Savage Impulse?

Not sure I'd trust the lockup on the bolt over time, not for me!

They have some pretty cool design ideas built into that. I like the idea but I’d be hesitant to buy one before they have been in the market a while.

Now that’s pretty cool. I would like to see some really detailed specs on that locking mechanism

I'm gonna start saving my pennies now, and hopefully by the time I can afford one they've been out and vetted.

I'm rarely an early adopter but I've been wanting something along these lines for a long time. If it takes the same accessories/ barrels as their normal actions and comes in under 1k for a base model it'll be a home run.

Looks harder to work then a worn out m95, if there was any trade shows this year I bet they would have the guns bolted down. Don't like the camera and sound trickery in the video either.

From what i can remember, most of savages new designs have been a little glitchy at launch, with the bugs pretty well worked out in a year or two.

The design looks simple enough, but the tolerances are probably pretty critical considering how small those ball bearings are. Also dont see anything that resembles extraction help

Milt1 said:

Not sure I'd trust the lockup on the bolt over time, not for me!

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I dunno that this is much different that the roller delayed lockup of the G3/CETME/MP5 fame (only not semiauto / blowback operated). Sadly, Savage has nothing on their web site yet about it.

If the Impulse uses the same barrel/nut design as the legacy 10/110 - I'd be more than happy to be an early adopter.

rbernie said:

I dunno that this is much different that the roller delayed lockup of the G3/CETME/MP5 fame (only not semiauto / blowback operated).

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minus the above having fluted chamber walls to aid in extraction.

be interesting to see how max loads like to extract, providing the ball bearings hold and the shooter doesn’t end up with a grill ( ) ornament.

It’s good to see companies step out of their comfort zone. Didn’t want my above post to be too disparaging, but when one understands the mechanics of things it starts to raise questions.

BreechFace said:

minus the above having fluted chamber walls to aid in extraction

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In fairness, the fluted chamber was only needed in the G3/CETME/etc. designs because the rifles / action were a semiauto blowback design, and variances in chamber pressure during primary extraction were a problem to be solved. In a bolt gun, there should be no need for such things because chamber pressure should be effectively atmospheric by the time that primary extraction begins.

But yes - a rotating bolt head (by any means) does seem to be a common aid to primary extraction and it will be interesting to see how the action fares in that regard. The AR10/AR15, as examples, don't use bolt rotation to aid in primary extraction, and that seems to work out ok, so I'm not thinking that this is a problem that cannot be solved.

Straight pull bolts look good on paper, but as a K31 owner and shooter, I think that very little is gained in speed of operation which is the only perceived advantage that I can see. If it floats your boat, go for it, but I'd wait on some feedback before I bought one. I bet that bolt design has increased the cost quite a bit.

Now I do think that the ability to swap between right and left handed bolts is a nice feature and is a big plus for southpaws. I actually like my accutrigger and think that the accustock is a nice feature as well. Savage is definitely on the ball when it comes to firearms engineering innovation. Maybe not the prettiest guns but accurate for the money.

Milt1 said:

Not sure I'd trust the lockup on the bolt over time, not for me!

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Why?

You don't think a company like Savage would bother to do their basic engineering due diligence on this design? You don't think there was probably a team of engineers that worked on this design for months or years with modern design tools, FEA, etc? Given the tidbit of information presented in that video , how could you possibly gather enough information to make such an assumption?

Normally I'm no big fan of Salvage rifles, but this unique offering looks very interesting to me. If the barrel thread/nut system they are using on this rifle matches existing Savage prefit specs, then it will be all the more interesting.

This looks similar to the straight-pull from Heym.

Gtscotty said:

Why?

You don't think a company like Savage would bother to do their basic engineering due diligence on this design? You don't think there was probably a team of engineers that worked on this design for months or years with modern design tools, FEA, etc? Given the tidbit of information presented in that video , how could you possibly gather enough information to make such an assumption?

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Well, there's been some accidents with the Blaser R93.

I'd have a lot more confidence in that system, as designed by savage, if they hadn't released that abomination of a bmag a few years back...

Not sure on this one savage seems a little bit gimmicky to me

Gtscotty said:

Why?

You don't think a company like Savage would bother to do their basic engineering due diligence on this design? You don't think there was probably a team of engineers that worked on this design for months or years with modern design tools, FEA, etc? Given the tidbit of information presented in that video , how could you possibly gather enough information to make such an assumption?

Normally I'm no big fan of Salvage rifles, but this unique offering looks very interesting to me. If the barrel thread/nut system they are using on this rifle matches existing Savage prefit specs, then it will be all the more interesting.

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The way you put it makes it sound like everyone should buy into it. Tell you what, we'll all wait on a range report from you!

I doubt with the material science and engineering tools available today that Savage would not have done due diligence and throughly tested the design before release. And, I am not telling people to go buy one. Will it last as many rounds as a conventional bolt before loosening up, beats me. As an engineer of sorts without their data, I would say there is probably more bearing area to distribute the load than with a conventional bolt. Curious, the bolt would have to lock closed with the safety I suppose? It is kind of an odd thing but Savage likes to do odd things, the A series and the B Mag, the port style receiver now copied by Ruger and a new shotgun, at least Savage is not boring . I am not in the market for another bolt gun but I can see this finding a solid niche to live in. I wish Savage would give us a controlled round feed super light rifle. I am not one to wish for failure, I would prefer they succeed. If Ruger is the only gun company left it might get kind of boring.

the straight pull is no problem. Just like an AR with no gas port with a handle on the side. Some of the current bolt guns are halfway there anyway.
I could do without accu whatever stock and blade trigger. I think the bolt handle and look is wrong for a straight pull. No need to have it look like a traditional bolt handle if it isn't being run up and down.
Also, the lock bolt for the handle should be a hex head instead of finger knurled. I have experience with this issue in another application.
Honestly if they just came out with a pillar bed Stevens 200 with a flat black bolt, staggerfeed mag and a good trigger I would buy it before this.

Milt1 said:

The way you put it makes it sound like everyone should buy into it. Tell you what, we'll all wait on a range report from you!

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Doesn't matter to me whether anyone ever buys one or not, I just can't stand casual shade-tree engineer style dismissal of a new product based on nothing but a 1 minute video and the baseless assumption that a large, successful firearm company is technically incompetent. There is not enough information out there to either condemn this rifle or sing it's praises yet, but I think we can safely start out with the assumption that Savage is not incompetent and has probably done their basic engineering work on the design before they trotted it out.

The bolt design does look similar to the Heym, incidentally on another forum, a poster linked to a test of the Heym action with an overload to the tune of 155ksi, and the locking bearings held.

Savage scrambled to take down all the info that seems to have been accidentally posted to their site on this rifle, but someone on the Hide said ~$1,450 MSRP and ~$1,100 street price. Pricey for a Salvage, but I still might be interested at some point assuming it doesn't have any big issues, takes normal small shank pre-fits and fits 110 stock inletting.

Another video:

rbernie said:

The AR10/AR15, as examples, don't use bolt rotation to aid in primary extraction, and that seems to work out ok, so I'm not thinking that this is a problem that cannot be solved.

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AR bolts most certainly do rotate. Only 22.5 degrees, but they rotate nonetheless.

That said, bolt rotation as an extraction aid is not really an issue with manual actions. The bigger question is the peening of surfaces with the bolt thrust focused on a tiny surface area with radiused engagement surfaces. It works fine with hydraulic and pneumatic couplers, but a sharp impulse of thousands of pounds per square inch is a whole different animal.

I want to see it in a 22. A fancy stock and a couple other bits could go a long way to bring a straight pull bolt 22 into being a poor boys biathlon rifle. I would even jump for one in light rounds like a pistol cal or light rifle (really thinking 300BO here for subs). Not a big full on deer round.

Gtscotty said:

I just can't stand casual shade-tree engineer style dismissal of a new product based on nothing but a 1 minute video and the baseless assumption that a large, successful firearm company is technically incompetent. There is not enough information out there to either condemn this rifle or sing it's praises yet

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I get what your saying but I take it the other way around. I do assume that testing has been done but a custom shop rifle is a far cry from a production line rifle, and so far the only guns available would be custom shop guns. Yes that’s an assumption but it’s a likely one since there’s not much info and nothing on Savages website which tells me they aren’t even ready for preorder sales yet. This video seems to be testing the waters for interest before sinking a million bucks into a line to make these new actions, bolts, and small parts that are not consistent with other parts of the product lineup. That makes me very curious but also cautious, and I look at the gun as a system of parts. Looking for weakness it’s not hard to see that there are some potential failures... shear off a ball bearing and your sunk. Not much different than a bolt lug, so that gets a pass. Ambi design is slick, but it’s a lot like my spinning reels where the damned nut comes off at the worst time. Last but not least, looking at a traditional bolt, you have a 1 piece bolt body where here you have at least 10 pieces doing the work of 1. Complication generally means weaker because there are more potential failure points. I think it’s cool, and safe for now but I would be concerned about longevity, especially if the design is prone to crud getting into the works because carbon buildup could potentially lock the ball bearings out and tie up the gun. No bueno.

call me cautiously optimistic.

I think the impulse is cool. I like the ambidextrous design. Can't wait to see / handle one. I too would like to have them on the market for a while before purchasing one. As long as Savage stands behind it (and they should) I would not be afraid of giving it a chance. Thanks @Legionnaire for sharing the video and starting the conversation.