shorty wrote on 05/24/14 at 19:42:48:grade 8 steel is much stronger than stainless steel.. stainless is corrosion resistant only
Don't tell the folks at A.R.P. or Totally Stainless that... both companies have stainless fasteners that are well beyond Grade 8 quality... it all depends on what your base alloy is and how it is worked and then tempered.
Grade 8 is good, but in many locations it is the wrong one to use. For strong side load shear resistance, you actually want a Grade 5. It will stretch where a Grade 8 will shatter.
For the piddly puny exhaust studs on a Savage, standard hardware store bolts/studs is adequate. There is no load on them, they just snug up the retainer flange. The header pipe takes the load itself.