Is an 11 VT and Axis or a 110?

[CFJunkie]

I bought a 11 VT in .22-250 1:12 twist from Dick's Sporting goods several years ago, thinking it was a 110 series.
But when I found that it had the same mag as an Axis, I thought it might have been an Axis.
Do any of our Axis owners have any idea if the mag type makes it an Axis?

I have since changed the stock to an Oryx Chassis so it now has an AICS mag, which is a great improvement.
The stiffer, heavier chassis has improved the accuracy by over 30% with the same bullets.

 

[dfrosch]

Savage has started using the Axis type magazine on the 110 series.

On the 110 series, there is the rear baffle in front of the bolt handle(Item 54 on the schematic). The rear baffle's function is primary extraction. On the Axis, there's no rear baffle. The primary extraction is built into the bolt handle.

So, does your rifle have a rear baffle? (I'm betting yes)

 

[CFJunkie]

It has a rear baffle so it is a 110.
Thanks for the help, dfrosch.

I was disappointed that they supplied the 11 VT with an Axis mag. The mag was really is flimsy and I hated the front plastic mag release on the mag itself.
The 11 VT might have been a Dick's Sporting Goods special spec build, like the 12 FV was a Cabela's special spec build.
The contrast is that the Cabela's specs were right on, except for the cheap stock, and their 12 FVs were a spectacular bargain. I have two of them, one of which has an Oryx chassis and the other has a MDT LSS chassis.

The change to an Oryx chassis on the 11 VT allowed me to lengthen the pull length for my long arms and also exchange the cheap mag and an AICS mag. The Oryx chassis also increased the overall weight and made it more stable for shooting from a bench.
It also improved the accuracy from an average of 0.361 with the factory stock to 0.261 with the test groups I shot recently with the Oryx Chassis.

The 1:12 twist on the 11 VT .22-250 limits the weight of bullets that the barrel will stabilize and I have not shot more than 55 gr bullets.
I guess I will have to experiment to see what weight causes the slow twist to destabilize the bullets.
Probably won't shoot much heavier than 60 gr bullets, if that.

 

[dfrosch]

My 12 twist 22-250 likes a modest amount of Varget behind a 50 grain Ballistic Tip. That load shot so well that I quit trying other bullets.

 

[CFJunkie]

I've tried 52 SMKs and 52 Berger FBs, 53 SMK FBs, and 55 Berger FBs.
I've tried H4895, N140, N540, and Varget powders.
Best results have been with H4895 and Varget with the 55 gr Berger FBs. The 5-round groups with those two powders average 0.217 at 100 yards.
But I haven't shot this rifle a lot. I will be shooting it more now that it has the Oryx Chassis and the AICS mag.
After a bit more experimentation with the Oryx chassis with bullets I have shot with the factory stock to get a comparison, I intend to experiment with some 60 gr bullets to see if the barrel will stabilize them.

 

[KMW1954]

I bought a 11 VT in .22-250 1:12 twist from Dick's Sporting goods several years ago, thinking it was a 110 series.

After a quick search I found that the VT was an exclusive model only offered by Dick's. Kind of like the Model 12 that was only offered by Cabela's years ago.

Savage used two different DBM mags for the Axis and 10/110 models. The older one uses the paper clip plastic retainer and the newer version has a push button.

As a warning to some, the first model version will not clip into the new model version that is molded into the stock. Though the new will fit the old original version.

 

[CFJunkie]

That confirms my suspicions about the 11 VT being a Dick's specific model.
Thanks for discovering that the plastic mag release was used for the early models.
Mine was an older model.
I have had it for years - just never used it much because the really light bullets can't be tuned much to optimize jump.
After experimenting with my 12 FV .223 recently, minimizing the amount of bullet body in the neck, I think I have a bit more latitude to move the light bullets out in the 11 VT to see if I can achieve better accuracy.

 

[ONE-TEN]

Sorry, little late to the party. But yeah, we’ve seen a few of these Dicks & Cabelas ONLY model Savages. A few being really nice! Who can forget the model 12FV live CF mentioned!? (Or KICK themselves for not jumping on that deal?) But I don’t know why they chose to switch the magazines? I hate Savage mags anyway. Give me an AICS!