Savage Arms is firmly established as a maker of accurate bolt-action rifles at reasonable prices, but continuing as a successful company these days takes more than simply making great guns that nearly anyone can afford. It takes industry professionals with their ears to the ground listening to customers, doing research and gauging the market to know what people want to buy, and then meeting that demand.

Shooters are clearly buying Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), and research shows that MSRs are shooters’ favorite guns. While MSRs don’t necessarily number traditional guns in sales right now, they are shot more when it comes to shooting activities. So it should come as no surprise that a company such as Savage would do research to see if there was a void in the MSR market that it could fill.

Savage senior product manager Bill Dermody tells me research uncovered that 20 to 25 percent of the MSR lowers bought are listed as “other,” meaning they are from smaller manufacturers. “People are building these guns from scratch,” he says while also pointing out that even complete MSRs that are bought are almost all modified. Building a MSR is not that hard, but neither is changing your own oil and many folks don’t do that, so the number of people building and modifying their MSRs suggested to Dermody that manufacturers might be misinterpreting consumer acceptance for consumer delight.

Sensing an opportunity, Savage looked at the modifications shooters were making and asked, “Why don’t we provide some of these [modifications] up front?” Being vertically integrated with Vista Outdoor, Savage turned to its sister company BLACKHAWK! to standardize many of those modifications on a new line of MSR rifles. And as Savage is not tied to any MSR legacy design, the company also chose to go in directions many shooters have gone when building their own MSRs.

Let’s take a look at Savage’s MSR 15 Recon. It has a nimble 16 1/8-inch barrel, and with that length a manufacturer can go with either a carbine- or mid-length gas system to get the right “zen” for reliable functioning. Dermody calls the carbine-length gas system “prone to problems” as it tends to over-gas a 16-inch-barrelled gun, which can cause parts to wear prematurely and increase recoil impulse.

“Instead, each [Recon] features a mid-length, direct impingement design for sure-fire performance plus reduced pressures and recoil that are easy on the shooter and the rifle,” Dermody said.

Other tweaks involving the barrel include 1:8-inch twist to stabilize everything from short, light varmint-type bullets to long, heavy bullets used for long-range shooting. There’s a .223 Wylde chamber, so you can safely fire either 5.56mm or .223 Rem. ammunition and the barrel is topped with an 11-degree target crown and A2 flash hider that you can remove to direct thread a suppressor having ½”-28 threads.

There is also 5R button rifling, which has five lands and grooves so you don’t have opposing lands constricting the bullet as it passes down the bore. The lands have sloped sides instead of being perpendicular, and are reported to cause less fouling build-up and are easier to clean. Helping with those attributes is a Melonite QPQ finish instead of chrome bore plating. Melonite QPQ is not only protective, hard and slick, but it allows Savage to more tightly control dimensional consistency of the bore for potentially increased accuracy.

“These are high-performance barrels you’d have to buy as an upgrade with standard AR-15s,” Dermody said.

Another modification is that the lower receiver comes with a tensioning screw to tighten things between the upper and lower receiver. While there is some argument over whether such a feature measurably increases accuracy, the tension screw does reduce any rattle between the upper and lower much like an aftermarket Accu-Wedge, which some predator hunters may find advantageous if calling in thick brush where shots could be close and predators shy.

When it comes to MSR receivers, they’re generally distinguished between forged and billet. A forged receiver is compressed into near net shape followed by minimal machining. They’re reportedly stronger because the forging process aligns the metal’s grain structure, and they’re less expensive to make. Unfortunately, when it comes to MSRs, practically all forged receivers look the same.

With a billet, however, a manufacturer starts with a block of metal and CNC machines it start to finish into the final shape, and it’s with that manufacturing process you see some of the more interesting receiver designs. They are more expensive because of the extra machining, and if made of the same material as a forging, reportedly not as strong.

In a perfect world, a manufacturer would simply make a sexier, custom forging. This is exactly what Savage did. Some of the billet-like features of the Savage forging include an integral triggerguard with finger recesses at its front, and racy cuts on the magazine well.

Following the current trend, the hexagonal handguard is positively svelte and, though it appears minimalist, its M-Lok design and full-length Picatinny top rail provide for attaching any conceivable optic and accessory combination. Instead of a Delta ring or any sort of screw attachment to the barrel nut, the free-floating handguard has opposing wedges on the bottom that draw up tight into a wide groove around the barrel nut securing it in place. The barrel nut arrangement lets Savage thread its barrels into place with individual actions and bolts, forming a hand-fit, perfectly matched set that is locked in place. Savage calls this its "zero-tolerance" approach to headspace. It’s very much like the system used on Savage’s bolt-actions, and is well regarded for contributing to increased accuracy.

From BLACKHAWK! comes the Recon’s furniture, sights and trigger. Standard on the Recon is a six-position Knoxx Axiom A-Frame Carbine stock, which ordinarily is a $60 upgrade. It has a forward length of pull adjustment that you can quickly and easily operate with the gun shouldered, multiple integrated QD sling mounts and a thick rubber recoil pad. An often-overlooked feature on this stock is its integrated fit-adjustment screw. This is a small slotted screw at the front of the adjustment cam that you tighten once you have your length of pull adjusted to take out much of the play between the stock and the buffer tube.

The Knoxx AR Pistol Grip is another BLACKHAWK! upgrade that’s standard on the Recon. It has comfort features such as an improved angle and palm swells for left- or right-hand shooters. It’s a hard synthetic material with a textured gripping surface that provides maximum hand purchase in nearly any environment.

Though a predator hunter probably won’t use them, the Recon comes with adjustable, folding BLACKHAWK! open sights that can be placed anywhere along the top rail or simply removed. Both feature polymer bases and aluminum hardware for light weight and moderate strength.

Finally, the Recon has a BLACKHAWK! AR Blaze trigger with nickel-boron surface treatment that reportedly smooths the pull and eliminates creep for a cleaner break. Note that this is not a target trigger as found on the Savage MSR 10 Long Range, but rather an improved Mil-Spec unit. The sample gun was indeed smooth, but at 6.7 pounds pull was comparable to other rack-grade MSRs in that respect.

For testing, I fitted the Recon with a Bushnell Trophy Xtreme 4-16x44mm scope and fired Black Hills 60-grain V-Max, Federal 62-grain Fusion MSR and SIG 77-grain OTM loads at 100 yards. Accuracy was great with the best three-shot group being 0.41 inch using the Black Hills load. Overall, the Recon preferred the Black Hills, averaging 0.86inch for five consecutive three-shot groups making this one of the more accurate large-scale production MSRs I’ve fired.

SIG’s fodder wasn’t far behind, averaging 0.97 inch for five consecutive three-shot groups with the tightest group being 0.54 inch. Though not nearly as accurate, the Federal load was no slouch averaging 1.55 inches. There were no malfunctions, and feeding from supplied the 30-round MAGPUL PMAG Gen M3 magazine was flawless.

Actual prices I’m seeing on the Recon might give a build-it-yourselfer a slight edge on building a predator rig until you factor in the cost buying tools and the value of your time. For those who simply want an accurate MSR with some smart upgrades at a near D-I-Y price, Savage’s new MSR 15 Recon is one to consider. Though there are unique tweaks that make this rifle a Savage, it is all Mil-Spec so you can further modify it if you choose.

Spec Sheet

Manufacturer: Savage
Model: MSR 15 Recon
Calibers: .223 Rem./5.56mm
Action: Semi-automatic direct-impingement
Magazine Capacity: Detachable box, 30 rounds
Barrel: 16 1/8 inches
Trigger: BLACKHAWK! Blaze single-stage 6.7 pounds pull
Sights: Full-length rail, adjustable Blackhawk! back up iron sights
Stock: Six-position Blackhawk! Knoxx Axiom A-Frame Carbine
Overall Length: 33½ to 36¾ inches
Weight: 7 pounds
Other: BLACKHAWK! Knoxx AR Pistol Grip
MSRP: $999
For More Information: www.savagearms.com

Featured image: Scott Mayer