As is well known, Savage Arms is by no means breaking new ground with its latest lever-action rifles, having already manufactured popular lever actions in the past, most notably the Model 99 from 1899. These rifles in a wide range of centerfire calibers such as .300 Savage, .30-30 Winchester, .243 Winchester, 22.-250 Remington, .308 Winchester and 7mm-08 Remington, to name but a few, were extremely popular with hunters. However, unlike the rimfire newcomers presented here, they did not have tubular magazines, but unusual rotary magazines and later also removable box magazines.
What characterises the new Savage Revel Classic and Revel DLX
models?
The name "Revel" of the new lever action rifles in rimfire calibers offers plenty of room for interpretation, although it could also be the abbreviation for the word "revelation", or "Lever" spelled backwards and thus for "Lever Action" or "Lever-Action Rifle".
However, the Revel Classic and DLX rimfire rifles are built on an aluminum receiver that is drilled and tapped for optics on its upper side. There are holes for attaching a mount instead of a complete Picatinny rail, which helps to maintain the classic appearance.
However, the Revel models also have adjustable mechanical sights as standard. According to the manufacturer, the receiver houses a smoothly functioning lever mechanism with an oversized trigger guard in combination with a crisp direct trigger . Under the 18" (457 mm) long barrel sits the easy-to-load tubular magazine with a capacity of 12 cartridges in .22 L.R. and 9 cartridges in .22 WMR and .17 HMR. The Revel Classic model features a straight English stock made of Turkish walnut with a satin finish, while the Revel DLX (Deluxe) model has a pistol grip stock with checkering in relevant places.
The brand new Savage Revel DLX in the manufacturer's video:
The takedown design of the Revel models makes the new lever-actions from Savage easy to transport and very flexible to use
Initially intended for the US market, the Savage Arms Revel rifles, which weigh around 2.8 kg, are designed with an external hammer and manual crossbolt safety in a takedown design, making them ideal guns for extended outdoor excursions and camping and can therefore be easily stowed in a rucksack, for example. The takedown system works very simply: after the mandatory safety check, the lever is swivelled all the way down and the safety is placed in the full safe position. Then two captive takedown pins in the receiver are driven out until the two assemblies (buttstock with trigger unit/receiver with barrel and fore-end) can be separated from each other. Reassembly is just as simple and quick, whereby the hammer should also be fully cocked, the lever fully open and the safety activated.
In the USA, the DLX will cost $539 and the Classic in .22 Long Rifle, which is already available there, will cost $439. The other model/caliber variants are scheduled to appear on the US market in winter 2024/spring 2025.
The models in .17 HMR and .22 WMR, not least thanks to the option of fitting a scope, are likely to attract one or two lever action fans among hunters who would like to use the new Savage rifles for predator or rabbit hunting, for example. It will probably be at least until the end of 2024/beginning of 2025 before the first examples of the new Savage rimfire lever-action rifles can be delivered to specialist retailers in Europe. We will provide more info on prices too as soon as we know more.
Further information on the new Revel model series and other firearms from the manufacturer can be found on the Savage website.
