When you ask people what the greatest classic American bolt-action hunting rifle is, you’ll probably hear most people talking about the Remington Model 700 or the Winchester Model 70, with maybe some chatter about Weatherby’s rifles or Springfield-based sporters. But I think the Savage Model 110 also belongs on that list; it’s been on the market for seven decades now, and it has a lot to offer to almost any shooter.
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The original Savage Model 110 hit the market in 1958, and it was very much a product of those heady post-World War II days. The situation was this: American firearms manufacturers had huge domestic demand for their guns, but also keen pricing restraints. The pace of small arms production in World War I and World War II (and Savage had been a big manufacturer for the military) showed that it was possible to make firearms more quickly and more affordably than the old-fashioned process used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nicholas L. Brewer, an engineer employed by Savage, used the lessons learned to make the highly affordable Stevens 325 bolt-action rifle (which evolved into the Savage 340). Then, he applied what he learned from that rifle and made the Savage Model 110.
Brewer started work on the Model 110 in 1956; it was in production by 1958. Sadly, Brewer himself died shortly after his work was completed; his patents for the Model 110 were issued posthumously in the early 1960s. He never lived to see what a success his brainchild had become.
The Savage Model 110 was initially released in long-action .270 and .30-06 chamberings. A year later, a short-action model in .243 or .308 also became available (not true short-actions, because they were the same length as the long-actions; proper short-actions didn’t come along until the 1970s). In 1959, Savage also did a left-handed version, the first commercially available bolt-action rifle in that configuration.
This is a point that’s well worth noting. Before the Model 110, lefties mostly had to make do with rifles designed for right-handed usage. Sure, you could use a break-action, but those were rare and expensive; lever-actions were more lefty-friendly than bolt guns, but the same basic problems applied. The Model 110 had a tang safety, very unusual on a bolt-action rifle in that era, which could be used ambidextrously. From there, it was not a big leap to also configure the action for left-handed shooting, especially since the bolt was made of smaller, less-expensive pieces that avoided the expense of machining big chunks of steel.
Along with the clever bolt design, the action had several other tweaks that reduced complexity and, therefore, the cost of production. This was a very important feature of the new rifle, from Savage’s perspective; by the 1960s, North America’s gunmakers were desperately trying to keep their MSRPs in check. Savage itself was not immune to this, as its iconic Model 99 lever-action rifle saw a progression of changes over the decades to maintain a profit margin while still selling a rifle that customers could afford. But the Model 110, designed 60 years later with modern production methods in mind, kept the company afloat even as lever-actions became less popular and less profitable. When Savage went bankrupt in 1988, the Model 110 was the foundation of its streamlined product catalog, and by the late 1990s, it was the company’s core offering, with the Model 99 and the Model 24 combination gun both canceled.
This doesn’t mean the Model 110 was Savage foisting the same old, same old on the public for decades. The rifle’s design was constantly updated, with the first tweaks coming to the ejector and trigger in the 1960s. The first models of the rifle used a magazine-mounted ejector, which required the rifle to use a blind mag. By the mid-’60s, a removable mag was possible because of the bolt-mounted ejector. Other changes came too, with an adjustable trigger that some users still panned. Savage responded by designing the Accu-Trigger for the rifle in the early 2000s, allowing the owner to adjust the trigger themselves with a bare minimum of hands-on skill.
This is a rifle that has always had something for everyone, whether you were rich or not, whether you were left-handed or right-handed, whether you wanted to hunt big game or varmints. The Model 110 had many variants, called different names but all basically the same thing, marketed towards scout rifle enthusiasts, varmint hunters, tactical shooters, backcountry hikers, and even pistol hunters. If you had a niche need for a gun, and the Model 110 could be adapted to that need, Savage aimed to please.
For several years, Savage offered the Stevens Model 200. This lower-priced variant might have been the best bang-for-buck rifle ever sold in the U.S., at least where accuracy is concerned. The Stevens disappeared when the Savage Axis came out, which was cheaper but arguably not as good a rifle. I would know, because I had a Stevens Model 200; for a year or two, it was the only rifle I owned, and I had every confidence in it for hunting anything below moose-sized game here in the northeast.
I also owned a couple of other 110-based Savages over the years, including a Model 116 Weather Warrior. I bought this stainless steel variant, chambered in .270, for moose hunting; alas, I was never drawn after I bought the rifle. But a couple of neighbors were, and one scored a one-shot-one-kill trophy with the rifle that I lent him. Another, well, he didn’t see hide nor hair of a bull, cow or calf that season, but the easy-shooting .270 assured me that if he had, it would have been no issue to fill his tag. I’ve always found the Savage rifles easy to shoot well, and that makes them good loaners.
I also had a Savage Model 10 FCM Scout, chambered in 7.62x39. By the time I got it, the rear peep sight was replaced with a barrel-mounted ring sight, but I only used it with a fixed 4X anyway (an old made-in-Japan Tasco). I toted this rifle a lot in deer season; it was my favorite woods gun for years, and very, very accurate with commercial hunting loads. I never did get a shot at a deer with it, but my brother-in-law filled a doe tag with it once, with no drama.
Both of those rifles had a first-generation Accu-Trigger, and my only beef with the guns was that you could mess up the trigger if you pulled too lightly. That’s updated with a new second-generation Accu-Trigger on the most recent changes to the Model 110. You can read more about the latest improvements to the Savage 110 here, but the basic gist is this: Savage has made the 110 adaptable to just about any user, with the new AccuFit V2 stock as standard along with the new trigger; all Model 110 rifles come with threaded muzzles as well, the magazine is improved, and the manufacturing process for the action has changed, which should result in the rifle working more smoothly.
The Model 110 is no longer marketed on its affordability; the Axis, as well as the Stevens 334, come in cheaper, if MSRP is a problem. But it still offers the same usability and accuracy for all users, and the company plans to build around it in the future. At the new model’s launch, Beth Shimanski, their VP of marketing, said, “The new era of the 110 exemplifies Savage's ability to maintain our standing as a heritage brand while staying at the forefront of innovation." Translation: Expect the same ideas that made the Model 110 successful in the past to continue into the updated rifle’s future.