I have to admit, when I first heard that Savage Arms was getting into the MSR market back in December of 2016 my initial reaction wasn’t very positive. For starters, the MSR market was already extremely saturated as most every other manufacturer had already gotten into and established themselves in the MSR market. Second, Savage was very late to the game as many feel the peak sales years for MSR-type rifles had already passed them by. So why invest the money, resources and time into a market segment that’s already flooded with options?
That initial impression and reaction is why it has taken me so long to review one of Savage’s MSR offerings. Our friend Charles wrote up a review for the MSR15 Patrol model about a year and a half ago and he gave it very high marks as an all around duty/patrol rifle, but neither of the two initial MSR15 options really piqued my interest. As January 2018 rolled around Savage introduced a number of new bolt-action models which kept me preoccupied through the first half of the year, but as summer started to fade I finally put in a request for a MSR10 Hunter in .308 Winchester.
The reason I opted to go with a MSR10 over a MSR15 is because the MSR10 isn’t just another cookie-cutter AR, but instead is a unique proprietary design with roughly 3/4″ of length removed from the receivers. As a result the bolt carrier and charging handle are unique to Savage and aren’t interchangeable with other brands of AR-10 components.
The upper and lower receiver on the MSR10 Hunter are both forged from 7075-T6 aluminum and receive a matte black hardcoat anodized finish. As noted the receivers are of proprietary length and the mag well is designed to accept LR-308 or SR-25 style magazines. A single 20-round Magpul magazine is included with the rifle.
The upper receiver assembly is of the flat-top design and features an incorporated flange for attaching the forearm. The receiver features a forward assist and brass deflector as well as a durable flip-down plastic dust cover for the ejection port. The charging handle is standard mil-spec style with a slightly extended catch lever. The bolt is an E9310 High-Pressure piece fitted with dual ejectors, and both the bolt and bolt carrier are nickel-boron coated. Unlike a standard AR15, the Savage MSR10 utilizes a firing pin spring.
The barrel is a button rifled 5R unit that measures 16″ in length and features a 2-3/4 inch long proprietary screw-on 4-port muzzle brake that direct gas upward and to the sides. The gas system is slightly longer than mid length and is what Savage refers to as “mid-length+.” An adjustable gas block is employed to allow the user to easily tune the gas system for best performance with a given ammunition and/or when attaching a suppressor.
The free-floating forearm is an M-Lok style made by Midwest Industries and attaches to the receiver via four fine thread hex head bolts. It is of a fairly slender design measuring just under 1-3/4 inches in width and just shy of 2-1/4 inches in overall height, while the overall length with mounting flange is comparable to a 13-inch conventionally mounted AR-15 forearm. A gap is provided in the top rail to allow for adjusting the gas system.
Moving on, the lower receiver assembly comes fitted with a full compliment of Blackhawk components. The buttstock is a Blackhawk Axiom Carbine Stock with Pad and the pistol grip is the Blackhawk Knoxx Grip. A Blackhawk AR Blaze Trigger comes standard as well. Fire control markings adorning either side of the receiver accompanied by a standard bolt release lever on the left and mag release button on the right.
Overall length of the Hunter model in .308 Winchester is 35-inches with the buttstock collapsed and 39-inches with it fully extended. Weight is listed at 7.8 pounds without optics and the MSRP as of this writing is listed at $1,481.00.
The MSR10 Hunter is also offered in 6.5 Creedmoor and .338 Federal – both with 18-inch barrels and the same MSRP as the .308 Win. model.
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