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Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP

Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP

Savage has teamed up with Vortex optics to supply their Apex XP rifle with a Crossfire II scope in 3-9x50 specification. The one-stop deal also comes with rings and rail to get any new rifleman shooting straight from the box. It’s available in .204, .223, .22- 250. .243, 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 to cover most UK needs. The rifle arrives bore sighted and the scope is set up with all screws correctly tensioned and with a level reticle in the scope. I was already noticing well-addressed details so often missed elsewhere.

Functional metallics

The 20” barrel is threaded ½” x 20 for a sound moderator and shows a slim 15mm diameter profile with a straight taper. The metalwork has a matt black finish, and so far, it has resisted surface corrosion when exposed to damp conditions.

Savage use a barrel nut to headspace this button rifled, hand-inspected tube to the ‘110’ cylindrical action. The twin lug, push feed bolt shows a 90° lift angle and includes a sprung plunger ejector and extractor claw. Its 70mm handle is capped by a 20mm knob with knurling on the upper surface. All reciprocating cyclical motion is smooth with plentiful primary extraction from the chamber.

The magazine capacity was listed at 4-rounds, although five went in without problems. An additional ‘+1’ can be slid in if required. The rounds can be chambered from the magazine slowly and quietly when the situation demands it. A single cartridge dropped into the ejection port will usually slide into the chamber without fingertip shuffling as the bolt is closed, which is handy in a backup situation. It’s worth noting that the tapering shape of the steel feed lips allows the magazine itself to slot easily into the underside of the rifle.

Although automated, ejection force varies slightly with bolt speed, so you can decide how far to fling spent cases. The bolt release from the action uses a plunger at the front of the angled trigger guard with simultaneous trigger actuation, the plunger also conceals the rear action screw.

Load and make ready

Bolt stoke is 83mm on the scaled ‘short action’, so perfect for the small .223 case. The tang safety catch operates quietly under the firing hand’s thumb, forward for FIRE, middle for SAFE with bolt operation, or fully rearward to lock the bolt closed.

The underslung ‘AccuTrigger’ is user adjustable and includes an inner safety blade to ensure no accidental discharges, which in US culture, allows for light crisp trigger pulls without getting sued. I found this one offered a crisp 2lb breaking point, which was easily judged with great consistency from the bench. However, cold hands in heavy winter gloves showed a slight problem, as rather than a ‘bang’ from the rifle, there would be a ‘click from the trigger. This was because the bulk of the glove’s index finger actuated the black trigger blade prior to the inner safety lever being fully engaged. This could be judged as operator error, not the rifle’s fault, but I needed to specifically concentrate on trigger operation to avoid glove/fabric contact. This was all somewhat exacerbated by the short reach to the trigger blade from the grip, which encourages the trigger finger to project further through the otherwise spacious guard.

A thorough combination

An ‘EGW’, zero inclination Picatinny rail, makes the addition of other scopes or night vision straightforward, something I did almost immediately for winter foxing forays.

The Crossfire II scope has a bullet drop compensator (BDC) reticle and ¼” clicks under the capped dials. These are functional, but once zeroed it is best to leave them alone, as the clicks are ‘soft’and not easy to dial or count reliably for varied distance shooting.

The image quality was bright enough, with a sharp picture and fast focus on the reticle. For hunting use, 3-9x magnification seems more suited to a larger .308 stalking rifle than a smaller vermin or foxing tool. It gets you shooting though, just use larger spots on your target and make sure you aim centre with the dot ‘quartered’, rather than subconsciously peeping around tiny 1” circles at 100 yards, which will never allow a great group.

Furniture

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The polymer stock shows plenty of tactile panels on the faceted forend and an open radius grip, although this is quite small in the hand.

Typically for an American rifle, the length of pull (LOP) is on the shorter side at 13.75”, so feels compact. Spacers are available for the recoil pad, which is homogenous in feel without hard spots. Although recoil is negligible from .223, the pad will do a good job of absorbing the recoil from the larger calibres, without being too spongy.

The slender comb slopes down from the bore line towards the recoil pad’s heel and I get the overall feel the gun is proportioned for smaller shooters. The flip side is it becomes a light, fasthandling foxing rifle to carry about at night or use from a vehicle cab.

The action is held into the stock by two action screws, and removal shows neat internal moulding with a secure action fit not totally reliant on excessive screw tension alone. Slackening the front screw first also shows minimal barrel lift from the tip of the forend, indicating minimal action stress applied. The gun also retained zero upon reinstallation and with slim pillars within, allowed a torque wrench to return the screws to previous settings without any crushing.

Ballistics

The supplied 68-grain match ammunition showed good ability on paper. It suited the barrels 1:9 twist rate and was capable of 5-round, sub MOA performance. Premium pest control 53 and 55-grain V-Max ammunition also showed sub MOA performance and are favourites of mine for foxing. The 55-grain Hornady soft points lagged, with groups opening beyond the MOA benchmark, yet still perfectly ‘fox capable’ and economically priced in 50-round boxes.

The twist rate is well suited to a versatile rifle, as it makes 69-grain bullets a likely possibility and although that’s the limit, if you want to push ranges then the benefit of the heavier, higher B.C. rounds is appreciable in the wind. I liked this factor immensely.

Gone foxing

Even though this barrel is shorter than those used for factory velocity measurements printed on the box, it’s a little quicker than other 20” barrelled .223’s I have reviewed with either 1:12 or 1:8 twist rates. I’m not a speed freak but it’s good to know.

Savage’s close headspacing tolerance from the barrel nut always enables long brass life with minimal case growth for reloaders. The primers showed strong firing pin strikes without cratering and there was no damage to case necks or bullets during the smooth chambering process. It is worth noting that the 110 action uses a floating bolt head to improve alignment.

After the first hundred rounds, the gun got better after running in. A deep clean back to the metal showed minimal copper flakes from the run-in and powder/copper residue didn’t seem to linger either. This Savage is never going to be a target rifle, as the 9x power scope limits aiming capability for ultimate group shooting. However, it is a fundamentally competent hunting rifle with a stiff stock forend that helps avoid intermittent barrel contact, regardless of handling or the support method.

The sling studs are well anchored and shot from a bipod with a moderator, the Apex is a very handy rifle. It is equally dependable from sticks, as long as I ensured my gloves cleared the main trigger blade.

I trusted the gun enough for simultaneous review of the PARD 008 night vision scope and I learned long ago to be cautious pairing two pieces of review kit before at least one is proven.

Conclusion

Savage know how to build a simple straight-shooting rifle, even if I am a little critical of finger position with gloves on the AccuTrigger. They don’t look flashy or perhaps impress your friends, but are a safe bet accuracy wise and seem to take the knocks when hunting without fuss. The scope is functional but I particularly like the Picatinny rail supplied, as, in this chambering, it opens up night vision possibilities.

  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

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  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

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  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

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  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

gun
features

  • Name: Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP
  • Barrel Length: 20”
  • Calibre: 223 (on test), .204, .22-250, .243, 6.5CM and .308
  • Length of Pull: 13.75”
  • Trigger: Single-Stage AccuTrigger
  • Magazine: 5-round DM (not 4 as stated)
  • Overall Length: 40.25”
  • Twist Rate: 1:9
  • Stock Material: Synthetic
  • Weight: 7.7lb
  • Price: £940 (inc. scope and mounts)
  • Contact: Edgar Brothers - shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com
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