-
Contributing Member
savage No 4 rescued from bubba's grubby mitts
Happy new year, all.
I found this rifle just over a year ago. It was in a local southern California gunshop for $200. 1942 Savage, less telescope. The first pics show what it looked like the day I brought it home. Forend cut off and discarded, cheek piece removed, and missing the front trigger guard screw/collar. It also looked as though Bubba attempted to remove the front scope pad. Judging by the marred screws, he must've used his fingernails.
So began the long journey to getting this No4 back into military trim, as well as shooting straight. I located all the required pieces though parts houses, gunshows, and yes, ePay. Most all of the parts are Savage. The real pain was trying to locate a good fore end. After sorting through warped and mushy fore ends, I managed to locate one that was straight, but very loose. A trip to the range produced groups greater than 10 inches.
After reading and re-reading Mr. Laidler
's article on setting up fore ends, I first practiced on the old sporterized piece. When I felt somewhat confident, I began repairing the replacement. Replaced draws, glued and sanded until I felt the stock was good and tight, and the barrel was properly supported. Took several trips to the range with a notebook, and shot group after group. Our range does not allow disassembly of firearms on the range, so I had to jot down notes and run home to correct the issues. July, August and September saw temperatures consistently over 102 degrees at the range, so I was unable to shoot in again until mid October.
Finally, after almost a year, I was finally able to produce a result I can live with. Shot a 9-round group measuring 2-1/4 by 3-1/8. Not great, but I'm happy with it, considering what I started with. The mount is an early Rose Brothers, and the scope is a very beat up Houghton Butcher Mk 1 with cloudy lenses. The unit now holds zero, and shoots consistent, so it's never coming apart again.
A true labor of love, but I will admit, I wouldn't want to do this again anytime too soon!
Information
 |
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current. |
|
-
The Following 14 Members Say Thank You to smle addict For This Useful Post:
Badger,
Brian Dick,
CINDERS,
Eaglelord17,
Hal O'Peridol,
henry r,
jmoore,
Peter Laidler,
Ridolpho,
Roger Payne,
S12A,
Seaspriter,
vintage hunter,
waco16
-
01-01-2016 01:09 AM
# ADS
Friends and Sponsors
-
Contributing Member
-
The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to CINDERS For This Useful Post:
-
-
Excellent job. It looks like the replacement parts grew there!
As an aside, was this rifle originally scoped up? Many of the scopeless rifles seem to be Savage Mk1*'s but some of them (S Mk1* T's) were most definitely fitted with No32's.
-
The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to Roger Payne For This Useful Post:
-
Contributing Member
Thank you for the nice comments. The rifle was never set up with a scope. I pulled the butt-stock and the original serial # is present, but there is no evidence of it being officially scoped up. It is a 1942 Savage Mk I* with a 1945 dated 5-groove barrel.
-
The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to smle addict For This Useful Post:
-
Legacy Member
Originally Posted by
smle addict
Thank you for the nice comments. The rifle was never set up with a scope. I pulled the butt-stock and the original serial # is present, but there is no evidence of it being officially scoped up. It is a 1942 Savage Mk I* with a 1945 dated 5-groove barrel.
Well Done!
-
Thank You to husk For This Useful Post:
PM
