Rail

Fixed Scope Mounts for Savage Axis

If you are looking for a quality fixed scope mount for your Savage Axis, then look no further than this 30 mm DNZ Game Reaper. It is made of aluminum and comes with a 10-year warranty.

Just make sure you choose the correct screw size when ordering the mount.

Order DNZ Game Reaper 30mm Mount

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Savage Axis

INNOmount offers impressive solutions when it comes to detachable repeatable scope mounts for various uses. One of them is this 2-piece 30 mm scope mount of famed German quality. It is a great choice for your Savage Axis, and it comes with a 10-year warranty as well. However, it needs to be coupled with the aforementioned Picatinny Rail.

Check out INNOmount Two-Piece Mount

Click here for EGW Savage Edge / Axis Picatinny Rail

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu