Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite: Examined and Reviewed

The Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite embodies what hunters have at all times valued within the enduring Mannequin 110 collection: accuracy, utility, and worth. There have been many variations of the M110 by way of the a long time however for the on a regular basis hunter they don’t get a lot better than the Path Hunter Lite. It’s essentially the most inexpensive variant of the M110, has good ergonomics, comes suppressor prepared, and fills the function of an all-purpose looking rifle nicely. I examined my very own Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite, chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, in frigid inside Alaska and whereas looking whitetail bucks and hogs within the cedar-choked caprock nation of West Texas. 

See It

• Motion: Two-lug bolt motion, with floating bolt head
• Inventory: Hogue overmolded, black
• Cartridge: 5.56mm NATO (examined), .243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08 Rem., .308 Win., .350 Legend, .400 Legend, .270 Win., .30/06 Springfield, 7mm Rem. Magazine., 7mm PRC, .300 WSM, .300 Win. Magazine., and .450 Bushmaster
• Capability: 5+1 (in 5.56mm NATO)
• Weight: 7 kilos, 4 ounces (measured)
• Set off: Savage Accutrigger (adjustable), 3 kilos 11 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 1:7 twist, 20-inch metal, heavy sporter, fluted, threaded ½-inch x 28
• Size: 41 inches
• Worth: $644
• Optic Used: Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15x42mm

Key Options

• Hogue overmolded inventory
• Shorter barrel than common Path Hunter fashions, with fluting to chop weight
• Tungsten-colored Cerakote end on receiver and barrel
• Consumer-adjustable Savage Accutrigger
• Flush-fitting removable journal
• Contains pre-installed Weaver-style bases

Overview Highlights

• Stable all-around looking rifle
• Good accuracy
• Good stability of efficiency and affordability
• Twenty-inch barrel pairs nicely with a suppressor
• Fore-end has an excessive amount of flex

The Mannequin 110 Path Hunter Lite is Correct and Reasonably priced

I’ve usually discovered Savage Mannequin 110s to be reliably correct, regardless of the grade. Of their premium variants, Savage has incessantly used Proof Analysis carbon-wrapped barrels. Fashions just like the M110 Ultralite Elite and the M110 Carbon Predator have been impressively exact in our testing, however what are you able to count on from a run-of-the-mill, steel-barreled mannequin just like the Path Hunter Lite, which retails for less than a bit over $600? 

We take our accuracy testing severely at OL as a result of we wish to offer you lifelike expectations of how a rifle will carry out, slightly than lead you on with a number of of our best teams. To do this, we shoot a collection of five-shot teams, then mixture these right into a 20-shot composite group for every ammunition pattern. We nonetheless get to see what five-shot group sizes seem like, but additionally have a professional image of the rifle’s true cone of fireside with a given ammunition. This additionally supplies us sufficient knowledge to calculate a legitimate imply radius, which is a mean distance that every shot lands from the middle of the group.

General Common 100-Yard, 5-Shot Group Dimension: .866 inches (29 teams with 7 kinds of ammunition)

General Common 20-Shot Group Dimension: 1.319 inches (9 complete 20-shot composites)

Common Imply Radius: .377 inches

I did all accuracy testing between minus 5 levels and about 25 levels fahrenheit, with a suppressor. Contemplating that this rifle is chambered in 5.56mm NATO with a 1:7-twist barrel, I made positive to check all kinds of bullet weights. Ideally, this gun ought to be capable to shoot precisely with each heavier deer-appropriate bullets and light-weight, frangible varmint slugs — and it did simply that. I admire that throughout a large swath of ammunition and bullet weights, the rifle was constantly correct. 

Somebody who’s used to studying about half-MOA looking rifles, based mostly on a number of cherry-picked teams, would possibly balk at a large-sample dispersion of 1.2 to 1.5 inches, however solely out of ignorance. That’s actually good accuracy for a budget-friendly rifle — and it’s completely appropriate for an all-around coyote-to-deer crossover gun. I’ve discovered medium-priced looking rifles that print 20-shot teams beneath one MOA to be basically non-existent. 

Accuracy Information 

Observe that the imply radius, which accounts for each shot within the group, varies by solely slightly greater than a tenth of an inch throughout all the hundreds. In each case, the typical of those 140 pictures misses the middle of the group by lower than half an inch at 100 yards. Outcomes are ordered by bullet weight from lightest to heaviest.

The Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite: Easy and Efficient

The Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite isn’t fancy however, in an age of tricked-out customized rigs and unprecedented modularity, its simplicity appeals to me. Probably the most distinguished characteristic of the Path Hunter Mild is its Hogue overmolded inventory, which is beefy, has good ergonomics, and a cheesy rubberized coating that gives a safe grip in moist climate, however isn’t too chilly in opposition to your cheek in sub-zero temperatures. Second to that, the Path Hunter Lite fashions all use fluted 18- to 20-inch barrels, that are shorter than the 20- to 24-inch heavy-contour barrels on the usual Path Hunter. The Path Hunter Mild isn’t a very mild rifle, however it’s a lightened, shortened model of the unique. The Path Hunter Mild consists of different good options like an all-weather Cerakote end, adjustable Accutrigger, and a dependable flush-fitting removable five-round journal. 

After getting my pattern in preparation for a whitetail hunt in Texas, I mounted an optic, fitted the threaded muzzle with a suppressor — a B&T SRBS Ti 5.56mm 3D-printed can — and hit the reloading bench. As a part of this evaluation, I wished to discover the effectiveness of a few of the newer heavy-for-caliber .224 looking bullets like Hornady’s 80-grain ELD-X. They’re greatest in cartridges just like the 22 Creedmoor and 22 ARC, but additionally affordable for  the 1:7-twist barrel of the 5.56mm Path Hunter Mild. These heavy and environment friendly bullets have elevated a few of the capabilities of centerfire 22s as big-game rifles, and fired at .223 Rem. or larger 5.56mm NATO pressures, it ought to replicate the consequences of an ARC or 22 CM at barely longer distances. Most significantly, and in contrast to a normal AR15 journal, the removable journal that the Path Hunter Lite makes use of is lengthy sufficient to accommodate these heavier, sleeker bullets.

I settled on a load utilizing Hodgdon Benchmark powder, pushing the 80-grain bullet at 2,685 toes per second. That retains velocity at about 2,200 toes per second at 300 yards. I neither anticipated nor wished to shoot a buck farther than that. 

Sensible Use and Perform

With ammunition loaded, I rapidly shifted to field-position capturing with the Path Hunter Lite. I practiced standing, kneeling, and sitting positions utilizing a tripod, tac desk, and light-weight capturing bag for assist. The rifle balances nicely when rested on the flush journal, and the big, textured grip on the Hogue inventory facilitates a gradual, constant grip, even within the chilly. I attempted a pair totally different bipods on the M110 Path Hunter Lite, a Spartan Precision Springbok and a Harris-styled bipod with carbon-fiber legs. Finally, I deserted these as a result of the fore-end of the inventory is sort of versatile and, when making use of any strain to the bipod, the fore-end can bend and and make contact with the barrel. It’s my solely actual grievance in regards to the rifle. The tac desk negated the necessity for a bipod, so I caught with that. I constantly hit heart mass on a six-inch metal plate out to 350 yards from all positions throughout my snowy observe periods.

Mannequin 110 rifles, normally, have a comparatively stiff bolt carry in comparison with many actions, however this one ran fairly easily, particularly when securely rested atop a capturing bag. That is possible helped alongside by diminished cocking pressure within the 5.56 mannequin, but additionally the heft of the rifle and the grippy texture of the inventory mating with the waxy canvas of the capturing bag. With lighter mannequin 110s in bigger chamberings, I discovered I must purposefully squeeze the rifle onto the bag to forestall it from shifting whereas lifting the bolt. Extra importantly, the Path Hunter Lite functioned easily and fed reliably in sub-zero temperatures, a situation that can amplify any stickiness or hesitancy in an motion.

The Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite within the Subject

Frigid chilly was the very last thing on my thoughts once I caught the glimpse of a gray-backed deer working its method towards us by way of the cedars. “I’m fairly positive he’s a ten,” my information Miller Valentine whispered, watching by way of his tripod-mounted binoculars. Because the buck emerged from the thicket, he turned his head towards us, displaying the mass of his primary beams. There was little doubt that he was a shooter.

Sitting in a floor blind atop a hill overlooking the deer, I already had the rifle arrange on my recreation changer bag. I eased onto the gun because the buck gingerly stepped from behind a small mesquite, quartering in the direction of me at 115 yards. I broke the shot because the reticle settled on the buck’s left shoulder. The minimal recoil of the 5.56 rifle didn’t push me out of my sight image, and I noticed the bullet hit the deer simply earlier than listening to the reassuring plop of the influence. His rear finish hit the bottom as he spun whereas I rapidly chambered one other spherical. It was pointless. The shot handed by way of his scapula, each lungs, and exited the center of the offside rib, after about 16 inches of penetration — leaving a gradual 55-yard blood path.

Truck Gun

After taking my buck the primary night of the journey, I spent the rest tagging together with Miller, who runs Miller Brothers Outfitters. We checked feeders for hogs and spent hours glassing up roaming bucks that have been staging for the upcoming rut. I’d by no means had the possibility to shoot a wild pig, however that modified abruptly after we rounded the nook of a two-track in a thick mesquite-filled backside. We noticed a dark-colored hog gobbling up bits of corn beneath a feeder 225 yards away. I rapidly deployed my tripod at standing peak, maneuvering left and proper because the hog wandered out and in of sight. After a number of seconds, I settled atop my tac desk, and held the half-MIL hash on the pigs neck. With a whop, the swine flopped to the bottom. 

The Path Hunter mild carries nicely on a sling utilizing customary swivel studs, and is nimble sufficient to deal with rapidly. However additionally it is hefty sufficient to make a secure predator rifle. We did slightly calling for coyotes, however my probability at one got here earlier than we even began squalling. We had dropped over the sting of some caprock, overlooking a rolling valley that was thick with cedars. I used to be setting my tripod when a coyote spooked, not 100 yards away from us. I rapidly received the legs locked out and when the coyote stopped to look again from a far-off opening, I guessed the vary to be about 300 yards, I held a MIL excessive, and sailed the spherical proper over his again. It was solely 200 yards. A few minute later, I doubled down by lacking one other at 375 yards. That one was all me.

Remaining Ideas

By means of all of the testing and working towards within the chilly, transferring out and in of the truck, strolling, establishing in blinds, sitting right down to name coyotes, loading, capturing, and unloading, I discovered the Savage M110 Path Hunter Lite to be a lovely all-purpose rifle. It’s easy, correct, simple to shoot, and it simply works nicely. Does it have its flaws? Positive, it does. But when what you want is an inexpensive, sturdy, do-all rifle, you’ll have a tough time beating this one for the value.

 

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