Savage Firearms has announced via their Twitter account (@SavageFirearms) that they are in the process of designing an AR pattern rifle and posted one of four designs they are considering. Savage is obviously trying to cash in on the AR mania that is sweeping the industry, but will they produce something innovative or just another meh-worthy, ho-hum variant like those made by just about every other company with a CNC machine?

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40 COMMENTS

  1. If Savage can produce an AR in the same vein as their 110, i.e very accurate and great price point, I could see it being a big seller for them.

    • +1. Savage has consistently put out quality out of proportion to price tag. I have an older version of the 12BVSS in 22-250 that is hands down the most accurate rifle I’ve ever owned. Metal work and fitting is excellent as well.

  3. Might as well do the impossible and make an AR with a long-action receiver in .300 WinMag or .338 Lapua Mag. (I mean, a semi-auto AR, not like the bolt-action AR-30 that Armalite produces.) They’re pretty late to the party for anything else.

    ETA: Nevermind. Someone is already doing it. I guess Savage is SOL.

  4. Accutrigger maybe?
    Economical 7.62
    I agree, they have to do something different, there are too many AR makers, producers, or assemblers at the moment.

  5. Savage knows how to make a nice trigger. Hopefully they carry that over to their AR. Maybe we’ll see some other calibers besides .223/5.56mm

    • AR 15s are not $500 because AKs are. No, really I don’t know but I am with you. They are a dime a dozen. Why the insane price? 5.56 are thousands (for a nice one) and 5.45 are hundreds with military grade parts and barrels (to handle cheap, corrosive ammo) and 2000+ rounds.

      Let’s just say I can’t wait until my AK74 comes in.

      • “5.56 are thousands (for a nice one) and 5.45 are hundreds with military grade parts and barrels”

        Perhaps you should compare military grade to military grade, not nice custom to military grade when talking about price.

        • I am asking why one would purchase non-mil when one could purchase mil for a better price. I have looked up the guns and the manufacture. Hands down better quality with the foreign guns (depending on army surplus location).

          Of course they also have to be fitted with a certain amount of American parts to comply with ATF standards and those have to be looked into as well.

          • “I am asking why one would purchase non-mil when one could purchase mil for a better price.”

            I don’t think it would be possible to properly answer that question in a blog comment, that is more along the lines of a large article, or conversation.

    • Non-US made AKs are cheap because just that, they are non-US made. Cheap labor makes cheap products. If you look at the manufactures that make complete US made AKs they are the same price as ARs. If China made ARs (and anyone would buy it) the Chinese ARs would sell in the US for $500.

      • “Non-US made AK’s are cheap because just that, they are non-US made. Cheap labor makes cheap products. If you look at the manufactures that make complete US made AK’s they are the same price as ARs. If China made ARs (and anyone would buy it) the Chinese ARs would sell in the US for $500.”

        Army surplus doesn’t go for the usual market rate. Cheap depends on where you live. Not all things cheaply made are cheap. Many great U.S. cars are made in friendly ol Mexico. China does make AKs. The army surplus rifles they sell have a reputation for being some of the better rifles to own. Bulgaria for me though, thanks.

        • Army surplus would be full auto not semi. The ATF considers just having an M16 hammer or any other part to be intent to make an illegal automatic weapon so almost any surplus part would not be legal to buy. Also the US has not (in modern times) released surplus arms to the civilian US market. They get put into storage or sold to our allies. The only AR surplus parts are the magazines. There is also the design factor, AKs where designed to be cheap to build, ARs where designed to be space aged.

          By they way I have nothing against AKs, I have a couple thousand rounds through almost every version. I even think you are smart to get the 74 over the 47 I would, however personally I prefer the SKS over semi-auto AKs unless you are getting a SBR Bulgerian krinkov.

  8. OK, tell me if I’m crazy, but could it possibly be in 250-3000 and have a rotary magazine? 🙂

  9. I think they’ll do in the AR market what they do in the bolt gun market. Offer a no-frills product that out-performs its price-point.

  11. Undoubtedly an AR elitist will slam it for not being mil-spec or being capable of pumping out 2000+ rds per day without failure and is therefore a PoS…

    • I had a $600 (new) Bushmaster (Cabela’s Sale) that would run 2000+ rounds per day without a single hiccup… that’s far from what I’d consider to be an “elite” AR.

      In reality, ANY modern AR should be able to do this (assuming the mag wasn’t stepped on). Ones that don’t reflect heavily on the manufacturer… I feel the same about polymer pistols, bolts guns, pump-shotg…. oh hell – guns are easy to build and unless they’re a new design that needs to be put through the paces, they should all be flawless.

  12. “will they produce something innovative or just another meh-worthy, ho-hum variant”
    — How many times can a tire be re-designed? How many times does a tire really need to be re-designed?

    • To expand on that analogy there are too many different tires out there to list my friend. Instead of the de-facto (and pricey) Goodyear MTR’s I put some Hankook RT-03 MT’s on my 2000 Wrangler at half the price. Those Hankooks have carried me through mud, sand, rocks and everything else. 30,000 miles on them and they’re still good for another 30,000. Not bad at all for an offroad tire.

      My point? With a basic design (tires or guns) there always seems to be a niche to compete in and if anyone can do that in the AR market then Savage certainly has a great shot at it.

  14. Hard to be truly innovative with the AR-15 platform as a constraint.

    Savage does seem to have a bad habit of vaporware though. I wish they would have followed through with their bolt action 5.45×39.

    The main problem is that the AR-15 market is already saturated with vendors and products, it will be hard to compete on Savage’s traditional strength of price point.

    I am not sure this is a smart move for Savage.

    • A bolt gun in 5.45×39 would be great, and an economical gun in 7.62×39 and 303 British would be great

  15. I am part of that crowd that has never understood the AR craze, and am completely at a loss when people start talking about this upper and that lower and this is great and so on and so forth. For the life of me I don’t know what makes a “meh” AR or an extraordinary one, nor have I understood the interest in .223/5.56 since it is such an inadequate hunting cartridge (in fact illegal many places) and it ain’t cheap either at around a buck a round. The all look the same–colored plastic. Now I could maybe understand if they made them in hunting calibers, but why a semiauto? You shouldn’t have to shoot more than once, and if you’re rattling off 5 or 10 shots, you shouldn’t be hunting.

    • ARs come in many different calibers including many that are great for hunting. The ability to swap uppers, and as such calibers, in seconds great. It depends on what you are hunting, when you are hunting nuisance and invasive species, like boar, you want to take as many of the group down as possible not just a trophy so you want semi-auto. Herd eradication is a lot harder with a 5 shot bolt action than a semi-auto with 20-30 rounds. Also with wild boar you want the ability for a follow up shot ASAP if needed, as they tend to come after you if they are not DOA and 300lbs of tusks and anger charging you can ruin good underwear and your day. As a bonus I am out hunting with the exact same gun and setup I rely on for home defense.

    • For many years I didn’t understand the AR craze either but have to admit that with so many shooters loving the platform I am, of late, officially interested. I recently had a windfall and will be investing in a Del-Ton 316. I’ve always been a sucker for military firearms and the chance to own “America’s Rifle” has me duly excited.

      AR’s are certainly made in many hunting calibers and as far as the semi-auto issue there have been semi-auto hunting rifles made since the early 1900’s. Slap a 5 round mag in a hunting AR and you’re on the same level as hunters of old that used Winchester 1905’s or Remington Model 8’s.

      For the record, if I could afford one I’d absolutely prefer a Browning 1885 or Ruger No. 1 for hunting.

      • For the love of god apbtfan, please don’t buy a del-ton. Go to palmetto state armory if you have to buy cheap.

    • ” You shouldn’t have to shoot more than once, and if you’re rattling off 5 or 10 shots, you shouldn’t be hunting.”…

      It is obvious by your ignorance that you’ve never been hunting before and/or you think you’re Chuck Norris (with no disrespect to Chuck or his beard). I’ve seen deer run away from a chest/lung shot with a 1-0z slug! Great shots and big holes do not necessarily eliminate to need to have a follow-up shot. On the same token, you’re quite wrong about .223/5.56 prices and about the availability of “hunting calibers” on the AR15 platform.

      There is this silly fad going on now, it’s called the internet. You should give it a try as most of your “assumptions” above could be proven false in about 0.002 seconds (a company called “Google’s” average search speed)….

      • “I’ve seen deer run away from a chest/lung shot with a 1-0z slug! Great shots and big holes do not necessarily eliminate to need to have a follow-up shot.”

        So true. I have often been moose hunting with uncles and whatnot and see the perfect shot lead up to a mile and a half chase through the bog. We often would find the animal with near perfect hits to the heart or lungs and still they would go. I think some of them run on even after dead 😉

      • You misread my point. The most popular AR platform I see is 223/5.56, which is fine for varmints or yotes but nothing else except shooting targets. California won’t allow you to hunt with anything less that a .24. I never suggested that animals don’t run; what I was suggesting is that you don’t send a fusillade of bullets into the flank of something you intend to eat.

  16. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say savage is trolling their twitter followers.

    That is not a “design”. That is a picture someone drew on a napkin and then labeled.

    No specs are listed. No barrel length.

    The front sight is too close to the end of the barrel if they are using it as a gas block.

    The stock looks retarded.

    The lower receiver is disproportionate. Look at the size of the magwell compared to the rest.

    The handguard looks like someone googled “foreend, round” and the copied that.

    The grip has way too much angle.

    The stock is too short for the length of the barrel. Why use what looks like a 12.5″ barrel and then use a 10″ stock?

    THE REAR SIGHT IS IN FRONT OF THE RED DOT.

    It appears to be a kino build with a carbine gas system and mid length front sight positioning and a 12.5 inch barrel. This would make it an NFA item. Why would a company like savage, known for long range value bolt guns, make an ugly SBR?

    Im pretty sure this was a joke by savage.

  18. Hey,China did make M16 and AR 15 and tried to sell them here in the USA. They where not much cheaper then Colt and they where total crap! They then made a bull pup version of M16 for there military and that was crap as well. They then sold the whole show to Iran for big bucks and the Iranians have messed with it for years. It is still crap. I can’t make this stuff up. I have heard that the South Korean M16 where no good either. They have there own designs now. But hey the Chinese AK 47 are awesome. there sheet rock sucks

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