This article was done in partnership with Savage Arms.
We take our gear seriously at F&S, whether it be for hunting, fishing, or camping. Our selections are based on many factors, like quality, price, and purpose—just to name a few. But sometimes there’s more to a fishing jacket or hunting knife than what you see.
Through my years of covering the best outdoor gear, I’ve discovered some really cool brands with some really cool stories doing some really cool things. In our new “Behind the Brand” interview series, we are telling those stories through the words of the founders themselves.
From a small workshop operation to one of the country's most respected firearms brands, Savage Arms has come a long way in the last 125 years it's been around. Founded by inventor Arthur Savage in 1894, the company quickly earned a reputation for making some of the most innovative—and most affordable—firearms. Today, it remains a trusted name for hunters and shooters across the country. In this interview, we spoke with Robert Gates, senior vice president of Savage Arms on the history of the company, their hottest products, and what's on the horizon for Savage Arms.
Field & Stream: Savage Arms has been around for a long time. Can you share how the company first got started, and what brought the brand to where it is today?
Savage was started in 1894 by a guy named Arthur Savage. We've gotten some grief over the years because we have an Indian head logo. Well, yes, the guy's name was Savage, but we use that logo because he had a partnership with an Indian tribe. The chief let him use his image in exchange for a discount on rifles. Early on, he developed several unique calibers, with the 300 Savage being the most important or the most notable. Another fun fact: The Colt 1911 won the U.S. Army pistol contract. The number two selection was a Savage.
We've been through a lot over the last 125 years—so much so that we have a museum in our factory dedicated solely to all the different things Savage has created and manufactured. Savage built Browning machine guns during World War II, Thompson's machine guns for the U.S. Army, and the Enfield bolt guns for the British. We built pump-action shotguns for the U.S. military during Vietnam.
At one point in our more modern era, Savage was just about bankrupt and a gentleman named Ron Coburn came in and resurrected the company. He brought it out of bankruptcy and we've not slowed down since. That's where we are today, with no signs of ever being sold again.
What sets Savage apart from other firearm brands out there?
I call it accuracy per dollar. Savage is known as the most accurate production rifle made—we offer the most gun for the money. Put it like this: We build tools. We build a tool that a guy or gal can take to go out and hunt in Alaska for 10 days, and if the gun gets dinged or scratched, it's not a big deal. It's still going to work, it's still going to shoot straight. At the end of the day, you just wipe it down and keep on going. That's the mindset of most of our customers. They're not looking to buy a Savage to just hang as a mantelpiece—they're looking for a tool.
What makes you most proud of what Savage Arms has accomplished as a brand?
The product innovation, for sure. Savage has always been known for being more affordable and giving a lot of gun for the money, but we have also innovated more in the last 10 to 15 years than any of our competition. Take our AccuTrigger system, for instance. Originally, we were the only ones that had a center tab or safety mechanism designed into the trigger. Today, it's hard to to find a rifle that isn't made with a copy of it. That's kind of the standard now.
We've also partnered with other companies. One great example is Proof Research, which is arguably the best aftermarket barrel manufacturer. Their products are higher end while most of ours are lower priced. So Proof helped us get into what I call a "good, better, best" product mix.
Talk to us about this "good, better, best" concept. How do you all do that at Savage?
Since I came on with Savage and took over product development (along with sales and marketing), I've followed that "good, better, best" mindset. I equate it to Toyota. If you look at a Toyota Tundra pickup truck, you can get one that has vinyl seats, no radio, and maybe even roll-up windows. Then you can get that same truck with leather seats, aftermarket shock absorbers, and just a lot of high-end equipment. But when it comes down to it, it's basically the same truck.
You can apply that to our Axis rifle lineup, for instance. We make a base model with a black stock with black phosphate finish and no special features. And then on the high end of that, we make the Axis 2 Pro, which has just about anything you can do to a rifle on it, including barrel fluting, cerakote, custom-painted stocks and, and a threaded muzzle. So that's one example, but we try to hit each of the price levels of the "good, better, best" framework within all of the products we offer.
What are the three most popular guns you sell?
The hottest gun we're making today is the Trail Hunter Lite, which was introduced about a year ago. Similar to the Axis 2 Pro, it's got a fluted barrel, cerakote coating, and threaded muzzle—basically just about everything you can do to a gun. And it's less than $650. If you take your gun today to an aftermarket painter, you're going to pay $150 to $200 bucks to have your rifle cerakoted. Well, we're doing it for you all in one package. It goes back to one of our mantras that better comes standard.
The next one is our highest end gun: the Ultralite Elite. Made with an MDT HNT26 folding carbon fiber stock, it's extremely lightweight. It's kind of the ultimate in backcountry or mountain hunting. And again, it offers tremendous value compared to other guns out there. The Ultralite Elite is $3,000, and a comparable model is going to run you $5,000 or $6,000.
My favorite—and probably the hottest-selling gun we make today—is the Revel, which is our new lever-action rifle. (Revel is lever spelled backwards.) The Revel Rimfire is just a cool little gun. When my boys were younger and I'd take them out to go shoot, the first gun out of the safe was always a lever .22 rifle. It's just a lot of fun to go plink and shoot tin cans. That's really what the Revel is: taking that old tried-and-true lever gun to a new level. It's smoother and operates better than comparable guns—it functions flawlessly.
Which calibers are most popular with Savage customers right now?
Right now, .308 is the top-selling caliber we make. For a couple of years, 6.5 Creedmor passed it, but it moved back to the top of the list two or three years ago. It's just a tried-and-true caliber. You can hunt pretty much anywhere in the world and go find a box of .308 ammo if you need to.
Surprisingly, .350 Legend is one of the most popular calibers in our guns. It was built for straight-wall deer hunting states, and there are only a couple of those out there, but we sell a ton of .350 Legend rifles.
Next would probably be 21 Sharp, which is a new rimfire caliber from Winchester. It solves a lot of issues that .22 LR has had for years, the biggest being accuracy. The 21 Sharp is more accurate at a longer range than a .22 LR, and it's a copper bullet vs. a lead bullet. So in places where some laws have passed about lead bullets, 21 Sharp is still legal for sale. We'll probably sell 10,000 21 Sharp rifles this year.
Do you see Savage as mainly a hunting brand, or something broader?
No. We probably sell more hunting-style guns—be it for turkey, deer, or big game—than anybody else, but we also build a ton of defensive shotguns and, as I mentioned, the most accurate production rifle out there for long range precision matches or target shooting. It's hard to go to the range today and not see someone shooting a Savage rifle. We're the fourth largest gun manufacturer in the world, and there's a bunch of people shooting Savage in all different disciplines.
What's next for Savage Arms?
Handguns. We entered the handgun category two years ago with our Savage Stance. Handguns are the largest segment of the firearms market, and until recently, we didn't participate in it. So you'll see three or four new handgun offerings over the next year or so. But at the same time, we're not forgetting what brought us to the table: bolt-action rifles. We've got a major product launch for Shot Show 2026 on the bolt-action rifle side that will set Savage ahead of everyone else from an innovation standpoint.
