Savage 110 best-bargain boltgun: the humble savage 110 performs out of all relation to its modest price

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2002 by Dave Anderson

Manufacturers use designs and processes that make the most efficient use of the resources available. From the early days of cartridge rifles and smokeless powder in the late 1 800s, right through to the start of WWII, one of the available resources was cheap labor.

In 1900, a skilled worker earned about $2.50 a day. Henry Ford scandalized the business community when in 1915 he doubled the wages of his employees to $5 a day. Right up to the start of WWII in 1939, a skilled worker received $5 to $10 a day or less, often much less.

Classic designs such as the Mauser 98, Savage 99 and pre-'64 Winchester M70 were all labor-intensive. Just shaping a receiver required a skilled worker to make a whole series of complicated setups and milling cuts. But so what? Labor was cheap, machines were expensive.

The Equation Changes

It's difficult to appreciate just how completely WWII and the postwar economic boom changed the world. Under the pressure of meeting wartime demand a great deal was learned about faster, more efficient production.

After the war labor was no longer cheap. One reason was simply a matter of numbers. Tragically, millions of young men worldwide had been killed or maimed. In the U.S., wages for wartime production pumped money into the economy at levels never before seen. In the boom years following the war demand for consumer products was unprecedented.

Companies that kept pre-war models in production after the war did so by raising prices drastically, reducing quality control and attention to detail, or a combination of both.

Manufacturing processes based on cheap labor became obsolete. In firearms, Remington was the first to accept that the world had changed and redesign its product line 'for simpler production.

Savage's flagship Model 99 lever-action was a labor-intensive design. There was just no way Savage could quickly increase production to meet demand or keep costs down. It takes time to train a skilled machinist and with plenty of jobs available it took good wages to keep him.

Those were the circumstances Brewer faced when he was assigned the task of designing a new bolt-action rifle for Savage. It had to be safe, strong, accurate and reliable. It also needed to be built in such a way it could be sold at a competitive price.

A Winning Design

There can be little doubt that Brewer succeeded brilliantly. He made good use of then-modern manufacturing techniques. The receiver was a round section of forged steel -- easily turned on a lathe -- bored for the bolt and locking lug raceways. Parts such as the bolt handle were investment cast while some bolt and trigger components were of stamped steel.

The design made possible both long and short actions. But what really set the 110 apart was the ease with which left-hand actions could be made. Many of the bolt components could be used to produce either left- or right-hand actions. Only the receiver and a few bolt parts needed to be made in mirror image.

The Savage 110 gained immediate popularity with lefties. Other manufacturers have followed and though the choices are still limited compared to right-hand models, lefthanders certainly have more choices today than before the 110 came along.