Savage Rascal

I don’t mean that as a one-line definition for the new Savage Rascal. Sure, it’s a .22 caliber youth rifle. There’s no advanced rocket science required in working up and peddling one of them. I suppose that’s one reason why there are quite a few being dangled in the marketplace, right? Only partially right. There are youth rifles and those that claim to be youth rifles, if you know what I mean. I happen to own a youth rifle. It cost my Dad five bucks brand new when he bought it for me. I was five years old.

He taught me to respect guns and how to shoot with that little Winchester Model 60A. Seven years after he gave it to me I won my first Boy Scout Merit Badge with it. It can still print five shots inside a ten ring at 50 yards with the original iron sights.

On one occasion, using premium ammunition, it outdid my Anschutz 1413 at 25 yards, but I’ve since donated that Anschutz to a charity raffle (yeah, I’ll take a tax deduction.) Like the Anschutz, the Winchester is a single shot, historically and actually the most accurate among rifle actions. Unlike the Anschutz, it is small and light. Once a year it returns to the range during an open-to-the-public fun shoot at my club.

There, junior first timers line it up on balloons, severely shaken-while-full soda cans and rimfire metallic silhouettes. Except for that, it has been semi-retired to a permanent place in my vault. It is not for sale. A few months ago, my brotherin-law called me regarding a youth rifle suitable for his son, Theo.

I told him it required a firearms ID card We can think of no better way to eliminate tiffs over which Rascal is whose during a youthful shooting session. for him to purchase any shoulder arm in his state of residence. The brother-in-law is a superb recording engineer who can make the worst croaker and stringed instrument plunker sound like music made in heaven. He has little interest in firearms other than the usual concerns regarding his son having, caring for and shooting one.

I told him I’d think over his request and get back to him with a recommendation. As I started this article off by stating, things aren’t always simple as they seem. A studied response required checking out a number of youth rifles. A few requirements I predetermined. It should be a single shot, a cock-on-opening bolt action, properly sized, side-mounted safety, an outstanding trigger, a highly visible cocking indicator and adjustable sights.

The trouble was I had no time to spare for a comparative, model versus model search. My brotherin-law had a schedule worse than mine and lacked the knowledge for making a similar evaluation. Where could I turn up a youth rifle with all those attributes produced by a reliable manufacturer with a rapidly growing reputation for achieving accuracy? At the 2012 Shot Show. When I’d first spotted it in the exhibitor’s booth I suspected they’d come up with a knock-off of my old Winchester.

On closer inspection, I quickly saw there was no comparison other than weight. What I was looking at was a newly developed and produced entry into the youth market from Savage Arms called the Rascal. They could have chosen "Imp," Sport," "Buddy," or any number of pet-like names. To me, "Rascal" promises equal fun with no loss in the pleasures of a lasting friendship. Sure, it costs more than my Winchester. Name one thing that doesn’t after all these years. Field Stripping Place the safety ON.

Hold the trigger firmly to the rear. Open the bolt. While maintaining the hold on the trigger, withdraw the bolt from the receiver. Check the serial number on the bolt. It will be composed of four digits which should match the last four digits of the rifle’s serial number. If not, something is awry and the bolt you have wasn’t supposed to be sent out with that specific rifle. Savage gauges the bolt to fit each rifle they ship from the factory and marks the bolt accordingly. If any Savage bolt action is handed

over to you with a mismatched bolt/ rifle serial number, call Savage right away. The gun may have to be returned and anew bolt fitted. Remember what I said about the rifle cocking when the bolt is opened? The bolt has to be uncocked in order to dismantle it beyond field stripping. Unfortunately, there was no exploded view of the bolt itself available to us and the cocking piece is not identified in the main schematic. It’s the black "button" sticking out from the bolt.

When the bolt is uncocked, the button will rest in the upper, forward section of the bolt cut out at the base of the bolt handle. When cocked, the button is in the same cut out on the bolt but is positioned on the opposite side and to the rear. Maintenance may require you to manually decock the bolt. Lock it between padded vise jaws with the bolt handle straight up.

Using a nylon drift, tap lightly on the cock- B They are roll pins and can be drifted in either direction with roll pin punches. ing lever, moving it into its notch at the base of the handle. The factory guys decock it another way. The bolt handle is positioned straight up, the bolt held in two hands and the cocking lever pushed downward against the edge of the work bench, dislodging it from the cocked position.

I figure I wasn’t doing it exactly as it had been described so the cocking lever fought me like a little demon and stayed put. Maybe my work bench isn’t built exactly like It must match the last four digits of the rifle’s serial number. A Athose up in Westfield, MA so I used a nylon drift. The bolt innards are now accessible. If deep cleaning is necessary, it will occur after you separate the stock from the barreled action. For this, a 9/64" Allen wrench is used to loosen and remove the two stock screws (19C, 19D).

The stock and action should separate easily. Any small stubbornness can be eliminated by bumping the underside of the barrel just beneath the front B A

A Asight on a bench pad. The Accu Trigger will remain attached to the receiver. We’ll discuss that unit further in a bit. Detailed Disassembly As you’ll discover here, there is little to an intensified take down of a Rascal. Since we don’t have a separate schematic of the bolt, however, please refer to the photographs of the bolt and its included call-outs. First to go is the end cap. If the bolt is still cocked the cocking indicator protrudes out the back end of the cap.

Since the photo is of a decocked bolt, the indicator has withdrawn and left a recess behind. Insert a #4 Mag Na Tip hex bit or its equivalent into that recess. As hard as I was able to crank counter-clockwise on that bit with the longest driver in my stash, the cap wouldn’t budge. A phone call to Savage explained why. The cap is secured during final assembly with Loctite. Thankfully, the blue variety is used exclusively, which requires less heat than red Loctite to defeat it.

If I had to apply that much flame to the cap end of The stud (B) supports the loading ramp and captures its spring. No replacement parts are made available for the Accu Trigger assembly (C). The entire unit must be replaced should breakage occur. Note the clips retaining it in the housing. They require a 9/64ths hex wrench to remove and present no problems in backing them out. the bolt it might weaken the mainspring inside. I remained cautious and shunned using any of my large propane, MAAP gas or welding torches.

The little butane one I had on hand would do just fine, providing a 30 second warm up to the bolt body just below the end cap. Back in went the hex bit on the end of the long handle. Still no action. I took my ¼-inch ratchet wrench and attached the hex bit with a Brownells Magna-Tip adapter. Into my padded bench vise went the bolt, cap-end upward. Thirty The text explains what goes on inside the assembly (B). Trigger adjustments (C) are made with the factory provided tool.

It’s longer than a Rascal by eight inches, weighs the same, lacks the trigger/sight systems. However, it still is a tackdriver and no youth is ever going to pry it out of my vault. Aseconds of heat and a half turn with the wrench later the cap surrendered. You might want to add these tools to your inventory. They have come in very handy for me when faced with fasteners wearing Loctite on their threads. The mainspring will pop partially out when the cap is removed.

I didn’t expect it would totally expel itself from the bolt. I was correct. The bolt is now set up for a complete take-down. Withdraw the mainspring. The cocking indicator, a rod with ahead at one end,

usually comes along with it. The extractor pin (12E) retains the extractor, its spring and partially does the same with the firing pin (11G). Drifting out the firing pin retainer (11L), however, allows you to extract the firing pin from its bottom slot in the bolt. The cocking knob is retained in the hammer by a small roll pin. Align the pin holes so you can see clear through the bolt, Drift out the pin in either direction. Lift the cocking knob free. The hammer can be slid out where the end cap once dwelled.

The rear sight assembly should require no detailed instruction. Just study it before you start breaking it down into its separate components and beware of lost springs. Better yet, the photo included here will give you a very good idea of how the sight assembly should appear when remounted to the receiver. Savage Accu Trigger Up until about 2003, this tremendously successful design wasn’t available on rimfire rifles.

Knowing a really good youth rifle should boast a really good trigger system, it is standard equipment on the Rascal. As with any Savage rifle so equipped, the Rascal comes with a small tool allowing its owner to adjust trigger pull weight. The tool is quite simple, consisting of a knurled cylinder with a short rod extending upward from it. The rod has been machined to engage a spring in the rear of the Accu Trigger assembly. To increase pull up to 6 pounds the tool is turned clockwise.

You’ve reached maximum when the spring makes a clicking noise, Pull can be lightened to about 1.5 pounds when the tool is rotated counter-clockwise. You’ve reached minimum pull when the large coil of the trigger spring comes into contact with the upper rear surface of the trigger. These limits should never be exceeded.

For the sake of safety, both Savage and I recommend settings from 1.5 to 3 pounds be restricted to Figure 2, when the bolt is cocked the sear sits on a step at the rear of the trigger and is in contact with the sear stop lever. Figure 3, continuing to pull the trigger rotates it and the sear stop lever under the sear. The hammer is allowed to fall. Figure 4, all the movement diagramed can occur only after the trigger blocking safety has been moved to the "Fire" position. well supervised precision shooting.

Heavier trigger weights may be more suitable for field shooting. Education is a wonderful thing when an Accu Trigger is the subject. For that reason I have included a set of blueprint drawings provided by Savage to further explain how the trigger system functions. While the design has been modified, these illustrations detail how this system works. Starting with Figure 1, what appears to be a Glock Safe Action trigger is really a sear stop lever. It teams up with a slot milled near the end of the trigger.

Figure 2 shows when the bolt is cocked the sear sits on a step at the rear of the trigger and is in contact with the sear stop lever. Figure 3, continuing to pull the trigger rotates it and the sear stop lever under the sear. The hammer is allowed to fall. Figure 4 details that all the movement diagrammed can occur only after the trigger blocking safety has been moved to the "Fire" position. What happens if the rifle is dropped while cocked and the safety is disengaged? Nothing.

The sear lever still blocks the sear. Why? The trigger hasn’t been pulled. All things considered, my nephew’s Dad need harbor no concerns about making a Rascal his son’s first rifle. Now all I have to do is get him out of a recording studio long enough to explain why. Besides, there’s no way the kid is going to end up with my Winchester. AG

Savage Rascal (Speci ications subject to change without notice) Parts List Note: The Rascal owner’s manual contains schematics and parts lists covering three additional Savage rimfire rifles.

The list included here is limited to those parts identified in the manual as associated with the Rascal. 17B Front Sight Blade 18 Stock Assembly 18M Front Stud 19C Rear Action Screw 19D Front Action Screw 19K Stud, Action (Rim Fire) 20B Safety Insert/Red Ball 20K Loading Platform/Fed Ramp 20KK Feed Ramp Spring 20L Rear Action Stud 11G Firing Pin 11L Firing Pin Retaining Pin 12E Extractor Pin 12L Extractor 16E Sight Bracket 16F Rear Sight Locking Screw 16G Rear Sight Aperture 16H Aperture Nut 16L Rear Sight Pivot Screw