If you’re like me you think of rifles, when you hear the name Savage Arms. While I have owned several Savage guns at this point, they had all been Savage’s accurate and affordable bolt action offerings. Unbeknownst to me Savage Arms had put out a new semi-auto shotgun offering with the Renegauge series of semi-auto shotguns. A pretty new addition to their line they were originally announced at Shot Show 2020, the series is made up of seven models; Competition, Waterfowl, Field, Security, Turkey Obsession, Turkey Bottomland, and the Prairie. So for the past 5 months, I exclusively used the Savage Arms Renegauge Field as my go-to shotgun for shooting birds and clay targets. So let’s get onto the review covering how it fared for me on multiple trips to sporting clay range and dove fields.
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Specifications – Savage Arms Renegauge Field
The Savage Arms Renegauge Field is one out of seven available Renegauge models. Each of these models has a specific pursuit and purpose in mind, the Renegauge Field is as the name states a field model shotgun. Made to be easy to shoulder with comfortable and sleek handling. Perfect for walking fields and shooting quickly when a bird gets flushed. The Field model, just like all the other Renegauge models, uses Savage’s D.R.I.V. (Dual Regulating Inline Valve) Gas System. It is a self-regulating gas system designed by Savage that is super adaptable. So no matter what shell you throw into it the shotgun can handle it. You can swap between 3″ magnum shells and low recoil 2 ¾” shells without missing a beat. The stocks on the Renegauges are adjustable as well, letting users change the length of pull, comb height, and drop & cast to best fit them. The barrels on these shotguns are made of carbon steel with a melonite finish and come with a 3″ chamber, a fluting along its length, and a ventilated rib on top.
- Gauge – 12 Gauge
- Barrel – 28″ Fluted Carbon Steel barrel with melonite finish
- Magazine Capacity – 4+1 2-3/4in Shells
- Handedness – Right-Hand
- Length of Pull (LOP) – 14.25″ – 15.07″
- Overall Length – 49.5″
- Receiver – Matte Black Aluminum
- Sights – Red Fiber Optic Front
- Stock – Matte Grey Monte Carlo Style
- Weight – 7.9 Lbs
- MSRP – $1,649.00
Renegauge Field Key Features
- D.R.I.V. gas system
- Adjustable stock for length of pull, comb height, and drop & cast
- One-piece, chrome-plated action bar assembly
- Chrome-plated reciprocating components
- Stock rod buffer to reduce felt recoil
- Fluted barrel with melonite finish
- Carbon steel ventilated rib with red fiber optic sight
- Competition-ready easy-loading magazine port
- Oversized controls
- Includes Full, Improved Cylinder, Modified choke tubes (Beretta/Benelli Mobil)
- Includes hard-sided carrying case
- 3″ Chamber
Busting Clays – Savage Arms Renegauge Field
So after receiving and assembling the Renegauge Field, I needed to get some trigger time on it before taking it out to the dove fields. That way I could get used to the manual of arms of the Renegauge before the dove opener. I have plenty of experience with clay shooting but it was only with an O/U. I had done some practice at home with pointing and mounting the gun to get a slight feel for it, but nothing beats shooting for practice. So for the first day with clays, I really wanted to get a good round count to see how it performs. Without any cleaning or lubing the gun I took it out to a local sporting clay field for wobble skeet. To be honest it had been a minute since I had been clay shooting with work and life getting in the way so I was worried that I would be the weak link here.
But after the first few shots to feel it out, the Renegauge Field felt like it was taking up my slack. It was very nimble in the shoulder and pointed very well. The controls are all oversized making them easy to use. When it came to loading more shells in the tube, the beveled loading port made it quick and intuitive. The trigger housing is angled towards the port as well, so making it easy to just go by feel when loading in more shells. When it came to the shooting and recoil of the shotgun, this thing was a dream. The nicely padded buttpad along with the recoil system made it very comfortable to just keep shooting round after round. Even when using some high-velocity loads, that I knew beat me up a bit when shot from my O/U, the Renegauge Field stayed comfortable to shoot. Usually after a day of clays, I would feel a little beat up, but this was not the case.
Out on the Dove Fields – Savage Arms Renegauge Field
Now with plenty of shooting under my belt with the Renegauge Field, I was more than comfortable taking this out into the field to chase doves. The first time out with the Renegauge Field was for the season opener. Where after plenty of shooting behind it, I had a great time shooting for half the day. Though a dove moves a lot more erratically and swiftly than a clay so went through a ton of shells that day. The D.R.I.V. gas system came in clutch to save the day for my buddy for the opener as well. He had to use his backup shotgun this trip, but it would not feed his normal bird/target shells, so we swapped ammo. The Renegauge Field’s D.R.I.V. gas system did not care and just kept shooting flawlessly. Beyond the season opener, I went out several more times over the duration of the dove season. Each hunt started well before sunrise and in variable conditions, though pretty much they all started pretty wet out with the Georgia humidity.
The moisture wasn’t a problem though, even when I spent a couple of hours in driving rain it didn’t cause any issues with the finish. All that was needed after that trip was to disassemble the shotgun and dry it out, which was the closest thing to a cleaning it got. The red fiber optic front sight was also great for those first couple of birds that flew by during first light. The Renegauge Field’s ergonomics are very nice as well. For a 28″ barrelled shotgun it felt very easy to bring up to position while both sitting and standing. The forearm of the gun fills your hand well and the texturing lets it stay grippy even when wet. The performance loading port made loading shells quickly easy, especially when under pressure as a big flock of doves came through. While the shotgun is a bit on the heavy side at just shy of 8 lbs for a field gun, it doesn’t act like that in hand. The balancing of that weight keeps the shotgun feeling light and easy to point.
Final Thoughts – Savage Arms Renegauge Field
I really enjoy this shotgun, the past five months with the Savage Renegauge Field left me very impressed with it. They are genuinely a pleasure to shoot, I would say perfect for anyone and more so for anyone who is more recoil-sensitive. The gun handles like a dream, being easy to shoulder in a rush and easy to point. It fit me like a glove right out of the box, but even if it hadn’t all the options they ship with would have found the perfect fit for me. Over the past months of shooting this Renegauge Field, I did not have a single malfunction. This thing ran like a champ, through the whole dove season and many trips to the clay fields.
While I try not to be rough on my gear, I often am. That was the case with this shotgun as well, even though I tried not to with a review gun. Even with more than a few bumps and drops that happened during the hunts, the finish held up. The corrosion resistance of the melonite was great with it getting wet every hunting trip. Maintenance-wise this gun needed none, the closest thing to maintenance it had was getting disassembled and dried out after it got waterlogged. The only complaint I really have for the Renegauge Field would be the MSRP of $1,649. It bit of a big pill to swallow for a lot of people when it comes to shotguns. But if you keep an eye out you can often find them on sale pretty often for a more swallowable price.
