America's first straight pull rifle ?

Shoots100

Shoots100

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Back in 2021 Savage introduced the straight pull Impulse rifle to America and the world.
Being a straight pull rifle aficionado I had to have one, especially since it was over 130 years since a straight pull was made in the US.
While some say it's not Americas first straight pull rifle because of the 1895 Lee Enfield Navy rifle, the Lee Enfield rifle's bolt didn't actually retract rearward in a straight line like the other straight pull rifles of it's time.
The rear of the Lee's bolt arched upwards at an angle to unlock it and then progressed in that angle rearward while cycling the bolt, so the bolt isn't really pulled back in a straight line.
So I'm unofficially naming the Savage Impulse America's first production straight pull bolt action rifle.
Being a predator hunter, the Impulse Predator model caught my attention from the start.
Straight pull, fixed ejector, AICS magazine and being a southpaw, ambidextrous.
The Impulse design features guaranteed function and reliability.
It didn't disappoint.
After five years of owning, testing, customizing and hunting with my Impulse predator rifles in every type of weather condition of the north east without failure, I tip my hat to Savage and say Bravo.
The engineers at Savage hit it out of the ballpark and with the introduction on the V2 stock Impulse models this year, it's even better.
Of course it took sometime for aftermarket parts to become available, but thats changing slowly but surely.
I'll be posting about my Impulse experiences and hope others will chime in with their experiences too.

SJC
 
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Thanks for the first post about Impulse and good insight.
 
sharpshooter said:
How would you rate the Impulse against the Blaser?
Click to expand...
Like a Chevy Camaro against a Porsche.
The Impulse is a great rifle platform, but it's no Blaser and it wasn't intended to compete with Blaser.
I've put my Predators through years of hunting in the worst conditions mother nature could throw at me and haven't had an issue.
Reliability is non negotiable and while the Impulse isn't as refined as a Blaser, it gets the job done.
SJC
 
CoalCrackerAI, you are right.
Technically, the Garand is a straight pull to cock as are the Impulse and Blaser.
But I think Shoots100 was referring to bolt actions like the Impulse and Blaser.
 
I think it’s fairly well understood when the term straight pull is used with firearms, it is referring to the Action.

While sure, a Garand is a straight pull Bolt. However, so are AR’s, AK’s, Mini’s, G3’s, Steyr’s and just about ever other full/semi auto Action out there. And going further. By disabling the gas, piston or roller lock system, any Semi Auto ALSO becomes a straight pull Bolt Action.

Although, yes, saying Straight Pull Bolt Action takes all possible doubt out of the equation. 😊
 
Actually, before I built this last Model 10 as my dedicated bench gun, I had the idea of building an AR10 and purposefully leaving out the fast system. No gas port in the barrel, no Gas Block & no Buffer. Was planning to use a 26” custom barrel & use it as a dedicated Straight Pull. But then I thought against it because the Savage 110 is my Bolt Gun.
 
Just to ask something that might be obvious to someone else, but is there confirmation as to whether the Impulse is using the same barrel nut and recoil lug system as the 110 series? From the rimfire forum, Savage hasn't done the barrel nut design on everything, but this looks like a 110 style barrel nut and recoil lug, albeit the barrel nut looks shorter:

IMPULSE CORE HUNTER.webp


There's been concern of late, for good reason, with Savage changing designs on various things and breaking some of the modular compatibility. However, as a southpaw, if the Impulse is largely interchangeable with a wear component like a barrel, then it might be worth pulling one off the shelf the next time I am at the gun store and seeing how it feels.

Mr OP, how would you compare the Impulse action to a standard 110 when it came to field reliability? How does the feeding compare to a "controlled feed" sort of action?
 
chronoblip said:
Just to ask something that might be obvious to someone else, but is there confirmation as to whether the Impulse is using the same barrel nut and recoil lug system as the 110 series? From the rimfire forum, Savage hasn't done the barrel nut design on everything, but this looks like a 110 style barrel nut and recoil lug, albeit the barrel nut looks shorter:

View attachment 743

There's been concern of late, for good reason, with Savage changing designs on various things and breaking some of the modular compatibility. However, as a southpaw, if the Impulse is largely interchangeable with a wear component like a barrel, then it might be worth pulling one off the shelf the next time I am at the gun store and seeing how it feels.

Mr OP, how would you compare the Impulse action to a standard 110 when it came to field reliability? How does the feeding compare to a "controlled feed" sort of action?
Click to expand...

It uses the same Large & Small Shank (edited correction, informed by shoots100’s post.) Barrel Nuts as the 110. However, I’m not certain on the Recoil Lug. The Impulse is not so much in my purview, as the Savage 110 & other Bolt Actions. I know enough, but have studied them as I have no care to own one.

There was a member on Savage Shooters with the handle Shoots100. Don’t know if he’s here already, but I hope he does join us. He had a similar disposition with the Savage Impulse, as I do with the 110. He even had had several sets of of Barrel Extensions, Recoil Lugs & Barrel Nuts all custom machined. And he set them up with new barrels to make his Impulse basically a “Switch Barrel” rifle.

Here is a thread of his at the Hide Forum. It shows some of his custom work on the Savage Impulse. Although I did not care for the Impulse, I was intrigued & fascinated with extreme fondness of it; reminding me so much of myself.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/savage-impulse-1-year-update.7124549/
 
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chronoblip said:
Just to ask something that might be obvious to someone else, but is there confirmation as to whether the Impulse is using the same barrel nut and recoil lug system as the 110 series? From the rimfire forum, Savage hasn't done the barrel nut design on everything, but this looks like a 110 style barrel nut and recoil lug, albeit the barrel nut looks shorter:
There's been concern of late, for good reason, with Savage changing designs on various things and breaking some of the modular compatibility. However, as a southpaw, if the Impulse is largely interchangeable with a wear component like a barrel, then it might be worth pulling one off the shelf the next time I am at the gun store and seeing how it feels.

Mr OP, how would you compare the Impulse action to a standard 110 when it came to field reliability? How does the feeding compare to a "controlled feed" sort of action?
Click to expand...
The Impulse uses small and large shank barrels and barrel nut's.
That's all the part's that can be used from a 110 model.
All of the Impulse barrel nut's are short and need a different tool to remove them.
If you use a longer aftermarket barrel nut, the stock will have to be hogged out to accommodate it.
I made the barrel nut's square on my QC barrel kit's for ease of use.
The recoil lug is fitted into the barrel extension for proper alignment of the gas blow off ports and crossbolt in the receiver.
A really great design.
I've been using my growing number of Impulse Predators since 2021 for hunting and target use without a hiccup.
I will tell you that "New" Impulse owners that've only used turn bolt rifles seem to short stroke while using it till they get used to just having to pull and push the bolt.
Most of the hard bolt operation reviews are from users trying to turn the bolt up while pulling the bolt rearwards, causing the bolt to bind.
SJC

Impulse Pro 1 (1).webp
 
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Well that's impressive! From a precision standpoint, I'd imagine you'd jostle the rifle a lot less with follow up shots. I want to say the last time I saw the biathlon that they were using a straight pull action...

Yup! Confirmed with an internet search. Which then led me to look into how the Impulse works...

Everything You Should Know About the Savage Impulse Straight-Pull

And while there's the usual fluff and prop, the "tech" part was really interesting given the earlier conversation in the thread regarding semi-autos:

As the bolt closes into battery, Hexlock’s six hardened steel bearings secure the action. Inside the bolt, a plunger forces the ball-bearings on the bolt head into channels machined into the barrel extension. As the bolt handle moves forward, this plunger locks in place, creating pressure that provides Hexlock’s solid lockup.
Click to expand...
So, as a CETME/H&K G3 fan, it sounds similar to the roller delayed blowback system they used:

G3_Bolt-828063219.webp

Only that instead of using the rollers to delay cycling, and the locking piece and bolt head being separate, the rollers in the "Hexlock" are slid into place and then kept there even more by chamber pressure. Pulling the handle back lets everything disengage without the rotational movement.

Also reminded me of the the "Kali Key", which converts an AR15 into a "straight pull" for "California Compliance" so it's no longer considered an "assault weapon" :rolleyes::



The Impulse is now more a lot more interesting than it was a day ago for me at least. 😅
 
Shoots100 said:
That guy Shoots100 is very unreliable and from NY, so you can't trust anything he post's !
SJC
Click to expand...

LOL! Good to see you here my friend. I was hoping you’d speak up. Have you been reading threads in Dark Mode? Or did someone else tip you off?

Like I said… this section could certainly use your input. Incredible, the custom parts you’ve came up with. I remember, I had a blast reading your threads on Savage Shooters, as you were making these parts. Still super impressed!
 
See that? I mean, was I right, or was I CORRECT??

Savage Impulse Forum Section! You are welcome!
🤣🤣🤣
 
chronoblip said:
Well that's impressive! From a precision standpoint, I'd imagine you'd jostle the rifle a lot less with follow up shots. I want to say the last time I saw the biathlon that they were using a straight pull action...

Yup! Confirmed with an internet search. Which then led me to look into how the Impulse works...

Everything You Should Know About the Savage Impulse Straight-Pull

And while there's the usual fluff and prop, the "tech" part was really interesting given the earlier conversation in the thread regarding semi-autos:


So, as a CETME/H&K G3 fan, it sounds similar to the roller delayed blowback system they used:

View attachment 748
Only that instead of using the rollers to delay cycling, and the locking piece and bolt head being separate, the rollers in the "Hexlock" are slid into place and then kept there even more by chamber pressure. Pulling the handle back lets everything disengage without the rotational movement.

Also reminded me of the the "Kali Key", which converts an AR15 into a "straight pull" for "California Compliance" so it's no longer considered an "assault weapon" :rolleyes::



The Impulse is now more a lot more interesting than it was a day ago for me at least. 😅
Click to expand...

The Savage Impulse engineers took straight pull designs and brought them into the 21st century with newer tech & materials.
It's based partly off of the Heym SR30 rifle bolt locking design, which is a masterful design.
Other benefits of using a straight pull are ease of operation, faster shooting with less rifle movement to stay on target(hence why used in biathlons) and no worries about bolt throw clearance with optics.
None of that matters if the rifle doesn't function and while I've read some reviews of Impulse rifles not functioning, all of my rifles have been issue free after a lot of rounds and testing.
SJC
 
Even existing designs that go through an iterative change can see difficulties, which is why I appreciate the attention to detail that folks like DaveH/ONE-TEN aim at new trigger, action, and other design feature changes in the newer 110 rifles. At one company I worked for years ago, they changed one design feature and the entire production system fell apart and couldn't maintain pace, even if the vast majority of the product was being produced in the exact same manner. Quality crapped the bed and the dysfunction was unreal.

One review of the Impulse stated that the bolt handle was hurting their hand because they had to cycle it forwards and backwards completely and with force. Really? Also, if they sorta wiggled the bolt around in the midrange without doing a full cycle, the action became a bit sticky. Really?

The comparison then for what they recommended was a pump-action AR styled rifle that was notably more expensive, or to the Beretta BRX1 straight-pull. From what I can see on the Beretta design, their bolt handle is fixed and doesn't have any rotation to it, so if they were just expecting that, then "it wasn't what I expected" isn't "this is a bad design". From my last attempt at sporting clays, a pump action shotgun may be more reliable in principle but you can't short-stroke a semi-auto either, and if short-stroking the Impulse was a problem, then moving to a pump action isn't going to fix user errors.

Found the Savage tech video showing how the mechanisms work, and I'll definitely be handling one of these at the LGS when I get a chance. The toolless swapping of bolt handle direction means my left and right eye dominant kids can take turns on the same rifle. 😅

 
My primary and backup predator rifles are Impulse predators, Go figure that.
It takes me under a minute to change bolt sides when I take a landowner of friend out that's an evil right handed shooter.
I've tested the BRX1 and it's a great design, but it's a Beretta and their CS sucks in the states.
One of my only complaints about the Impulse is that they don't offer it in a .223 sized cartridge with a .378" bolt head.
I was going to try and have my machinist friend try to make a .378" bolt head, but I was a pain in getting him to make the QC kits for me and he's super busy too, so I didn't push it.
At one time I had 10 different barrels set up for my rifles and now I'm down to eight.
I think the Impulse design is great, but only the Older Predator, Elite precision and newer core predator, core hunter pro and core ultralite pro models use AICS magazines.
The other models use proprietary magazines and can be a little finicky in feeding rounds.
SJC
 

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