I’ve always wanted a nice left handed, bolt action .22LR rifle. With the good experience I’ve had with my Savage 111 hunting rifle, I decided I needed to look no further than Savage again. When it comes to left handed models, they have the best selection. They have a good selection for the leftys, but only four in the .22 caliber. The Rascal and the Mark II GL Youth were obviously out of the picture, leaving the Mark II BTVLSS and the Mark II GL. I already have a Ruger 10/22, so I ruled out the standard Mark II, and went with the BTVLSS
BT – Laminate Thumbhole Stock
T – Target (Redundant with BT?)
V – Heavy Barrel
L – Left Hand
SS – Stainless Steel
This is a very nice looking rifle. The stock is beautiful, and everything fits quite nicely together. The barrel is free floated and of course, there is the Accu-Trigger. This rifle does come with Weaver scope bases already installed, which was a big question I had when ordering it. Some folks in the past had to order a separate set of scope bases for their rifle. But mine were included.
I mounted my older Leupold VX-1 3-9×40 scope with an old set of UTG high detachable rings. Since I already had the good scope, and mediocre rings, why waste the money right now. I will be upgrading to a set of standard medium rings, but that’s a future purchase. I also installed a Champion Bi-Pod for shooting from the bench. I also ordered two 10 round magazines, since it only came with one 5 rounder (really, only one, and a five shot).
After a good cleaning and lube, the action worked pretty good. Not as smooth as my .30-06 Savage 111, but that is a whole different beast.
For the first time, it shot pretty well. I tried various ammo at 50 and 100 yards. Not too bad for a windy day, with not much of a wind break, and getting used to a new rifle. I’m hoping I can find the right ammo combo for better grouping. I also hope I can do a little more behind the rifle to improve that grouping.
This is the first time in a long time I’ve shot a bolt action more than 6 times a sitting, so the mechanics are still improving. I am a left handed shooter, but right handed at everything else, and have been used to manipulating my right handed Ruger 10/22. So time will tell how long it take me to get used to full left handed operations.
Looking forward to shooting this more often, and I’ve accumulated a nice stash of .22 ammo to test.