Thank you for doing a good review. I watched two other videos on it and the guys doing the reviews lost credibility instantly. One complained about the over travel in the trigger. It's not over travel. It's two stage. The other guy complained the trigger isn't adjustable. He just didn't look enough. They both had very uneducated reviews. Again. Thank you for doing a honest knowledgeable review.
My neighbor bought one yesterday. Box of factory ammo was shooting 1/2"-5/8" groups, 140g sierra ammo. Trigger is easily adjusted. I put some lube on the bolt, works slick as a hound's tooth now. No other issues on the gun, and the barrel is freefloated. After the range session, we easily adjusted the trigger to 2.5 lbs. I bore scoped the barrel, which looked really slick unlike Savage barrels!
I’m not saying this is not a good rifle cause I’ve never shot 1 or even seen 1 at the shop but I wished savage had just brought back the stevens m200. I do have 2 of them they are great rifles and tac drivers
I’m with you. A couple of years back my local Academy had the Stevens 200 on sale for $199. Bought one in 7mm-08 as a knock around rifle to carry in my pickup. When i mounted a scope and sighted it in I was pleasantly surprised. As you said it’s a tack driver (like the 7mm-08 round, too). Was so impressed went back and bought one for my son and one for my son-in-law. On those two I added Boyd stocks and tactical bolt handles. IMO really nice looking, highly accurate guns. Academy then marked them down again to $179, but they only had 270’s left. So bought one. Customized it too with a Boyd’s stock and Glades’ Armory tactical bolt handle and……another tack driver. By the way bought a Stevens Walnut 334 yesterday at the same Academy. Hopefully it will perform like my other Stevens rifles.
My reaction to the rifle was the same. Started with Federal blue box, then Norma whitetail, then Hornady ELD also they all shot under a inch at 100. I then went back the next day and used Federal Non-Typical and shot a very good .525 inch group. Most we're .60 to point .80. Was surprised at how well it shot various ammo's across the board. This is rare indeed. I did not have the pin problem at all and I noticed that around 20-25 rounds fired the bolt and whole rifle seemed much smoother and just came together. The 5lb trigger was not a problem and my other hunting rifles are around 2.5 lbs on average. A fine rifle for the cash for sure. Did I mention I am 70 yrs old. The non-typical rounds really surprised me. Never had them shoot this well in anything, I always used them for a rough sight in. All that is left is to decide which round for deer season next fall.
The rifle looks solid. From what I've seen the bolt should be more reliable and not be prone to extractor breakage issues. I don't like its reliance on a detachable box magazine. I would prefer a hinged floorplate and a receiver cut to accommodate top loading. That aside, for a budget gun, looks more interesting than other entries like Mossberg ATR-Patriot, Savage Axis, Remington 783, Ruger American.
Great video! Looks like a great shooter to me. Not surprised it has a few quirks at the price. Also a beautiful rifle. Love the walnut stock. I almost bought one in 308 not too long ago.
The new Stevens seems to be accurate in the right hands, but I wonder about that flimsy-looking bolt. Maybe not an issue at all, but it reminds me of stirring flapjack batter in a real big bowl.
I had an ATA Turqua which is the same gun but with 24 inch barrels here in Australia. The problems that I had were that the bolt would hang up now and then when moving forward but worse was the barreled action moving side to side in the stock regardless of how much I torqued the action screws. I did not keep it. Was not aware of the issues that you had.
Thank you for the review, I watched your video before going out and buying one myself in 308. The first thing I checked at the store was the pin you spoke of at the back of the receiver mine was good. The bolt is a bit of a dog to take out and put back in because the push lever doesn't lift the locking pin enough I can fix that easily enough. The only other issue I found is my safety is a four position safety, comes back to far and hard to find the mid point detents are horrible actually the whole trigger is horrible but nothing I can't live with. All in all I actually like it for a production gun it's nicer than most. If the Tika clip fits please let us know cuz I can't find spare clips anywhere Good luck, be safe and take care
I've seen the deer season xp shoot crazy good in a ton of rifles but they're all individuals. I'm sure with a bedding job & some JB's through the barrel I bet you'd be amazed at the difference in accuracy. I think you have a magazine issue rather than a rifle issue on the first problem, surely Savage will send you another magazine if you send them this video
I just picked one up with the synthetic stock, haven’t got to shoot it yet but I can’t fit more then 2 rounds into the 3 round mag - my only complaint so far. Hopefully I can find a 5 rnd mag in Canada and it will hold atleast 4.
Thanks for sharing. Your results duplicate what I discovered with both my Savage Model 110 and Axis. Winchester 125-grain Deer Season XP ammo is just as accurate as the more expensive Hornady 143-grain ELD-X, with Remington CorLokt not being able to keep up. As for the factory defect, Savage should have kept production within the US and Canada. I also noticed the rear of the firing pin assembly sticks out the rear of the bolt and looks more like something you might find on a cheap .22 rifle. Hopefully, Savage doesn't stop offering their US-made Axis Series II in walnut.
Your rifle was more accurate than the others tested on other channels. You never know what you are going to get when you buy a $400 rifle. Some are good, some are bad. Then the warranty comes into play - will the factory fix the accuracy problem? Most reviewers complain about the heavy trigger and some about the unreliable magazine.
I am thinking that the magazine is the problem with the cycling the cartridge. It is an attractive rifle. It certainly shoots well enough with about everything you put through it for hunting. I do think I like my Savage Axis a bit better because of the trigger, but after putting a Boyds stock on it the price will be a lot more than what you have there. Turkey does make some pretty good firearms. That mag also could have affected the way the bolt went back hitting the nub you filed down. Nice video. I am still researching this rifle.
It's tough to diagnose without holding it, but the pin being too proud and the bottom of the bolt hitting the top round could be because of a depth issue between the bottom of the receiver and the bottom metal. If that depth is determined by the wood stock, then your stock may have been cut too deep. If the depth of the stock doesn't matter and the spacing is metal on metal or plastic, then possibly something was supposed to be ground down and it wasn't. It's too much of a problem to be missed by testing or QC in my opinion. Seems like that issue would have been found if it were a design issue. But, hey, maybe this is how Turkey rolls, lol.
I did figure this one out. The front action screw is slightly longer the rear action screw. I removed both and measured them. The action screws were installed wrong from the factory. I swapped them and that fixed the problem.
Looks like that screw messed up your bolt,which makes your bolt catch on to your case when reloading. Get a new bolt or file down that bur on the bolt. Last cartridge loads fine because theres less tension pushing up
I have a few of the ATA Turqua rifles they have 24 inch threaded barrels. Basically the turqua is the same rifle as the 334, I wonder why savage had them make these guns with 20 inch unthreaded barrels? Doesn't make any sense, the 243 loves 24 inch barrels. I bought the 6.5 with 22 inch barrel because of the looks, waiting for shipment, The Turquas are decent accurate rifles, these should be to just do not understand the short unthreaded barrels.
I have a Stevens 334 in .308, I got it early July, it did not have the issue with the pin, catching on the bolt, and does not have the issue with the bolt hitting the cartridge I don’t know if the cartridge size is the difference or what made the pin in yours be an issue. I haven’t got it fully sighted in yet, the scope that I received was bad, waiting on another then hopefully I’ll have it sighted in
Did it come with the rail? Being a tinkerer if I were to pick one up I'd give that lug that's denting the shoulder a hard look and see if chamfering/burnishing it slightly is feasible. After that the mag lips would get a good looky loo.😊
Yes, it did come with a rail. I've looked the bottom lug over pretty good. There doesn't seem to be any ruff spots on lug. All seems pretty smooth. I think it's a magazine problem. Thanks for the advice. Have a good one.
@@accuracyfreaks442 Ive seen a couple of reviews of this rifle but it a different caliber and there was no mention of the bolt "digging" into the brass casing like yours is doing. I'm wondering if the steeper shoulder of the 6.5 creedmoor isn't allowing the cases to push down as the bolt tries to move over top of them. Just a guess on my part here. The shallower angle of the 308 and 243 shoulder may be allowing them to want to press down easier than the bolt digging into the steeper angle of the Creed. Either way you would have thought that they would have caught this before releasing this rifle and did a small chamfer on the back of the lug allowing it to more easily ride over the top of the brass as long as the rest of the lug was able to make contact on lock up, or tried a magazine spring that didn't apply so much pressure upwards on the ammunition as long as it still had enough pressure to push up the last round.
Your the 5th review of this rifle that's had your 2 issues. Just wondering if you should've just sent the action problem back? Just saying I bet they'd of fixed it. Now what you did probably nullified the warranty.
I actually bought a 6.5 prc 110 trailhunter I sent in for repairs in Oct. 2023 and still have not heard anything from customer service other than my rifle can not be repaired and i need to select another caliber for replacement. It's been 6 months with a almost non existent customer service and still don't know when I will be receiving my new rifle. It's been such a terrible experience I highly doubt I will purchase another savage rifle.
I have this rifle in .243.... awesome shooter. Couple knocks are that it's only a 20 inch barrel, woulda liked a 22 and the trigger is not good at all.... with time I'm sure I'll figure it out but it's the worst trigger I've ever seen on a new production rifle. My WWII mauser had a better trigger.
I felt the same way when testing out of box, felt like concrete, lol. I did manage to get it down to 3lbs 2oz. with a lot of patience and adjusting the take-up screw. It's now what I consider satisfactory and is rather crisp now. Good luck with yours, and thanks for watching.
No, I actually adjusted the travel screw that said in manual not to adjust but being as the pet racoon I am I just couldn't leave it alone and was able to get 95% travel out without any damage to trigger group.
I stopped at a few ounces over 3lbs. I felt that was more then adequate for hunting. I turned lbs screw 1/4 turn at a time,then would test after each 1/4 turn. There is a screw exposed on the trigger that adjusts take-up it is very difficult to turn, and in manual, it states it has been adjusted from factory and could do damage to trigger group if adjusted incorrectly. I think if I remember correctly I adjusted this cw till most of take up was out. This screw was pretty stiff. If you adjust, make sure to use proper size flat tip screw driver other wise the slot will strip pretty easy. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
Mine does chamber tight. I suspect minimum head space causing this. How does yours shoot? Mine has loosened up with break in. I have around 50 rounds through mine. I would definitely pay attention to extraction. Is your bolt lift sticky? Or is it hard to extract?
I suggest giving your chamber and bore a good scrubbing with iosso. Doing this helped with not only tight bolt close but also helped with accuracy. I'm getting around .5" and .6" groups consistently. Hope this helps and you enjoy your new 334.
I have yet to shoot mine my scope just came in today I will give u a follow up as soon as I get some rounds shot through it And yeah I was thinking same about the minimum head space the bolt just playing around with it seems ok kinda weird it's got a 2 stage bolt seems like
No, I haven't. I believe it's caused by a faulty magazine but they are hard to find right now. I've called savage service department and they said magazine's will be available soon.
Yes, the manual does state to have bolt open when loading. This is stated only do to liability and safety regulations. (The purpose for the bolt being open is so you can physically see its loaded)For example, let say you load your mag with bolt closed, put it up for the season. When next season comes around you cycle the bolt (forgetting) its loaded and we all know what happens next. There is a lot of unsafe practices out there and it's the company's responsibility to cover their ass. To say you have to drop the magazine every time you cycle the bolt is ridiculous and I don't know about you but if I wanted a single shot rifle I would have bought one instead of a repeater. 😂 thanks for watching. Oh and FYI it drags on every round, 3-1. But dont take my word for it. Give savages customer support a call and see what they tell you smarty😮
The rear action bolt is proud. Remove the screw and grind it down with a drivel just a little this is common on wood stocks.
Good review . The problems you showed seem pretty significant to me. I do like the wood stock.
Thank you for doing a good review. I watched two other videos on it and the guys doing the reviews lost credibility instantly. One complained about the over travel in the trigger. It's not over travel. It's two stage. The other guy complained the trigger isn't adjustable. He just didn't look enough. They both had very uneducated reviews. Again. Thank you for doing a honest knowledgeable review.
Glad it was helpful!
My neighbor bought one yesterday. Box of factory ammo was shooting 1/2"-5/8" groups, 140g sierra ammo. Trigger is easily adjusted. I put some lube on the bolt, works slick as a hound's tooth now. No other issues on the gun, and the barrel is freefloated. After the range session, we easily adjusted the trigger to 2.5 lbs.
I bore scoped the barrel, which looked really slick unlike Savage barrels!
I definitely want one
What brand of ammo was you shooting
@@chuckydubree1925 Hand tuned reloads
I’m not saying this is not a good rifle cause I’ve never shot 1 or even seen 1 at the shop but I wished savage had just brought back the stevens m200. I do have 2 of them they are great rifles and tac drivers
I’m with you. A couple of years back my local Academy had the Stevens 200 on sale for $199. Bought one in 7mm-08 as a knock around rifle to carry in my pickup. When i mounted a scope and sighted it in I was pleasantly surprised. As you said it’s a tack driver (like the 7mm-08 round, too). Was so impressed went back and bought one for my son and one for my son-in-law. On those two I added Boyd stocks and tactical bolt handles. IMO really nice looking, highly accurate guns. Academy then marked them down again to $179, but they only had 270’s left. So bought one. Customized it too with a Boyd’s stock and Glades’ Armory tactical bolt handle and……another tack driver. By the way bought a Stevens Walnut 334 yesterday at the same Academy. Hopefully it will perform like my other Stevens rifles.
My reaction to the rifle was the same. Started with Federal blue box, then Norma whitetail, then Hornady ELD also they all shot under a inch at 100. I then went back the next day and used Federal Non-Typical and shot a very good .525 inch group. Most we're .60 to point .80. Was surprised at how well it shot various ammo's across the board. This is rare indeed. I did not have the pin problem at all and I noticed that around 20-25 rounds fired the bolt and whole rifle seemed much smoother and just came together. The 5lb trigger was not a problem and my other hunting rifles are around 2.5 lbs on average. A fine rifle for the cash for sure. Did I mention I am 70 yrs old. The non-typical rounds really surprised me. Never had them shoot this well in anything, I always used them for a rough sight in. All that is left is to decide which round for deer season next fall.
The rifle looks solid. From what I've seen the bolt should be more reliable and not be prone to extractor breakage issues. I don't like its reliance on a detachable box magazine. I would prefer a hinged floorplate and a receiver cut to accommodate top loading. That aside, for a budget gun, looks more interesting than other entries like Mossberg ATR-Patriot, Savage Axis, Remington 783, Ruger American.
Great video! Looks like a great shooter to me. Not surprised it has a few quirks at the price. Also a beautiful rifle. Love the walnut stock. I almost bought one in 308 not too long ago.
What scope is on it
I got one in 308, its a really good shooter , I've had no issues with mine
I don't have any issues with mine in 308 caliber
One more comment the Tuqua came with one 3 round magazine and one 5 round magazine, the later mag should eliminate the brass issues I will try that.
The new Stevens seems to be accurate in the right hands, but I wonder about that flimsy-looking bolt. Maybe not an issue at all, but it reminds me of stirring flapjack batter in a real big bowl.
I had an ATA Turqua which is the same gun but with 24 inch barrels here in Australia. The problems that I had were that the bolt would hang up now and then when moving forward but worse was the barreled action moving side to side in the stock regardless of how much I torqued the action screws. I did not keep it. Was not aware of the issues that you had.
Thank you for the review, I watched your video before going out and buying one myself in 308. The first thing I checked at the store was the pin you spoke of at the back of the receiver mine was good. The bolt is a bit of a dog to take out and put back in because the push lever doesn't lift the locking pin enough I can fix that easily enough. The only other issue I found is my safety is a four position safety, comes back to far and hard to find the mid point detents are horrible actually the whole trigger is horrible but nothing I can't live with.
All in all I actually like it for a production gun it's nicer than most.
If the Tika clip fits please let us know cuz I can't find spare clips anywhere
Good luck, be safe and take care
Unfortunately Tika mags won't work. They are too long for mag well. Congratulations on your new steavens, and thanks for watching!
Great info! I think I'm gonna get one..
I've seen the deer season xp shoot crazy good in a ton of rifles but they're all individuals. I'm sure with a bedding job & some JB's through the barrel I bet you'd be amazed at the difference in accuracy. I think you have a magazine issue rather than a rifle issue on the first problem, surely Savage will send you another magazine if you send them this video
I was thinking a magazine problem also..
@@BigT27295 definitely could be
Heard they make a 5rnd magazine for the 335. I'm planning to get one of these rifles
I just picked one up with the synthetic stock, haven’t got to shoot it yet but I can’t fit more then 2 rounds into the 3 round mag - my only complaint so far.
Hopefully I can find a 5 rnd mag in Canada and it will hold atleast 4.
Thanks for sharing. Your results duplicate what I discovered with both my Savage Model 110 and Axis. Winchester 125-grain Deer Season XP ammo is just as accurate as the more expensive Hornady 143-grain ELD-X, with Remington CorLokt not being able to keep up. As for the factory defect, Savage should have kept production within the US and Canada. I also noticed the rear of the firing pin assembly sticks out the rear of the bolt and looks more like something you might find on a cheap .22 rifle. Hopefully, Savage doesn't stop offering their US-made Axis Series II in walnut.
Your rifle was more accurate than the others tested on other channels. You never know what you are going to get when you buy a $400 rifle. Some are good, some are bad. Then the warranty comes into play - will the factory fix the accuracy problem? Most reviewers complain about the heavy trigger and some about the unreliable magazine.
I am thinking that the magazine is the problem with the cycling the cartridge. It is an attractive rifle. It certainly shoots well enough with about everything you put through it for hunting. I do think I like my Savage Axis a bit better because of the trigger, but after putting a Boyds stock on it the price will be a lot more than what you have there. Turkey does make some pretty good firearms. That mag also could have affected the way the bolt went back hitting the nub you filed down. Nice video. I am still researching this rifle.
It's tough to diagnose without holding it, but the pin being too proud and the bottom of the bolt hitting the top round could be because of a depth issue between the bottom of the receiver and the bottom metal. If that depth is determined by the wood stock, then your stock may have been cut too deep. If the depth of the stock doesn't matter and the spacing is metal on metal or plastic, then possibly something was supposed to be ground down and it wasn't. It's too much of a problem to be missed by testing or QC in my opinion. Seems like that issue would have been found if it were a design issue. But, hey, maybe this is how Turkey rolls, lol.
I did figure this one out. The front action screw is slightly longer the rear action screw. I removed both and measured them. The action screws were installed wrong from the factory. I swapped them and that fixed the problem.
Looks like that screw messed up your bolt,which makes your bolt catch on to your case when reloading. Get a new bolt or file down that bur on the bolt. Last cartridge loads fine because theres less tension pushing up
I have a few of the ATA Turqua rifles they have 24 inch threaded barrels. Basically the turqua is the same rifle as the 334, I wonder why savage had them make these guns with 20 inch unthreaded barrels? Doesn't make any sense, the 243 loves 24 inch barrels. I bought the 6.5 with 22 inch barrel because of the looks, waiting for shipment, The Turquas are decent accurate rifles, these should be to just do not understand the short unthreaded barrels.
I prefer a 24" also. The 6.5 Creedmoor is the only m334 that has 22" barrel, 243 & 308 have the 20". Thanks for watching
I have a Stevens 334 in .308, I got it early July, it did not have the issue with the pin, catching on the bolt, and does not have the issue with the bolt hitting the cartridge
I don’t know if the cartridge size is the difference or what made the pin in yours be an issue.
I haven’t got it fully sighted in yet, the scope that I received was bad, waiting on another then hopefully I’ll have it sighted in
U done a great job on the review, what kind of scope do you have on it
The scope is a nikon p 308 4x12x44. Thanks for watching.
I want a set up like that be hard to beat for the money @accuracyfreaks442
Did it come with the rail?
Being a tinkerer if I were to pick one up I'd give that lug that's denting the shoulder a hard look and see if chamfering/burnishing it slightly is feasible. After that the mag lips would get a good looky loo.😊
Yes, it did come with a rail. I've looked the bottom lug over pretty good. There doesn't seem to be any ruff spots on lug. All seems pretty smooth. I think it's a magazine problem. Thanks for the advice. Have a good one.
@@accuracyfreaks442 Ive seen a couple of reviews of this rifle but it a different caliber and there was no mention of the bolt "digging" into the brass casing like yours is doing. I'm wondering if the steeper shoulder of the 6.5 creedmoor isn't allowing the cases to push down as the bolt tries to move over top of them. Just a guess on my part here. The shallower angle of the 308 and 243 shoulder may be allowing them to want to press down easier than the bolt digging into the steeper angle of the Creed.
Either way you would have thought that they would have caught this before releasing this rifle and did a small chamfer on the back of the lug allowing it to more easily ride over the top of the brass as long as the rest of the lug was able to make contact on lock up, or tried a magazine spring that didn't apply so much pressure upwards on the ammunition as long as it still had enough pressure to push up the last round.
Your the 5th review of this rifle that's had your 2 issues. Just wondering if you should've just sent the action problem back? Just saying I bet they'd of fixed it. Now what you did probably nullified the warranty.
I actually bought a 6.5 prc 110 trailhunter I sent in for repairs in Oct. 2023 and still have not heard anything from customer service other than my rifle can not be repaired and i need to select another caliber for replacement. It's been 6 months with a almost non existent customer service and still don't know when I will be receiving my new rifle. It's been such a terrible experience I highly doubt I will purchase another savage rifle.
It's not just you sir, winchester ammo is very poor quality
I have this rifle in .243.... awesome shooter.
Couple knocks are that it's only a 20 inch barrel, woulda liked a 22 and the trigger is not good at all.... with time I'm sure I'll figure it out but it's the worst trigger I've ever seen on a new production rifle. My WWII mauser had a better trigger.
I felt the same way when testing out of box, felt like concrete, lol. I did manage to get it down to 3lbs 2oz. with a lot of patience and adjusting the take-up screw. It's now what I consider satisfactory and is rather crisp now. Good luck with yours, and thanks for watching.
@@accuracyfreaks442 thanks. I will try to adjust also
Great info just wondering if we could get an alternate magazine that can hold more rounds
For now, I've yet to find one. I'm hopeful that in the near future savage will have one available. Thanks for taking the time to watch!
Creedmoor has a sharper shoulder then 308 and 243? No, has anyone experienced this issue in those chamberings in this rifle?
When you adjusted the trigger did it get rid of the free travel at the beginning
No, I actually adjusted the travel screw that said in manual not to adjust but being as the pet racoon I am I just couldn't leave it alone and was able to get 95% travel out without any damage to trigger group.
Any tips how to get the trigger down to 3lbs? It seams to go up in weight then back down to the stock 6.5 lbs nomatter what I try
I stopped at a few ounces over 3lbs. I felt that was more then adequate for hunting. I turned lbs screw 1/4 turn at a time,then would test after each 1/4 turn. There is a screw exposed on the trigger that adjusts take-up it is very difficult to turn, and in manual, it states it has been adjusted from factory and could do damage to trigger group if adjusted incorrectly. I think if I remember correctly I adjusted this cw till most of take up was out. This screw was pretty stiff. If you adjust, make sure to use proper size flat tip screw driver other wise the slot will strip pretty easy. I hope this helps. Thanks for watching!
Like the video, did you get to fix the mag feeding issue... ?
No I haven't yet. I've been trying to obtain a 5 shot mag through Ata turqua but have had no luck online.
Nice rifle
Thats what she said
Hey just picked up this rifle in a 243 does your bolt push in and down hard when your loading a round mine does bad
Mine does chamber tight. I suspect minimum head space causing this. How does yours shoot? Mine has loosened up with break in. I have around 50 rounds through mine. I would definitely pay attention to extraction. Is your bolt lift sticky? Or is it hard to extract?
I suggest giving your chamber and bore a good scrubbing with iosso. Doing this helped with not only tight bolt close but also helped with accuracy. I'm getting around .5" and .6" groups consistently. Hope this helps and you enjoy your new 334.
I have yet to shoot mine my scope just came in today I will give u a follow up as soon as I get some rounds shot through it
And yeah I was thinking same about the minimum head space the bolt just playing around with it seems ok kinda weird it's got a 2 stage bolt seems like
Wow awesome
Excellent, thanks.
I’m surprised you got that good of a group with that crappy trigger
Try getting another magazine see if happens with a new one might be a magazine
Eld-x is a baad round!
trigger sucks, mine was set at over 6lbs from factorey
Tikka mags do not fit.
Yeah, I tried one too. I was hoping though. Thanks for watching!
Did you ever figure out whats causing the bolt to catch the cartridge in the magazine?
No, I haven't. I believe it's caused by a faulty magazine but they are hard to find right now. I've called savage service department and they said magazine's will be available soon.
@@accuracyfreaks442 ok cool, thanks for the reply. I just bought one and it does the same thing.
The Manuel specifically states to have the bolt open when loading the magazine into the firearm. Maybe you should read your manual first.
Yes, the manual does state to have bolt open when loading. This is stated only do to liability and safety regulations. (The purpose for the bolt being open is so you can physically see its loaded)For example, let say you load your mag with bolt closed, put it up for the season. When next season comes around you cycle the bolt (forgetting) its loaded and we all know what happens next. There is a lot of unsafe practices out there and it's the company's responsibility to cover their ass. To say you have to drop the magazine every time you cycle the bolt is ridiculous and I don't know about you but if I wanted a single shot rifle I would have bought one instead of a repeater. 😂 thanks for watching. Oh and FYI it drags on every round, 3-1. But dont take my word for it. Give savages customer support a call and see what they tell you smarty😮