Savage 110 FBT Hunter review: a lightweight stalking rifle that shoots sub-MOA

Viking Arms distributes Savage rifles here in the UK, and although we have already looked at the flagship, carbon-fibre-barrelled Savage 110 Klym, which commands a premium at over £3,000, it was worth turning to a different stablemate: the 110 FBT. Priced at a more palatable £2,210 (SRP), it is still a fair chunk of change, but it brings Savage’s lightweight ambitions within much closer reach.

The Savage 110 platform has spent decades building a reputation for out-of-the-box accuracy and reliability, and this one was tested in .308 Win over a series of range sessions at Rose Hill Farm Rifle Range in Suffolk, with a Delta Titanium 2.5-15×56 riflescope and a Wildcat Evo moderator fitted. The short version is that it handles like a rifle half its price should not, and it shoots better than its weight suggests.

What the steel barrel saves you, and what it costs

The Klym’s headline feature was its featherweight build, tipping the scales at a mere 6.2lb (2.8kg). That figure was primarily down to a pair of premium, costly components: a Proof Research carbon-fibre-wrapped barrel and a carbon-fibre stock. As the name suggests, the 110 FBT retains that high-end furniture but swaps out the carbon barrel for a traditional factory steel alternative. It is this single, sensible substitution that accounts for the welcome drop in price.

So how much does the weight increase with a steel barrel? Not that much, actually. This rifle weighs just 6.6lb (2.9kg), around 0.4lb more. That has been achieved by reducing the length to 18in from 22in and by including some spiral fluting to shave a few more grams off. Naturally, a shorter barrel means a slight drop in muzzle velocity, but this rifle is chambered in .308 Win, a calibre that is perfectly happy in a shorter tube.

Looking closer at the barrel itself, it is completely free-floated right back to the reinforce and features a heavy sporter/semi-weight profile with a 19mm muzzle diameter. It comes equipped with a thread protector on a 5/8×24 thread, leaving you perfectly set up to swap it out for a suitable sound moderator.

How a short, light .308 handles in the field

The reduced barrel length makes the rifle light, manoeuvrable and a pleasure to handle. Even when fitted with a scope, it avoids feeling top-heavy. It is fair to say that the rifle did become front-heavy with the addition of a sound moderator, which highlights just how light the stock is rather than anything wrong with the balance.

The carbon-fibre stock, and where the money went

A significant proportion of this rifle’s cost can be attributed to the carbon-fibre FBT (Fine Ballistic Tools) stock, which features a generous thumbhole configuration and three-piece construction, with a carbon fore-end and butt and a polymer centre. At the rear sits a 0.75in rubber recoil pad providing a 14.5in length of pull. This is paired with a push-button adjustable cheekpiece, which offers over 1in of travel for proper scope alignment.

In use, there is a touch of play in the cheekpiece, but it is clear FBT is walking the tightrope between ultimate light weight and rigidity. The butt features a sling stud, a bag rider cutout and a smooth vertical pistol grip with twin palm swells that promote consistent hand and trigger finger placement across all shooting positions.

The central polymer section features a textured, grippy surface and houses a polymer bottom metal, with a generous trigger guard and the magazine well. The carbon-fibre fore-end measures 16in from the trigger guard to the tip, and the flush-fit magazine ensures all this space can be used for shooting sticks. While the angled sling stud at the tip of the fore-end cannot be used as a traditional bipod mount, you instead get an integrated Magnaswitch system to accommodate a Spartan bipod or similar.

On inspection there is enough flex in the fore-end to cause intermittent contact with the free-floated barrel, though this did not cause any point-of-impact shift during testing. A well-defined finger groove runs along each side, offering a decent leading-hand hold.

Is the AccuTrigger still the best thing on a Savage?

Yes, on this evidence. The rifle features Savage’s famous AccuTrigger, easily identified by the silver inner safety blade that gives the unit a pseudo-two-stage feel. The trigger is entirely user-adjustable, and on the review rifle the single-stage break felt consistent, breaking cleanly at 3lb 2oz. It is an easy thing to get on with, and after a few sessions it is the part of the rifle you stop thinking about, which is the highest praise a trigger gets.

Bolt, action and the controls you use in the dark

At the heart of the system is Savage’s signature floating bolt head. Rather than a rigid, one-piece bolt design, this setup allows for a tiny fraction of self-aligning play, ensuring both locking lugs square up perfectly for a consistent lock-up. With the bolt operating on a traditional 90-degree lift, the cycle is smooth, though bolt closure is quite firm, inducing a subtle twist of the rifle in your hands that stops it feeling quite as slick as some rivals at this price point. The rear shroud features a clear, tactile cocked-action indicator, and on the bolt face the push-feed setup relies on twin plunger ejectors and a recessed extractor claw to fling spent cases clear with absolute authority.

Rather than a traditional hinged floorplate, Savage has equipped the rifle with a flush-fitting detachable box magazine, which will appeal to most shooters. The hybrid polymer-and-metal unit holds 4+1 rounds of .308 Win and secures via an integral sprung button at the front. That said, the release mechanism sits somewhat exposed, leaving it potentially vulnerable to being tripped by passing branches and heavy foliage, which is worth knowing if you spend your days pushing through cover.

Straying from the norm, instead of a receiver-mounted rocker safety you get a bolt-release catch, while there is a three-position tang safety that can easily be worked with your thumb: forward for fire, middle to block the trigger, and rear to lock everything. It is very easy to overrun the middle position, which takes some learning.

How accurate is the Savage 110 FBT with lead and non-lead ammunition?

Accurate enough to make the weight question academic, and that holds for copper as well as lead, which matters as estates work through the lead transition. Testing was not about chasing benchrest precision with match-grade ammunition, but simply about seeing whether the rifle could deliver sub-MOA performance with standard hunting ammunition.

Accuracy straight from the box with some old faithful 150-grain Winchester Ballistic Silvertip was excellent. Three three-shot groups averaged 0.609in at 100 yards, with the ammunition running 2,760fps, ES 24fps and 2,538ft/lb.

The rifle did not like Hornady’s Precision Hunter 178-grain ELD-X, with the groups each measuring over 2in, which was disappointing. Those figures were 2,493fps, ES 17 and 2,457ft/lb.

Non-lead was the more interesting result. With 150-grain Hornady ECX the rifle performed very well indeed, the average group size working out at 0.660in, producing 2,770fps, ES 11 and 2,556ft/lb. For a short, light barrel that is a genuinely reassuring number.

The usual caveat applies when testing a lightweight rifle: a lack of mass generally means an increase in felt recoil compared with heavier setups, which exposes the flaws of the shooter. Happily, felt recoil proved remarkably manageable, allowing thorough testing without getting beaten up.

Strengths

• Sub-MOA with both lead and non-lead hunting ammunition, straight from the box
• 6.6lb all-in, and genuinely manoeuvrable with an 18in barrel
• The AccuTrigger, user-adjustable and consistent at 3lb 2oz
• Felt recoil far more manageable than the weight suggests
• Flush-fit detachable magazine leaves the whole fore-end usable for sticks
• £800 or so below the carbon-barrelled Klym for a very similar package

Weaknesses

• Firm bolt closure induces a subtle twist in the hands
• Exposed magazine release could be tripped by branches and heavy cover
• Easy to overrun the middle position on the tang safety
• A touch of play in the adjustable cheekpiece
• Enough fore-end flex to touch the free-floated barrel, though no point-of-impact shift showed up in testing
• Nose-heavy once a moderator goes on

Verdict: who should buy the Savage 110 FBT Hunter?

On first handling, the Savage 110 FBT does not feel quite as slick as a lot of rivals at this price point, and the firm bolt closure induces that subtle twist in the hands during operation. Once on the range, though, this rifle proved to be a really good surprise.

Its downrange performance delivered the exact confidence every stalker looks for, printing sub-MOA groups with both traditional lead and modern non-lead ammunition. The standout was that for such a lightweight setup, felt recoil was remarkably manageable, making testing a breeze and thoroughly enjoyable. Paired with the crisp, highly intuitive AccuTrigger, it is a genuinely engaging rifle to shoot.

By opting for a short, fluted steel barrel rather than a carbon-wrapped tube, Savage has created a lightweight, highly manoeuvrable package that will appeal to carbon-sceptics, all while bringing the price down. It suits the stalker or keeper who covers ground on foot and wants one rifle that is easy to carry all day and honest at 100 yards and beyond. Any minor operational quirks are instantly forgiven the moment you see the group sizes.

Many thanks to Rose Hill Farm Rifle Range, Suffolk, for the use of their facilities for this review.