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Savage B22 : Affordable and Excellent

Rifles should be well built, affordable, and easy to use. It helps if these budget minded guns were nice to look at and had some added extras for consumers. I’m happy to say that with this week’s offering from Savage Firearms that the Westfield, Massachusetts manufacturer has found a way in the B22 series of rifles to combine all three of these attributes and do it in a way as to not hurt our wallets, and still produce this rifle right here in the United States.

THE RIFLE

When Savage Firearms reached out to us and asked if we wanted to perform a test and eval on one of their rifles we agreed and happily filled out a few choices from their list and hoped for the best. I was secretly hoping for one model the B22 FV-SR Overwatch in .22LR, which we were lucky enough to get. There is a list of very particular reasons , I chose this rifle, one of them being the SR designation in the name. SR stands for Suppressor Ready, and when you combine that with a short barrel, a built in rail, a light weight stock and the Accu Trigger, well I was really excited to get this rifle in my hands and on the range.

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Savage Firearms

Place of Manufacture: Westfield, Massachusetts

Model: B22 FV-SR Overwatch

Caliber: .22 Long Rifle

Action: Bolt

Capacity: 10 Round Rotary Box Magazine

Dimensions:

• Barrel Length: 16.5″
• Length of Pull: 13.25″
• Overall Length: 34.75″
• Weight: 5.6 Lbs

Twist Rate: 1 in 16″

Other Features:

• Built In Picitiny Rail
• Adjustable Accuracies Trigger
• 1/2-28″ Threaded for Suppressor Use
• Mossy Oak Camouflage Finished Stock
• Varmint Hunting Style Stock

MSRP: $275-$310

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

When the rifle arrived I wasn’t sure what to expect because in all my years of shooting I had never shot a Savage. In a past career I sold many of their Model 110 to Alaskan hunters who took them to the bush and used them to fill freezers full of moose, caribou and bear, but that was my only experience till the B22 FV-SR Overwatch arrived.

Our model arrived with the patented Mossy Oak finish on the stock and a very nice flat black finish on the receiver and barrel. The rifle has some nice features on it that really caught my eye. The slight texturing on the bolt handle and the already mounted section of rail on the top of the receiver is instantly noticeable. This is a nice touch which allows shooters to have one less thing to worry about.

The stock is a smooth polymer with the exception of a few key gripping areas that feature some light texturing. When designing this Savage Arms built this with a higher comb and top mount safety. This allows shooters a better shooting position that ends up putting less stress on their wrist, perfect for someone who might spend a considerable amount of time on a gun hunting small game and varmints. The fit, finish and thought process behind the rifle is very well thought out, but how is the trigger ?

THE TRIGGER AND RANGE IMPRESSIONS

In our first range session we had a lot of shooting to make up for due to being blocked from our shooting range in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we had several other guns to shoot we were only able to put 250 rounds through the B22 VF-SR this first session. The results were very impressive especially when you consider the fact we brought four differed brands of ammunition with us and just ran through it what we had. Our mix of rounds included

• Aguila Super Extra Long Rifle 40 grain (copper)
• Aguila Super Extra Long Rifle 40 grain (lead)
• Federal Champion .22 Long Rifle 36 grain (copper played HP)
• Remington Golden Bullet .22 Long Rifle 40 grain (soft point)
• CCI Copper .22 Long Rifle 21 grain (copper hollow point)

Before we headed out we planned ahead and contacted our friends at Primary Arms and picked up one of their new Primary Arms marked 1-4 X scopes featuring and illuminated center dot. Once the scope show up we carefully mounted it and were off to the range to ring steel for the afternoon to celebrate semi open society again.

We found the Savage Arms B22 FV-SR easy to acquire a proper sight picture with, shoot and cycle the rifle. We found it so easy and flawless that our only complaint about the rifle was we only had one 10 round rotary box magazine with our demo rifle. The trigger out of the box with no adjustments was absolutely amazing. Once you get use to engaging the Accu Release in the firing process the rifle honestly features one of the best triggers I’ve ever used.

Throughout the day two of us took turns shooting the Savage Arms B22 FV-SR and were very happy with the accuracy, the lack of misfire or jamming. The action is a a little tight to release but there is zero doubt when the rifle locks or unlocks from battery. It’s not a huge issue but something I noticed and my fellow shooting didn’t notice and honestly didn’t care about when I mentioned it to him. A perfect example of how two shooters firing the same gun can notice small differences and quirks, and how some people don’t.

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY….THAT IS THE QUESTION

Every gun or gear review comes down to a few key points and ultimately ends with a Buy or No Buy determination. With the Savage B22 FV-SR I would say this is a definite “BUY” category if you want or need a rimfire bolt action that won’t break your wallet, and has some features. Here are some reasons why we gave the Savage Arms B22 FV-SR an endorsement, and a thing or two to consider in the buying process for prospective owners.

PROS

• Price (1/2 the cost of Ruger American and CZ 455 easily)
• Features (Rail and suppressor ready is a nice standard feature)
• Size (One of the smaller .22 bolt actions on the market)
• Adjustable trigger (Other brands are not)
• Great finish (perfect for hunters)

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE PURCHASE

• Magazine support / availability (Couldn’t find anything more the 10 rounders)

I would say do not let the issue of the availability of higher capacity magazines deter you from this rifle. It packs tremendous value into a very small package and this particular model supports the folks who have suppressors as well. My only advice on the magazine issue is to order 5 or 10 magazines and forget the issue, just load and enjoy shooting.

If the B22 FV-SR isn’t your exact cup of tea, no worries Savage Arms produces 9 different variants of the B22 in .22 Long Rifle and more than a dozen others in .17 HMR and .22 Magnum chances are there is something in the B22 line for every shooters needs. The rifle I was sent to demo really opened my eyes to Savage Arms and now I’m a fan, so much of a fan I chose to purchase the rifle with my own money instead of sending it back. If that’s not and endorsement I don’t know what is. I wanted to say a quick thanks to Savage Arms and Primary Arms for helping us with this project. Below are links to the products featured here.

We welcome your feedback or stories about your experiences with any of the product we have featured in this article or any others. If there are stories or pictures of products you have used on hunts send them in and we will see if you can start a Hunt of the Week picture. Until then get out and enjoy the range and nature, stay safe and live life.

www.savagearms.com

www.primaryarms.com