The Savage Arms A22 Precision is a robust and accurate .22LR semi-automatic rifle for anyone looking to better their marksmanship or enter the Rimfire Competition world. It features the Savage Arms AccuTrigger and Canadian-Made one-piece MDT Chassis with an adjustable length of pull and cheek rise.
With the Liberal government banning mostly every centerfire semi-automatic rifle in Canada, law-abiding Canadian sports shooters are now forced to find an alternative. Either by purchasing a centerfire rifle with a different action – such as lever action or pump action – or buy a semi-automatic rimfire rifle.
Table of Contents
Specs
- • Custom 1 piece MDT aluminum fully adjustable stock
• 18” threaded heavy barrel with flush cap
• 1 piece Picatinny rail
• Adjustable AccuTrigger
• Oversized Charging Handle
• 10 round rotary magazine
Pros
Good accuracy for .22LR
AccuTrigger is adjustable
Solid chassis by MDT
Adjustable length of pull and cheek rise
Great training rifle for precision shooters
Cons
Magazine occasionally tricky to load/unload
Magazine release is on magazine itself, oppose to the chassis
Price and Value for Money
Typically priced around $500–$650 USD, depending on configuration. Savage Arms has the standard A22 Precision as well as a Lite version which will cost a couple hundred dollars more.
If you’re in the precision shooting world and you want to hone-in on your marksmanship skills without breaking the bank, then having an option like the A22 Precision is excellent as you can get .22LR ammunition for around $0.10 – $0.20 per round! This will allow you to fire a ton of ammo.
Also, having the A22 Precision will allow you to enter into some Rimfire Competitions, so there are multiple benefits to having a solid 22LR rimfire rifle.
The A22 Precision is also competitively priced with the Ruger Precision Rimfire 22LR, another well-known precision rimfire rifle.
Design and Build Quality
The A22 Precision rimfire rifle is solid! It features a specifically design chassis made by MDT, a premium manufacturer for firearm chassis in the competitive sports shooting world. Savage Arms also equipped the A22 Precision with MDT’s high-quality Elite Pistol Grip. A nice addition when they could have justified a cheaper pistol grip, but went with a nicer one anyways.
The entire rifle has a matte black finish giving it that tacticool modern look. I’m a big fan of the MLOK slots on the side and bottom of the forend. I would have liked a full-length picatinny rail along the top, but that would just add weight when a full-length rail isn’t necessary.
The overall look and feel of the rifle is incredible. High quality machining and no random tool marks or rough edges.
Barrel and Receiver
The A22 Precision comes with an 18″ threaded heavy barrel with a flush cap. If you go with the A22 Precision Lite variant, that model has a carbon fiber wrapped barrel. The benefit of having a heavy barrel is increased accuracy.
The threads on the barrel are 1/2 inch 28 Threads Per Inch (TPI) which allows you to attach a muzzle device, a suppressor for you Americans, or if you’re in Canada like me a Fake Suppressor. This Faux Suppressor was made by Tommy Enterprise out in British Columbia, so if you’re in Canada and looking for a tacticool look, go check him out.
Trigger and Controls
The A22 Precision is equipped with an AccuTrigger which I’m a big fan of. It has the ability to be adjusted to increase or decrease the pull-weight of the trigger. The silver tab on the trigger will press into the actual trigger as you pull your finger, then you get a bit of resistance before the shot is released.
Nothing fancy about the safety selector. Just toggles from side to side but I do like this style of safety for a semi-automatic rimfire rifle.
Stock and Ergonomics
The buttstock on the A22 Precision has an adjustable length of pull which can be set by removing or adding spacers. The buttpad is very comfortable and maybe a bit unnecessary for a 22LR but I’m not complaining!
There’s also an adjustable cheek riser which can be adjusted and set by loosening two screw fasteners on the buttstock. I really like how MDT went with this style of cheek riser oppose to needing a tool to loosen and adjust the height. Great design.
Because of the MDT chassis, the barrel on the A22 Precision is free floating meaning the forend of the chassis isn’t contacting the barrel at all. This removes any interference of the barrel making it as accurate as possible.
The charging hand is a great size in my opinion and easy to find. Because it’s on the right hand side (and I’m right handed) I had to do an “AK style” rechambering, which to be honest is kind of fun… get a couple of Butler Creek 25-round magazines and you have the full experience!
Accuracy and Performance on the Range
During my accuracy test of the A22 Precision, I set my station up around 50 meters away (going by my friend’s GPS watch). The ammunition I was using for this test was Federal Automatch 40-grain, Remington Thunderbolt High-Velocity 40-grain, and Browning BPR 37-grain.
Group Sizing (Round 1)
Here is the 10-round group sizing for each type of ammunition:
– Federal Automatch 2.96
– Remington Thunderbolt 1.85
– Browning BPR 3.10
Although the Browning scored the worst of the three, it looked like my rounds were consistently hitting one area, whereas the Federal was all over the place. So, I decided to shoot another 10-round group with the Remington & Browning ammunition.
Group Sizing (Round 2)
Here’s another 10-round group size for the following ammunition:
– Remington Thunderbolt 3.15 (1.95 if I removed 1 shot)
– Browning BPR 4.40 (1.90 if I removed 2 shots)
After looking at these group sizes, if I removed one or two of the shots and made this an 8-round grouping, it drastically improves the group size. Another thing I noticed again was the consistency of where most of the rounds were impacting.
During this accuracy test there was a slight breeze which could have affected my shot placement. I’d be curious to see what the grouping would have been with no wind outside or at an indoor range.
Magazine and Ammunition Compatibility
The A22 Precision comes with a single 10-round rotary magazine, and this is where I started running into some problems. I found it somewhat tricky to load the 22LR rounds into the magazine. The best way I found was to push on the round already inserted with the back of another 22LR round, then as you push the first round over you pivot and slide the next 22LR round in the magazine. I found this sort of a hassle especially with gloves on in below-zero Celsius temperature.
Another thing about the magazine I had a problem with was the magazine release, which is on the actual magazine itself and not the chassis. There were times where I found it very difficult to remove the magazine from the chassis. And if the magazine release somehow breaks or gets worn out, then you have to go out and buy another magazine.
As far as feeding rounds, at first I did experience some stoppages and failures to extract, but as I fired off 100 rounds or more, the stoppages decreased and I could fire 10 rounds and 25 rounds without any hiccups.
The ammunition I was firing was Federal, Remington, and Browning. It definitely preferred the Remington High-Powered ammunition for both accuracy and effectiveness.
Optics and Accessory Mounting Options
The A22 Precision comes with a 0 MOA picatinny rail. There may be some folks out there that would prefer a 20 MOA rail in order to get some further target shooting out of this rifle, but I’m sure that’s an easy fix from Savage Arms.
The A22 Precision comes with a swivel mount on the lower end of the forend for mounting a traditional bipod. I removed this swivel mount and attached my MDT ORYX bipod. I’ve also used my MLOK Vertical Grip made by Tommy Enterprises when I’m wanting a tacticool rifle setup.
The MLOK rail is great for being able to attach other accessories. After I completed the accuracy test, I put on my Fenix PD32R tactical flashlight.
Final Verdict
Overall, I have to say that I’ve been very happy with the Savage Arms A22 Precision. I’m really happy how I can take this out and practice my marksmanship skills and get some relatively good grouping sizes (for a 22LR that is) but I also like how I’m able to swap out the bits and pieces and have a tacticool setup.
Of course, there are some more cost-effective options when it comes to 22LR semi-automatic rifles, but if you’re looking for something that will allow you to get some accurate groupings then I would highly recommend getting the A22 Precision. If accuracy isn’t a priority for you, then you’ll probably be content with something else.
I hope this review was helpful to you! Thanks for reading and supporting the blog. Cheers.