Savage Arms Introduces Impulse Mountain Hunter

Savage Arms continues to explore new market niches with the launch of the Impulse Mountain Hunter, a new hunting rifle based on the straight-pull Impulse bolt-action platform.

The company says the new rifle was designed as a response to outdoorsmen looking for a lightweight, high-performance rifle for tough hunts in the mountains, where every ounce counts. But this isn't just a bog-standard rifle with some weight cut away; Savage also put a Proof Research barrel on the Mountain Hunter, made of stainless steel wrapped in carbon-fiber. This allowed them to use a longer barrel without as significant a weight penalty, continuing to provide the accuracy Savage is known for.

The end of that barrel has a 5/8, 24 tpi thread for attachment of a muzzle device. Savage includes a muzzle break with the Mountain Hunter. That will be a welcome add-on for many shooters, considering the rifle comes chambered in the hard-kicking .300 Win Mag or .300 WSM. Other chamberings include .308, 28 Nosler, .30-06, 6.5 Creedmore, 6.5 PRC and 7mm Mag.

Like other rifles in the Impulse lineup, the Mountain Hunter comes with an aluminum receiver. The optic mounting rail is integral to the receiver. Like other Impulse rifles, the Mountain Hunter comes with tang safety and reversible bolt handle, for left-handed shooters.

It ships with Savage's Accu-Trigger and Accu-Stock as standard, which is a bit unfortunate, as they probably could have shaved some weight with a different stock. Although this rifle is intended as a lightweight hunting arm, it's worth noting that it weighs 7.34 pounds, considerably more than the lightest entries in the Weatherby Backcountry series announced last year.

However, it does come in at a bit less money ($2,437 USD MSRP) than the lowest-priced rifles in the Weatherby Backcountry lineup, where the difference isn't as noticeable, and the Savage rifle is a lot less money than the most expensive rifles in that series. More details at Savage's website here.