ARCA Swiss rails, also known as ARCA-Swiss-style rails or simply ARCA rails, are a type of mounting system developed in the 1990s for photography, specifically to affix costly and sensitive equipment - quickly and securely - to stable platforms such as tripods. Due to their versatility and rugged nature, the hunting and shooting industry quickly adopted the technology for spotting scopes, range finders, plates, and bipods. ARCA rails attached or machined onto a rifle stock or chassis system allow an end-user to attach or adjust an ARCA-equipped bipod or tripod in seconds. The beauty of ARCA rails is that you can have one tripod for field use and use it not only for an ARCA-equipped spotting scope or set of binoculars but quickly swap optics for a rifle if you want to shoot off your tripod.  Let's take a look at some Savage rifles equipped with ARCA rails.   

The beauty of the ARCA system is that it can be machined onto a rifle chassis system or retrofitted if the chassis has Magpul M-LOK slots. 

ARCA-Equipped Savage Chassis Rifle Systems

Savage offers several rifles that come with an integral ARCA rail system. The 110 Elite Precision, 110 Elite Precision Left Hand, and Impulse Elite Precision rifles all feature the MDT ACC Premier Chassis System, which has an 18-inch forend that has a full-length ARCA rail at the 6 o'clock position. The ARCA rail allows the end-user to quickly attach to a tripod or bipod system and adjust the rifle's position during a hunt or competition. 

Savage 110 Elite Precision with an MDT ACC Premier Chassis System. Note the full-length ARCA rail.

How to Leverage M-LOK Slots for ARCA Rails

Suppose you do not have an integrated ARCA rail on your chassis system. In that case, you can still leverage the benefits of ARCA by adding an ARCA rail to your chassis via M-LOK slots. The Savage A22 Precision, B-Series Precision, 110 Precision, 110 Precision Left Hand, Axis II Precision, and 64 Precision all feature an M-LOK slot that can be used to attach an ARCA rail. ARCA rails that use M-LOK slots bolt on with a simple Allen Key and take mere minutes to install. 

A small section of ARCA rail on this Savage Axis II Precision would allow the rifle to quickly attach to ARCA equipped bipods or tripods. 

Companies like MDT make a suite of ARCA rails that can attach via M-LOK or the Magpul MOE Bolt interface. MDT's M-LOK ARCA Rail is available in 3.3, 7, 8.6, and 10.25 inches. The small rails are ideal for keeping your chassis system light and slick, while the longer rails give you space and flexibility for both bipods and tripods. 

This shooter is using the ARCA rail on his MDT ACC Chassis System for a tripod and a bipod. Adjustments to either piece of equipment would take seconds. 

Closing Thoughts

ARCA has become the de-facto standard for attaching bipods and tripods to a chassis system or stock. It's hard to beat the adjustability and fast-attach nature of ARCA. ARCA-equipped rifles shine during hunts or competitions. When clipped into a robust tripod, a rifle with an ARCA rail allows a shooter to be very stable in various positions, increasing hit percentage and allowing for fast follow-up shots. You can also leverage your tripod as a stable glassing position by attaching an ARCA plate to your spotting scope or binoculars. ARCA rails are easy to install, and the variety of sizes offered by companies like MDT allows one a lot of flexibility when customizing their rifle system.