MSR10 Hunter Initial Thoughts

Finally got a MSR10 in for review late last week and was able to get out to the range on Saturday to get the scope dialed in. Didn't do a bunch of shooting, but probably 50-60 rounds total. Anyway, thought I'd share my initial thoughts on the rifle...

1. Very light weight. Savage claims 7.8lbs for the Hunter model in .308, and with my Nightforce SHV 4-14x50 F1 scope in ADM quick release mount and a full mag it's right at 11 lbs.

2. Grip, stock and forearm are all very comfortable and no complaints.

3. Initial accuracy with AE Varmint & Predator 130gr JHP ammo is more than acceptable with 1 to 1.5" groups at 100 yards and no problem ringing steel at 200 (well, other than the smallest one - but I'm just ballparking the hold-over at this point from my 100yd zero)

4. Heavy buffer spring makes charging the rifle a little difficult with scope mounted; definitely needs something like a Badger Tac Latch or the like to make it easier to work the charging handle when scoped. Long-Range and Competition models have the side-charging handle so it's not as much of an issue on them.

5. Reach to the trigger is noticeably short - a side-effect of Savage's proprietary receiver design that shortens them up by about 3/4". Some of this can be made up by changing out the grip and I will go into more detail on this in the full article.

6. Savage needs to supply either a 3" rail section or a bipod adapter with the rifle for the M-LOK forearm. While the forearm is octagonal in shape with a fairly flat bottom, the corners are very rounded and each of the 8 sides is pretty narrow so you don't get much contact area. As a result, when shooting off a rest or bag you experience a lot of barrel torque which makes shooting accurately much more difficult. The .308 is a 1:10 twist - I can just imagine how much worse it is on a 1:8" twist 6.5 Creedmoor. Suffice to say I have Magpul bipod adapter ordered.

7. The proprietary muzzle brake does a really good job of minimizing muzzle jump, but like most brakes it's obnoxiously loud.

8. Tuning the gas system for a given type of ammunition is easy-peasy with a small diameter hex wrench or screwdriver (a loaded round would also work if it's a pointy tipped bullet)

9. No feeding, extracting or ejection issues so far - gun has run flawlessly right out of the box.

10. Single-stage Blackhawk Trigger is very consistent and perfect for a hunting rifle with a 5-pull average of 3.1 lbs. It does have a little take-up and just a hint of creep, but it's worlds better than a standard mil-spec trigger.

I am always interested to hear about AR-10s as I built my own and worked hard to keep it under 8lbs. It seems like most are just waaaay too fat to actually want to carry around. Looks like Savage did it by putting on a really short barrel. I assume it's a mid length gas system?

And yeah, you really do want a nice, fat charging handle for the springs in these beasts. To bad it's proprietary. Does it have a system to take up any slack in the receiver sections?

I hope it shoots better than 1.5" with some good ammo and look forward to further reports. See if it will run crappy steel as well...

Thanks Jim!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by celltech

I am always interested to hear about AR-10s as I built my own and worked hard to keep it under 8lbs. It seems like most are just waaaay too fat to actually want to carry around. Looks like Savage did it by putting on a really short barrel. I assume it's a mid length gas system?

And yeah, you really do want a nice, fat charging handle for the springs in these beasts. To bad it's proprietary. Does it have a system to take up any slack in the receiver sections?

I hope it shoots better than 1.5" with some good ammo and look forward to further reports. See if it will run crappy steel as well...

Thanks Jim!!!

---

Yes, Savage got the weight down on their MSR10 Hunter by using a shorter barrel (16.1" for .308, 18" for the 6.5 CM) and also taking roughly 3/4" out of the overall receiver length. Seems that length all came out of the area between the grip and trigger though as the reach to the trigger (shortest distance between the back of the pistol grip and the front edge of the trigger) is 0.060" shorter than that of an AR15 when both are fitted with the same grip.

Gas system is actually a little longer than a standard mid-length and is spec'd "Mid+". Basically they optimized the gas system length on each rifle and cartridge specifically to that barrel length and cartridge.

I'm not well versed in AR10's at all (this is my first experience with one) so I'm going to have to do a little research to find out if there are any aftermarket charging handle latch levers that can be fitted to the MSR10. The full charging handle is shorter than a standard AR10, but I would presume the latch lever itself was left standard and could be swapped out by just popping out the roll pin that holds it in place.

My initial shooting was off a mechanical front rest and rear bag, and as noted with the narrow round-ish octagon forearm it just wants to torque too easily with that setup. Even so, I had one group that had 4 shots in one elongated hole and the 5th about 1/2" out from the rest so it's showing potential. Have a few different types of Federal premium hunting ammo to try out in it once I I get a good feel for the rifle. Have about half a box of the 180gr Berger Gold Medal Match ammo as well, but shooting that load from a 16" barrel would be a waste IMO.

These things are awesome for the money. I picked up a couple of them in .308 and gave them a good cleaning, used some of that battle born grease to lube them back up and went off to zero them in after laser bore sighting. Spent about 20 rounds of el-cheapo 150gr getting them close and then switched to the 168gr that the kids will be hunting with and the groups got nice and tight at 100 yards. Tuned the gas system to get flawless cycling without being over-gassed. What a great hunting rifle for kids! Nice and light weight and mild recoil. I am very impressed.