Which Savage do you have?
I’m seriously considering a Savage 12BVSS.
Also, what would be a decent scope for that rifle? I can’t afford a Nighforce right now.
Every individual gun is different so finding the right round is very important. Even though the barrel on the BVSS is a 1 in 9 twist The Hornady Tap Urban in 55 grain is the best round for my rifle. Second and very close was the standard Hornday .223 varmit in 55 grain. The Hornady Superformance in I believe 53 grain performed the worst. I actually tried about 15 different types of ammo to find the best. I don't reload but one of my friends does quite a bit and was able to match the Tap ammo.
In regard to performance, My boss has six varmit rifles which includes a couple of Rem 700s in 223 and a three other more expensive rifles in 223 and one 22-250. My savage outshoots them all for accuracy, but I must admit the 22-250 is a really hot round.
Regarding a good affordable scope check out the Vortex line. I recently spent several months researching for an affordable scope for my heavy barrel 308. I eventually bought the Vortex Viper variable 24 power. It has high end features and is very high quality for around $800 or so.
Also their no questions asked warranty and customer service are top notch.