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For many years now, Savage has been working
on a well-earned reputation for building accurate rifles. Their
basic Model 110 action design has been around for decades, but
Savage continues to improve upon and refine that reliable action
into rifles that are ever better than the generation before, by
applying innovative and practical ideas to that basic platform.
The folks at Savage Arms have been leaders in the industry with
innovations such as their wonderful AccuTrigger,
and more recently, their AccuStock.
The AccuTrigger has led the rest of the industry into
introducing better triggers of their own. They had to. With the
AccuTrigger, Savage made their already-accurate rifles much
easier to shoot well. This latest concept shown here, the Models
BAS-K and BAT/S-K, is Savage’s effort to make their bolt
action Law Enforcement Model 10 series the best off-the-shelf
bolt action sniper rifle available. It is hard to quantify the
term “best”, but in building a dedicated bolt gun for
intermediate to long range shooting from a stationary position,
Savage has certainly succeeded. Weighing in at around fifteen
pounds with a good scope in place, the BAS rifles are not
something that one would want to run uphill with in pursuit of a
mobile target, at least not for a fifty-year-old fat guy like
me, but for setting up and firing from a fixed position, as is
usually the case with military and police snipers, I can think
of no other bolt gun that is as easy to fire accurately as this
new Savage.
Of course, the heart of this new rifle is the
short-action Model 10 that is used in Savage’s other .308 Law
Enforcement series rifles. It wears the Law Enforcement
AccuTrigger, which is infinitely adjustable for pull weight from
approximately one and one-half to six pounds. I won’t go into
detail on the design of the AccuTrigger here, as I have plowed
that ground several times before, but will state that it is a
superb trigger, easy to shoot well, offering a light, crisp
trigger pull that is designed to not fire accidentally if the
rifle is dropped. The BAS rifles wear a heavy, fluted barrel,
which measures .842 inch just behind the threaded-on muzzle
brake. The barrel length is twenty-four inches, and the brake
adds another two inches. The buttstock is a modified M-4
six-position collapsible type. The overall length measures
between forty-five and one-quarter and forty-nine inches,
depending upon the position of the buttstock. The adjustable
stock is a welcome addition on a rifle of this type, allowing
the user to adjust for a perfect fit, regardless of the
thickness of the clothing or other gear which might be worn in a
particular situation. The comb of the BAS-K is also adjustable
for height, to allow perfect alignment of the shooter’s eye
with the optic mounted. The BAT/S-K has a target style buttstock
that is adjustable in every direction for a perfect fit.
As for the mounting of optics, the modular
aluminum stock of the new Savage has plenty of M1913 Picatinny
rail. For scope mounting, the rail is dished in a section just
forward of the receiver to clear the objective bell of a
riflescope, allowing it to be mounted lower than if the rail had
been continuous. Great idea. There is also a five-inch section
of rail on either side of the rifle, just forward of the action,
for mounting a light or infrared module. Ahead of the dished
section for the objective bell is another length of rail for
mounting night vision optics. On the bottom of the flat forend
is a slotted section to allow the mounting of an adjustable hand
stop, which also accommodates an adjustable sling or bipod
mount.
The magazine is a detachable ten-round box,
made of steel and finished in a matte black to match the rest of
the rifle. As mentioned above, the stock is modular, and made of
a black powder-coated aluminum. The action is mated to the stock
using the latest AccuStock system, which firmly fastens the
receiver to the stock, eliminating all movement of the barreled
action within the stock. The grip is a very comfortable AR type,
which allows for all-day comfort while shooting the Savage. The
receiver and barrel are built just like the other rifles in the
Savage Law Enforcement lineup, but the very unique stock design
takes an already-accurate design, and just makes it easier to
shoot well. The stock and pistol grip design allows the shooter
maximum comfort when shooting from a bench or prone position,
eliminating shooter fatigue, and maximizing the practical
accuracy of the rifle.
As you might have noticed, I have mentioned
accuracy several times, and for good reason. This rifle is all
about accuracy. Not just the mechanical accuracy built into the
machine, but the practical accuracy of the weapon package,
meaning that this rifle is designed to allow the shooter to make
maximum use of the potential accuracy of the rifle. In other
words, this Savage is not only accurate, but easy to shoot well.
The new BAS-K arrived just in time for my
annual trek to the NRA
Whittington Center near Raton, New Mexico, so I placed it
within a gun case and loaded up a new Leupold Mark 4 4.5 to 14
power LR/T riflescope, and did not shoot the Savage until we
were on the range in New Mexico. The initial impression was that
this rifle is very easy to shoot well, and very easy on the
shoulder. The muzzle brake, along with the rifle’s weight of
13.4 pounds plus the weight of the scope, mount and bipod made
this thing easy to shoot all day. The bulk of the ammunition
fired through the Savage was military surplus NATO spec 147
grain ball. Even with that ammo, engaging targets at long range
was easy. Shooting from the Harris bipod at life-size mule deer,
whitetail, and black bear steel silhouette targets out to 600
yards proved to be very easy to hit, even with the wind blowing
steadily. We were not only hitting the targets, but spotters
were calling the hits, and slamming bullets repeatedly just
behind the shoulder of the targets was the norm, no matter who
was doing the shooting. Keep in mind that this was at the
Shootists Holiday, and all of those fellows can shoot, but it is
still a testament to the design of the rifle that every shooter
who got behind that gun turned in a very good performance. With
the 600 yard targets presenting no challenge, we moved on to the
bison silhouette at approximately 1120 yards. Here, with the
wind blowing harder by this time, getting on target was harder
to do. However, once we had the scope dialed in and the hold for
the wind pegged, the Savage would lay the bullets right in there
where we wanted them, even allowing an occasional hit on the
sixteen-inch black steel gong on the chest of the bison.
Along with the rifle, I had at my disposal a
new Tactical Solutions
suppressor to try out. Removing the muzzle brake and threading
on the Tac Sol suppressor really turned this into a fun baby to
shoot! I was very surprised at the effectiveness of the
suppressor. I have fired rifles with suppressors before, but
none that were this effective at silencing a .308 Winchester
rifle. Other shooters on the line thought that we were shooting
a big air rifle, and that is exactly how it felt from the
shooter’s position. Downrange, there had to be more noise, as
the bullets were supersonic. However, from the shooter’s
position, a big “whoosh” sound, for lack of a better term,
was all that was heard. Recoil was also greatly attenuated. What
little recoil was present without the suppressor was reduced to
a gentle push with the can in place. Spotting hits through the
scope on rocks and such out to over 1100 yards was easy, and we
tried to wear out the famous “banana rock” at about 577
yards from our position. Several shooters, from experienced
riflemen to novice teenage kids of a couple of Shootists,
had a great time chipping away at that old rock. We shoot at
that rock every year with everything from sixguns to lever
action rifles to antique single shots, with great success, but
this Savage made hitting easier than with anything that I had
ever tried before. The more challenging hits were made on rocks
out past the 1000 yard mark, and even then, once the scope was
adjusted, the Savage would place the bullets on target. The
combination of the built-in accuracy and the ease of use
afforded by the stock design and wonderful trigger made me look
like a better rifleman than I am, and allowed the truly expert
marksmen to fully utilize the capabilities of this rifle. In
other words, we had a real hoot shooting this rifle! I also had
along several tracers in the ammo can, as the ammunition was
broken down machine gun belts. We could not use the tracers due
to the dry conditions of the vegetation on the mountainside, but
one afternoon a huge storm blew in, dumping a lot of rain and
some hail along with it. Watching the tracers burn all the way
out to 800 yards or so through the Leupold scope was a real
blast! All totaled, we put well over five hundred rounds through
the Savage with no malfunctions of any kind.
After getting the Savage back home, and a
good barrel-cleaning, getting down to the paper-punching was
anti-climactic, but it had to be done. As expected, the Savage
turned in a stellar performance with Buffalo Bore Sniper
ammunition. This ammo uses the superb 175 grain Sierra Boattail
match bullets, and the Savage would cluster them into a
half-inch hole at 100 yards, and do even a bit better with the
Tactical Solutions can in place. This was no big surprise, as
most of the sporter-weight Savage hunting rifles will do this
with good ammunition. However, the unique stock of the BAS-K is
ideally suited to make the most use of the Savage’s excellent
accuracy potential. A rifle of this type is built to allow the
accurate placement of a single, effective shot on target every
time in the gravest situation, and is backed up with an
excellent ten-shot magazine and a large bolt handle to crank in
another round quickly if needed.
For a military sniper, or a police designated
marksman, the BAS-K is as close to the ultimate platform in
existence for placing that one shot precisely, anytime, every
time. For the rest of us, the new Savage BAS-K is a lot of fun.
It is a precision rifle that is accurate, easy to shoot, fun to
shoot, and can deliver the goods when called upon to do so. Most
of the time, I am shooting at things that do not matter, like
paper , steel, and rocks. Some of the time, I am shooting at
game, and there are several guns in my battery that can
accomplish these tasks well. However, if I had to pick one rifle
to make a long range shot-of-a-lifetime in a serious situation,
I would reach for this Savage BAS-K.
Check out the entire line of Savage products
online at www.savagearms.com.
For the location of a Savage dealer near you,
click on the DEALER LOCATOR at www.lipseys.com.
To order the BAS-K online, go to www.galleryofguns.com.
For a look at the extensive line of Leupold
optics, go to www.leupold.com.
To order the Buffalo Bore Sniper ammunition,
go to www.buffalobore.com.
Jeff
Quinn
For a list of dealers where you can
buy this gun, go to: |
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To buy this gun online, go to: |
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Tactical Solutions suppressor.





Leupold Mark 4 LR/T scope.
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Click pictures for a larger version.



Author shoots at a black spot on a rock at 1120
yards, with Jason Cloessner (left) and Mic McPherson (right)
spotting.


Threaded muzzle with detachable brake.




Magazine release is large and easy to use.



The comb of the buttstock is adjustable for height.


Savage's wonderful AccuTrigger.





Picatinny rail is dished for scope mounting.



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