Lightweight hunting rifles make for a much more enjoyable and manageable day in the field. (Photo courtesy of Savage Arms)
July 30, 2025
By Drew Warden
The advantages of a lightweight rifle extend to many forms of hunting. Whether hiking up a mountain, stalking an animal across the open plains or simply making a long walk to a remote treestand, a lightweight rifle is easier to wield than a heavier gun. When adding an optic, a bipod or a suppressor, starting with a lightweight rifle helps keep the overall load manageable. Savage’s new Model 110 KLYM represents one such rifle perfect for hunters who watch pounds and ounces.
The 110 KLYM achieves its scant 6.2-pound weight with a few key carbon-fiber elements: an exclusive PROOF Research carbon-fiber-wrapped stainless steel, cut-rifled barrel, and a Fine Ballistic Tools (FBT) custom carbon-fiber buttstock and fore-end. Both companies are renowned for their work with carbon fiber, and each component offers excellent functionality while dramatically reducing weight. Each also contributes to the $2,699 price, but high-quality, lightweight materials demand a premium—especially in a rifle capable of excellent accuracy.
The carbon-fiber construction of the Fine Ballistic Tools (FBT) thumbhole buttstock helps shave off ounces that matter in the backcountry. (Photo courtesy of Savage Arms) The barrel is threaded 5/8x24 to fit many common muzzle brakes, suppressors and adapters, and the rifle comes with a muzzle brake installed. Stock features include an ergonomic thumbhole design with a comfy palm swell, a button that adjusts comb height and a slim fore-end that nicely nestles into the support hand. The stock also has an “additive manufactured center section”—essentially a 3D-printed piece in the middle—built into a precise shape one layer at a time. Two swivel studs offer attachment points for a sling, and the popular MagnaSwitch is installed on the fore-end for quick, easy attachment and detachment of shooting supports.
This is a thoroughly modern Savage, but at its core lies the time-tested, factory-blueprinted Model 110 action. While tweaks to the design have occurred over its 60-plus-year lifespan, the Model 110 has been produced in some form since the late 1950s and has proven itself reliable over all those years. Add Savage’s equally respected user-adjustable AccuTrigger, a three-position tang-mounted safety and a one-piece 20 MOA optics rail, and you have a highly capable rifle perfect for hunting any public parcel when the walk is long.
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This article was featured in the 2024 issue of Public Land Hunter magazine.
