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Jesse's Hunting > Gun Room Articles > Gun Room Archives > Taking a Look at the Savage Striker .22 wmr
Taking a Look at the Savage Striker .22 wmr
Andy Moe - JHO Pro Staff
February 05, 2004
Do you want rifle accuracy in a handgun? Need a compact rimfire for back packing or other activities where space is short but accuracy needs are long? Well! Savage Arms has just the gun for you. I’m talking about their Striker bolt-action pistol in 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire. I have been wringing out the 22 WMR Striker for the last couple of months and our frequent range encounters have blossomed into a real love affair. Allow me to fill you in on the details!
Savage introduced the “Striker” series of handguns in 1998 with the centerfire versions being produced on a modified 110 action and the rimfires being produced on a modified M-93 action. The main difference between the standard rimfire action (M93) and the Striker action (M-502) is that the Striker sports a left hand bolt with right hand ejection. This arrangement allows a right-handed shooter to keep his “strong” hand on the grip while cycling the bolt.
The Striker is fed from the same five-round detachable magazine standard to all current 22WMR bolt actions in the Savage line-up and sports an injection-molded, ambidextrous stock of the action-forward/ rearward grip configuration. The receiver and barrel are finished in matte-black adding to the impression that this a hunting gun, first and foremost. The stiff 10” barrel is straight-tapered from the receiver to the muzzle, which measures roughly 9/16” diameter.
The barrel is factory free floated and rifled to the standard 1-16” twist common for the 22LR and 22WMR chamberings. The factory lists the “dry” weight of the Striker as four pounds. Set up with scope, sling, and Harris bipod, my Striker tips my old fish scale at 5 pounds 4 ounces. Savage does not supply the Striker with sling swivel studs. That’s probably a good thing as a handgun this specialized will certainly leave the owner needing to mount swivels to accommodate his or her own particular needs. A set of Uncle Mikes-brand swivel studs graced my Striker after an easy 10 minutes’ work.
Unlike most bolt action rimfires which sport 3/8” dovetail grooves for the “tip-off” style of rings, the Striker is supplied with Weaver-style scope bases. This solid mounting system allows for a wider range of scope ring styles, and alleviates the worry of “scope walk” experienced by many shooters using tip-off bases on a 3/8” rail; especially when using the larger and heavier target / varmint scopes available today. Those clamping grooves were never intended to accommodate such large and heavy scopes mounted so high above the receiver. I’m pleased to see Savage addressing this issue in their rimfire line.
The first scope I tried on the Striker was a Simmons 3-9 rifle scope. Lacking any kind of handgun glass in arsenal, it was the only option I had for quelling my impatience to shoot this pistol. My credit card was already being tapped for a proper long-eye-relief scope, but I was too anxious to wait on delivery! I was willing to deal with an awkward shooting stance and parallax problems (not to mention the quizzical looks from the guys at the local range!) to get this baby on paper. This may not have been the brightest idea I’ve had recently, but despite this strange sighting arrangement, the Striker seemed to shoot well. It wasn’t until my Simmons “Pro Hunter” 2X LER scope arrived that the Striker’s real accuracy potential was revealed.
To my way of thinking, this new Simmon’s scope is perfectly matched to the Striker. The tube is matte black and a compact 8” long; sighting is crisp, clear, and parallax tolerant. When mounted with Leupold “Rifleman” aluminum rings this scope not only looked the part of a hunting scope, but acted as though it belonged on this Savage by delivering the kind of tight groups that were impossible to achieve with cobble-mounted 3-9 rifle scope.
I shot five different varieties of 22 WMRfor my trials: Federal 40 grain Full Metal Jacket, CCI 40 grain Full Metal Jacket, Federal’s hot 30 grain Sierra Hollow Point, PMC’s 40 grain “Predator” Jacketed Hollow Point, and Federal’s heavyweight 50 grain Hollow Point.
Benching the Striker, I was able to put five rounds of Federal 40 grain FMJ through just about the same hole at 25 yards. CCI’s40 grain FMJ gave identical results. Long story short, at 25 yards most of the ammo I tested had all the rounds cutting each other. It was obvious that this Striker didn’t need to be coddled in the range department! At 50 yards the stragglers started to fall out of the accuracy race. The Federal 50 grain HP’s were the first to go. From a 1-16” twist barrel these long bullets are marginally stable even at the higher velocities obtained from a rifle. I had held little hope that they would perform from a 10” handgun barrel of the same twist. They not only fell into a 3.5” group, but also 4” below the point of impact for the various 40 grain loadings.
The Federal / Sierra 30 grain HP’s were next. Impacting 2” high and 1” left of the point of aim, they delivered a little over one-inch average grouping. They seemed to want to group as three of the five would invariably cluster under half inch. Unfortunately, the remaining two shots would go astray, spoiling the picture.
This brings us to the Top Three: PMC “Predator” 40 grain JHP, CCI 40 grain FMJ, and Federal 40 grain FMJ.
Number three is the Predator. This ammo has never shot too well in my other 22 Magnums and I was surprised to see it shooting so well in the Striker. The Predator’s exposed lead, jacketed hollow point had always looked wicked but until now I doubted I’d ever be able to shoot it well enough to consistently connect with any small game. This Striker may yet give me the chance as I averaged just over .6 inches at 50 yards for five shots.
Both the CCI and Federal 40 grain FMJ share the Number Two and Number One spots. They seem to flip-flop depending on what day it is or how much coffee I’d had that morning.Both will deliver well under ˝ inch, 5-shot groups at the 50-yard mark when I do my part. At 75 meters though, I must give the nod to the Federal 40 grainers. Maybe it was chance but the tightest groups I have fired at that distance were with this Federal ammo. It has been my bench-mark accuracy load for the 22 magnum for many years. Federal’s 40 grain full metal jacket bullet delivers great accuracy even at the extreme edge of the magnum’s range.
This was the best group: Federal 40 grain FMJ. 75 yards. .425 inches |
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This was typical: CCI 40 grain FMJ 75 yards. .73 inches |
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Ok. I confess. There was one other variety of ammo tried, but I tested it with only the expectation of “also ran” results. It was Winchester’s new Dyna-Point 22 Magnum loading. Unfortunately, I was correct in my prediction about its potential. This inexpensive, low velocity, 45 grain lead HP has delivered dismal accuracy from every rifle I’ve used it in, and continued on this course by way of the Savage. Dyna-Point has proven itself best relegated to close range plinking and pest control duties. I won’t waste your time with the results of my brief test in the Savage.
If you don’t count the Dyna-point and the Federal 50 grain, you’ll notice that none of the remaining four contestants produced bad groups. In fact, they were darned good on the whole, and any of these four varieties would certainly be more than adequate for hunting purposes. The fact that I can get the least bit fussy about a few tenths of an inch at 50 yards –with a handgun, no less- is a tribute to the level of accuracy obtained with this test gun.The Striker delivers the kind of accuracy that spoils a shooter fast! I did chronograph those four top loads and the results are in the accompanying table for your inspection. On a whole, the velocities were about 200 ft/sec. less than what I recorded firing the same ammunition from my 20” barreled, Marlin 22 WMR rifle.
Operation of the Striker was pretty straightforward once I got used to reaching for the bolt with my left hand. I found the Striker action smooth and easy to operate. So smooth, in fact, that I found I could slide my left hand rearward and flick the bolt handle up and back with just my thumb. By slightly adjusting my grip further, I was able to close and lock the bolt with the thumb as well.With the exception of one particular magazines’ dislike of PMC Predator, the feeding was smooth and I experienced no hang-ups. The safety is positive and precise in movement. With a little practice I was able to get used to the motion of placing the safety on and off with my left hand as well. The Striker is well-mannered over sand bags and balances well for off-hand shooting. The addition of a Harris Bipod has opened the possibility of doing some close-range groundsquirrel sniping this spring. Definitely a “Minute of Squirrel”set-up!
While I do love this pistol, I have a few minor bones to pick. The first, and most superficial: My fat hand doesn’t fit the pistol grip too well. It always feels just a little pinched. A Dremel tool will fix that if it ever gets to bothering me too badly. Handgun grip fit has always been an issue with me. I doubt if the general shooting population would have any problem with the Savages’ dimensions.
My next concern is the trigger. It’s a little to creepy and heavy for precision shooting. The trigger assembly itself is intelligently designed and somewhat adjustable for weight of pull, but a handgun the needs a more refined trigger for off-hand work than the 3.5 pounds I squeezed out of the Striker’s adjustment screw. If this trigger was in a rifle I’d be satisfied but it begs attention when used in a handgun. Accordingly, I have ordered a “Rifle Basix” replacement sear from Mid South Shooter’s Supply ($65 + freight) that is fully adjustable down to several ounces. That should do the trick.
Lastly, and this is a really picky item... the replacement magazines are hard to find and a bit pricey at $21 each. They are a robust, all steel affair, but little different in materials than the Marlin 22WMR magazines that Wal-Mart sells for $12 each. Like the Striker, the magazines are made at Savage’s Canadian plant which I’m sure adds to the price. I bought two extra. As well made as they are, that ought to be a lifetime supply!
As you can see, I can find little fault with the Savage Striker. Do I like it? You bet. And if you run a trap-line, hunt high canopy squirrels, or just plain love accurate handguns you’ll like the Striker, too. It’s a tough, accurate, no glitz hunting gun that would be just as at home in New England hardwoods harvesting tree squirrels as it would on a southern California alfalfa field knocking off ground squirrels. The rimfire Striker retails for just under $300 and is available in 22LR, 22WMR, and the hot new 17HMR chambering. Varmints Beware.
Velocity Tables
| Federal 40 grain FMJ: | 1730 ft/sec. |
| CCI 40 grain FMJ: | 1710 ft/sec. |
| PMC ”Predator” JHP: | 1680 ft/sec. |
| Federal/Sierra 30 gr. HP: | 1990 ft/sec |
All velocities taken at 10 feet using a Chrony Chronograph.
Rounded down to the nearest 10 ft/sec.
~ Andy Moe
JHO field writer & pro staff
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