To already beat a dead horse....
Savage is a good rifle. It may not be as pretty or as refined but it places the bullets where they need to go. It's a pain jane hunting rifle for the common rifleman and nothing more.
The Tikka by rep. is also a very accurate and more rifled than the Savage and has a very good accuracy rep.
Both are very good rifles and in "my opinion" beats outs most big names in value.
My last rilfe was a Savage, which I picked up for 200 dollars. I actually wanted to try a Tikka but couldn't justify the extra cash when the Savage does exactly what I want it to do.
My next "new" rifle will probably be a Tikka, but I certainly don't wish for every one to go out and buy a Tikka and Savage to go out of business. They both make great products and I hope both companies stay in business for a long, long, time.
I relate Savage to Toyotta pickups, they don't pick up girls but they run forever and do exactly what the owner needs them to do...aka they get the job done. As you can probably tell I am a big fan of Savage. They buildd a rifle for the common man - the guy that wants and accurate rifle but can't affort to spend alot of money. Sometimes I feel than other gun companies get too caught up in the "features" and forget about what one really needs in a rifle.
I strongly encourage anyone to get one of each. I own more refined firearms than Savage that doesn't mean I cast my Savages aside, I killed three deer this year with my cheap Savage rifle. The real question is, can you (or I) outperform the tool we are using?
Matt (feeling philisophical) Jager