Though hunting season only happens once a year, it never really ends as dedicated hunters never seem to stop preparing for the next season. I’m not a hardcore guy, but I grew up in a family of die-hard hunters who were constantly scouting locations, exploring the woods, and getting ready for the season to officially roll around. To me, it never seemed to end. With that in mind, if you need a hunting rifle, now is the best time to shop. With all sorts of rebates, ammo, and guns are more available and often cheaper.

That’s what drew a friend to a Savage Axis 2. A $75 rebate on an already budget-friendly rifle made it irresistible to him. It’s his first hunting rifle, and he brought it to my property to sight it in, shoot, and learn a thing or two. We spent the day blasting through a healthy amount of .270 ammo and taking the rifle through its paces from 50 to 200 yards.

Beyond Bare Bones

There are many Savage Axis 2 rifles in various calibers and configurations. This particular model is a .270 Winchester variant with an FDE polymer stock. According to Savage, the deal came with a Bushnell Banner 3-9X scope that was mounted and even bore-sighted from the factory. It’s a basic rifle in most senses, but it does perform at a level that surprised me.

He spent $500 and received a $75 mail-in rebate. To score a rifle and optic for a total of $425 isn’t a bad deal. The Savage Axis 2 comes with the Savage AccuTrigger, which is a user-adjustable trigger designed to be light and short but safe.

In the center sits a very thin metal device that protrudes away from the trigger. This device pivots rearward when you pull the trigger and acts like a safety. When you get through the pivot, you’re touching the trigger, which is very light and short by design.

The Axis 2 uses a four-round detachable box magazine, so it’s quick and easy to clean the gun. A detachable magazine also makes it easy to fix or replace a broken one, while internal magazines can be a bit of a pain to repair. Without surprise, the budget-friendly Axis 2 uses a push-feed configuration.

The .270 variant of the Axis 2 features a 22-inch barrel, and it’s surprisingly light. At 6.3 pounds, it won’t weigh you down all that much. For stalking through the woods and climbing a tree stand, the lighter the rifle, the better it is in most cases. The rifle is 42.5 inches long overall, and the length of pull is a comfy 13.75 inches.

Shouldering the Axis 2

According to Savage, the Axis 2 features enhanced ergonomics. I always hate when companies use such vague terms. I can’t say how ‘enhanced’ the ergonomics are, but I can say the Axis feels surprisingly nice. As mentioned, it’s super lightweight and impressively comfortable.

The pistol grip is thin but comfortable and easy to wrap your hand around. The forend also features relief cuts to allow for a better grip of the front of the gun. It’s easy to grab and hold onto, making it easy for different-sized shooters to grab the rifle and go.

The Axis 2 uses a large tang safety naturally placed for easy thumb access. It’s textured and can easily be silently pressed from safe to fire. The bolt handle uses a large T-handle-style design that allows for good positive engagement on the bolt for total control. It’s large enough to work with gloves in case it’s cold and harsh outside.

The trigger guard doesn’t feel as glove-friendly. It’s not particularly wide, so depending on the thickness of your glove, it might feel restrained. Luckily, we’re in Florida, and we don’t need mittens.

To The Range

The first thing we have to do is zero the rifle scope. We did some research and settled on a 50-yard zero. In Florida, we don’t hunt in open areas, and a 50-yard zero would easily carry us to 200 yards. A 200-yard shot in northwest Florida is unheard of, and I typically just shotgun hunt due to how thick our tropical rainforests and swamps seem to be.

The boresight was true, and our impacts were close to the point of aim. What wasn’t close was the adjustment of the Bushnell Banner. It’s listed as a ¼ MOA adjustment. So, at 50 yards, it should be ⅛ of an inch per click. It wasn’t. We measured carefully, did the math, and even double-checked it. We made the adjustments and fired again.

The point of impact radically shifted. I measured the distance, and it seems like each click was ½ inch at 50 yards, which means at 100 yards, each click was 1 MOA. It’s clearly printed ¼ inch on the turrets. We redid the adjustments completely and took it back to zero, and this time, we used the ½ MOA as our measurements.

Surprise, we were zeroed. Once zeroed, we left the scope as is. The Bushnell Banner has a very budget-friendly scope. It’s one of the cheapest 3-9X outside of those random Chinese companies you see on Amazon with crazy names. The Banner ended up remaining zeroed and is still zeroed now, a few weeks later. However, its design contains flaws, and if this was my rifle, I’d swap the optic.

Accuracy At The Range

Once the optic was zeroed, we started shooting at 50, 100, and 200 yards. I’m not as good of a rifleman as I once was, but in a supported sled, we produced 1 MOA and slightly smaller groups with Remington Core-Lokt 150-grain projectiles.

We removed the sled and shot in supported positions and made very nice groups within the 2 MOA range. (Both of us need some practice.) In the offhand, we rang a 4-inch steel gong with regularity. The Axis 2 will certainly ruin Bambi’s day.

The AccuTrigger looks very nice. The light trigger and short pull help take the trigger out of the equation. I am impressed by it and find it quite nice for such a budget-friendly rifle. What’s not so impressive is the action. It’s not smooth at all. It’s functional, but it’s gritty, and it takes some effort to work. This is where the budget nature of the rifle rears its head.

Recoil will feel stiff if you’ve spent your shooting life with AR-15s. A bolt-action rifle in a full power centerfire caliber will feel stiff but not painful. It doesn’t beat you up, and you can comfortably shoot for extended sessions. Reliability wasn’t an issue in any way. It went bang every time we pulled the trigger. That’s lucky because .270 isn’t cheap.

Final Thoughts

I like the rifle and its ergonomics, price point, and performance. I don’t like the optic, though. I would purchase the Savage Axis 2 without the optic. Save a little extra money and buy your own optic. If you do that, the price savings and the 75-dollar rebate should allow you to get a better optic than the Bushnell Banner 3-9X.

The Savage Axis 2 is a mix of clearly budget decisions, like the action, with some surprisingly nice features, like the stock. For the price point, I think you are getting a solid rifle that deserves a better optic.