New rifle may have gun buyers saying: "This is from Savage?"

Shooting Industry, March, 1994 by Jon R. Sundra

As I write this it's late December and from what I've seen of new products thus far -- and I've seen most of 'em -- the most dramatic and boldest moves have come from a rather unlikely source: the new Savage Arms. I don't mean that in any disparaging sense; it's just that Savage has built its reputation on producing dependable no-frills firearms that sell in the low-end price range. Generally speaking, the customer looking for a more refined gun, for more sophistication and polish, for innovation and cutting-edge technology, not only expects to spend more money, but expects to spend it with someone other than Savage.

For a long time this historic old company has been successful -- and apparently quite content -- at filling this important and less-contested segment of the firearms market. No more -- at least not from what I've seen happening of late, this year especially.

By the time you read this, you industry people will have already seen the '94 Savage catalog, so I'll not waste your time by describing what's in it or how it's different from those of the past. I would,however, like to call your attention to a couple of nifty pieces of engineering that debuted among the 13 new variants of basic Model 110 centerfire rifles that appear therein. Both are found in the new Model 116-SE (Safari Express), a deluxe-grade offering fashioned after the British express-style dangerous rifles that evolved in the '20s and '30s. That in itself is un-Savage like, no?

Anyway, with the SE, what Savage has managed to do is modify the late Nick Brewer's 1958-design Model 110 bolt action to controlled-round feeding. That's right! The annular bolt face that used to encircle the cartridge head and a plunger ejector are gone; in their place is a flush bolt face -- the bottom half of the face anyway -- and an extractor that allows the top round in the magazine to become captive to the extractor as it clears the feed rails, just like on a Mauser, Ruger 77 MK II, or a Winchester Model 70 Classic.

Do keep in mind that this controlled-round functioning has been accomplished without the Mauser-type non-rotating extractor common to all three of the aforementioned designs.

I wish I could be more specific as to how Savage has pulled this modification off, but I'm describing this new feature based solely on the one picture Savage shows on page four of its new catalog, and at that, the bolt face is obscured by a cartridge. Presumably, behind that obfuscated depiction is a different extractor and a groove for a static ejector.

The other noteworthy feature on the 116-SE is what Savage calls its Adjustable Muzzle Brake (AMB), a clever idea whereby the recoil reduction aspect can be turned on and off, as it were. I have never been a fan of muzzle brakes because of the ear-splitting decibels they generate. True, they are a godsend at the bench or any other place where you have the luxury of ear protection, but out in the hunting fields where plugs and muffs simply cannot be worn -- and where most of my own 30 percent heating loss has occurred over the years -- that recoil reduction comes at a price that's more than I want to pay.

With Savage's AMB you can have your cake and eat it too, thanks to a simple rotating sleeve arrangement. Essentially what they did was reduce the diameter of the muzzle and slide a tube or sleeve over it. Because the OD of the sleeve matches that of the barrel, the "proboscis" look is avoided.

That done, the vent holes are drilled through the sleeve and barrel at the same time so they match perfectly. On the finished product, the outer sleeve is rotated just a few degrees and, voila, the vent holes are sealed over like they're not even there. Bottom line: You have one setting for shooting, one for hunting. Clever, those Savage folks!

Unexpected Details From Savage

While the SE is the only model on which Savage is offering controlled-round feeding, the Adjustable Muzzle Brake is being offered on two other 116s, both of which wear fluted barrels no less. Along with Remington, who also incorporated a fluted barrel as an option on a factory production rifle this year. Savage chalks up a first. Fluted barrels, of course. provide weight reduction, while at the same time adding stiffness to the barrel and faster cooling by exposing more surface area. The flutes on the barrel could be a lot wider and deeper, but hey, flutes is flutes and they're kinda neat! There are few features more distinctive on a rifle -- just the kind of thing vain, superficial people like me really go for!

All 116s carry Savage's "Weather Warrior" designation and are characterized by their black, injection-molded synthetic stocks and raw stainless, matte-finished barrel actions.

Because I found so many of Savage's new guns to be noteworthy, I checked out three of the guns I considered to be the most interesting models: The Safari Express: one of the fluted-barrel Model 116s: and one of the three new varmint/target rifles. I made the request fully expecting to see the guns some time in the Spring or early Summer at the earliest.