Savage 110 Carbon Predator Bolt-Action Centerfire Rifle

Amid the whirl of inventing and introducing straight-pull actions and such, Savage Arms continues to support and innovate its classic rifle line, which is based on the Model 110 action. The latest to join the 110 family is the Carbon Predator. It’s a hard-working rifle with Savage bones, a configurable stock, an AICS-type detachable box magazine and a carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel made by Proof Research.

A couple years back, Savage introduced what I consider the best traditional turnbolt rifle the company has made in the past half-century: the 110 Ultralight. It, too, has a configurable stock and Proof barrel, and, additionally, the action is aggressively skeletonized to reduce weight. Made for serious mountain hunting, that model is impressively light, weighing less than six pounds.

In many ways, the 110 Carbon Predator pictured and reviewed here is similar, but it’s about 1.5 pounds heavier. That’s a benefit when attempting challenging shots on foxes and coyote—or bigger game—because the mass makes the Predator inherently more stable.

To be candid, Savage’s 110 action has never particularly appealed to me. It’s large, and it can look and feel a bit clunky. Removing the bolt from the action for cleaning or other maintenance requires the full involvement of several different fingers and thumbs.

However, Savage rifles have long held a good reputation for accuracy, and accuracy overcomes a plethora of idiosyncrasies. Fundamentally, the Model 110 action is tubular in design, about 1.4 inches in diameter, and it has a relatively small ejection port. The action top is parallel, so scope bases front and rear are the same height.

The bolt has a floating bolt head with dual, opposing locking lugs. It’s a design long proven to provide good consistency and accuracy, since the slight play engineered into the floating bolt head enables the two lugs to find equal-bearing equilibrium.

The extractor is a 0.18-inch-wide sliding plate type that’s dovetailed into the front of the right-side locking lug. It reliably hauls fired cases from the chamber. A plunger-style ejector is embedded into the bolt face at about four o’clock, and it heaves empty brass out the ejection port with gusto.

In the case of the 110 Carbon Predator, the bolt body is deeply fluted to reduce weight. It’s effective, and it looks good. The fluting does make the bolt movement feel a tad rubbery as it slides through the action, but that’s common to many fluted bolts.

At the rear, a large-diameter shroud is backed by the bolt handle. It’s one area of the 110 action that’s not particularly aesthetic, but it’s functional—which trumps pretty.

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To remove the bolt from the action, mash the trigger firmly, and while holding it back, press the thumb lever at the right rear of the action hard. Holding those, reach over with the left hand and wrestle the bolt rearward out of the raceways.

A nice serrated, teardrop-shaped safety is located on the action tang. That’s a terrific place for a safety, and better yet, it’s a three-position design. Forward for Fire, rearward to engage the safety and lock the bolt closed. The middle position keeps the safety engaged but unlocks the bolt, so the shooter can remove an unfired round from the chamber without putting the safety in the Fire position.

Long ago Savage turned the production rifle trigger world on its ear with the introduction of the AccuTrigger. In fact, this is the trigger’s 20th anniversary, and it is of course included on the 110 Carbon Predator. It’s a design with an internal safety lever that the trigger finger automatically depresses when it takes position on the trigger. This enables a light, crisp trigger that’s still completely safe.

Because you never know how many shots you’ll need when a pack of coyotes responds to your plaintive distress calls, Savage outfitted the 110 Carbon Predator with the popular AICS-type, high-capacity detachable box magazine system. Each rifle comes with a five-round AICS-style magazine made by Magpul; aftermarket 10-rounders are readily available.

The 110 Carbon Predator features the AccuStock chassis embedded into its composite stock. As Savage’s literature puts it, the AccuStock “secures the action three-dimensionally along its entire length.” It also adds a significant amount of rigidity to the fore-end, which is crucial to consistent, precise shooting.

Said fore-end, by the by, is nicely proportioned for crossover field work and precision shooting. It features a slightly rounded bottom that rides sandbags well at the shooting bench, and it has inset rubbery texture plates on each side that feel good in the hands and provide a non-slip grip in wet or cold conditions.

As for the buttstock, it’s got a well-proportioned grip with the same non-slip rubbery insets as the fore-end, and it features innovation that Savage calls AccuFit technology. Each rifle comes with five different-height combs and four different-length buttpad spacers.

The inserts and spacers enable the shooter to adjust length of pull to personal preference, and comb height so it provides an ideal cheek weld. Both are vital to consistency—and consistency is vital to making fast, accurate shots on predators.

Not that the 110 Carbon Predator is only a predator-hunter’s rifle. On the contrary, when chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor—such as I tested for this article—it’s a great deer rifle, and would serve just fine as an entry-level gun for NRL Hunter matches.

Now we come to the Proof Research barrel. Proof dominates the carbon-fiber-wrapped, precision rifle barrel realm, and the addition of such a barrel suggests Savage wants the 110 Carbon Predator to be something special. Proof’s premium carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels provide the stiffness, accuracy and consistency of a large-diameter steel target barrel, yet weigh only as much as a standard sporter-contour barrel.

Each barrel is cut-rifled, honed, hand-lapped and finished to internal perfection. Outside diameter is lathe-turned, then the barrel is wrapped in a manner that enables the carbon fibers to pull heat along the length of the barrel and out to the surface, much the way fiber optic transfers light. This minimizes hot spots in the chamber throat and helps the barrel cool faster.

Further, Proof uses a bonding matrix that marries the steel and carbon fiber and accounts for their differing heat expansion ratios. You’ll never see steel/fiber separation issues with a Proof Research barrel.

Properly made carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels tend to dampen barrel vibration and oscillation. The result is enhanced consistency and a more forgiving barrel than even large-diameter steel barrels. Plus, accuracy generally does not degrade as a Proof barrel heats up. Barrels chambered for mild cartridges such as the 6.5 Creedmoor will shoot 10-shot strings without any decay in precision and without any point-of-impact shift.

Barrels mounted to 110 Carbon Predator rifles are Proof’s Sendero Light profile. They are affixed and headspace is set in classic Savage fashion, via a barrel nut. Out on the business end, the muzzle is threaded 5/8x24 for easy compatibility with a suppressor or muzzle brake. Each rifle ships with a knurled thread protector cap installed.

The barrel channel is generously free-floated around the barrel. That—paired with the rigidity of the aluminum AccuStock skeleton inside the polymer stock—ensures accuracy won’t be compromised by the fore-end contacting the barrel.

Although the model was introduced in 2022, 110 Carbon Predator rifles are just now finding their way to dealers’ shelves. Expect to see them chambered in an eclectic selection of useful cartridges, with the 6.5 Creedmoor available in 18- and 22-inch versions. Plus, there’s an intriguing version with a 16-inch barrel chambered in .300 BLK. Paired with a suppressor and a thermal scope, it would be a terrific rig for night-time hog hunting. And yes, hogs are predators.

To wring out the 110 Carbon Predator and see what it’s capable of, I mounted a 4.5-14x40mm Leupold VX-3HD scope in Leupold Backcountry rings and bolted a tried-and-true Harris bipod to the front sling swivel. With a handful of ammo boxes, I sallied forth to the local range.

While mounting the scope, I’d taken the time to try-fit and select exactly the right cheek rest height from among the provided comb inserts. When I got to the range and attempted to bore-sight the rifle, I discovered the insert was too high to allow me to see through the bore.

Not to worry. I stapled a giant piece of paper to the 100-yard target backing, and managed to catch a bullet about a foot above my point of aim. With a measurement and a quick twist of the turrets, I was in business. It’s worth noting, however, that the owner of a 110 Carbon Predator will likely have to unscrew the buttpad and lift off the comb insert before cleaning, since the insert would prevent the rod from aligning with the bore.

Cartridges ran reliably if not fluidly from the Magpul, AICS-pattern magazine. The action chambered rounds properly, fired them on demand, and extracted them reliably and ejected them without fuss.

To evaluate accuracy, I fired three consecutive three-shot groups at a target stapled up 100 yards distant. Accuracy ranged from decent to good. All six loads tested averaged less than 1.5 inches, and three of the six posted averages of less than one m.o.a. Top marks went to Fusion’s 140-grain bonded softpoint load, which averaged 0.70 inch.

Rifle fit and feel were quite good—not what a bespoke British sporting rifle feels like, but darned nice. The trigger, as usual, was stellar. The only gripe I have is in the rubbery feel of the action. Some of that is caused by the deeply fluted bolt, some by the polymer feed lips of the Magpul magazine. At any rate, it’s a small complaint.

While carried at the ready position, the 110 Carbon Predator has a nice, between-the-hands weight. It shoulders well, points as naturally and balances nicely. Thanks to the high comb insert, my cheek nestles in comfortably and naturally helps align my shooting eye with the crosshairs.

In the end, I wouldn’t change a thing about the Savage 110 Carbon Predator. It’s a well-thought-out, properly built precision hunting rifle that’s accurate and ergonomic enough to make long, careful shots on faraway song dogs, and light and quick-handling enough to make fast shots in dynamic situations.

SAVAGE 110 CARBON PREDATOR SPECIFICATIONS

• TYPE: Bolt-action centerfire
• Caliber: .22-250, .223, 6mm ARC, 6.5mm Creedmoor (tested), .300 BLK, .308 Win.
• Capacity: 5-round Magpul AICS-type magazine included
• Barrel: 22 in. Proof Research carbon fiber, 1:8 twist, threaded 5/8x24
• Overall Length: 42.25 in.
• Weight: 7 lb. 5 oz.
• Finish: Matte black
• Stock: Granite gray AccuStock w/AccuFit
• Sights: None; two-piece Weaver-type optic rail
• Safety: Three-position on tang
• Trigger: AccuTrigger; pull weight not measured
• Price: $1,699
• Manufacturer: Savage, SavageArms.com