When Savage Arms initially introduced its Impulse bolt-action rifle last year, it made tremendous waves among shooters. NRA Publications Contributing Editor Jeff Johnston was so taken, he wrote, "Right now, if a friend wanted one bolt-action rifle for everything, from hog and deer hunting, to long-range target shooting and even PRS-style (non-AR) competition, I’d point him or her toward the Impulse." The Impulse is what's called a "straight-pull" rifle. What that essentially means is that the bolt that you use to work the action, extract an expended shell casing and feed the next one doesn't rotate. The user simply works the bolt straight back and forth, which means much faster shot-to-shot recovery.
The initial release of the Savage Impulse is so feature-rich that there really wasn't much missing ... except that some hunters were wishing it was missing a little bit of weight. After all, one pound at the trailhead at 6 a.m. translates to 10 pounds on the mountain by noon! That's what led Savage's engineers to put the already-nimble rifle on a diet, and the result is Savage's Impulse Mountain Hunter. Said Beth Shimanski, Director of Marketing at Savage Arms, “With extreme accuracy and breakthrough technology, the Mountain Hunter is light, sharp, and encompasses all that the Impulse family represents, thus giving our customers what they wanted.”
The weight reduction depends, of course, on how much Impulse you're planning on toting. There are two barrel lengths in the line, 22 and 24 inches, as well as your choice of nine popular hunting calibers. (Those are: .308 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, .300 WSM, 6.5 PRC, .270 Win., .30-06 Springfield, .28 Nosler, 7mm Rem. Mag., and .300 Win. Mag.) Further features include a user-adjustable AccuTrigger (1.5-4lbs); removable, multi-positional bolt handle; AccuStock technology with three-dimensional aluminum bedding; Proof Research carbon fiber wrapped stainless steel barrel with muzzle brake; 2-position tang safety and more. MSRP $2,437; SavageArms.com
