I had been wanting a savage for a while and finally broke down and bought a savage .17 HMR. It's the grey laminate stock with thumb hole, and a heavy barrel. Bushnell 3x9x40 scope, and a bipod.. A little fine tuning at the range and varmint killing I go.
They are the same gun, yes.. But they have different options on stocks, barrels, with or without optics, etc. I we t through the same thing looking for a .17HMR, I wanted specific options and finally found one I wanted without having to order it.
I have a synthetic folding stock I would sell for a 10/22 since we are on the topic. I am keeping it looking like a rifle, went away from the tactical look. $80