"Unissued" Savage No.4MkI*

[Claven2]

Picked up this little gem as a Christmas present from me to me. This looks to be one of the unissued Savage No.4MkI*'s that surfaced in Canada about 20 years ago in the original cardboard shipping boxes with the bolt in a separate waxed carton inside the box. Bore looks unfired since the factory, and when I got it the bore and action still had plenty of packing grease in it. It's now been detail stripped, de-greased, oiled, and re-assembled. It will get some light range use.

Of course, it's not all rosey, there's a small down side to the rifle. It looks to have come from a large estate sale that was being liquidated locally. Somewhere between it's last owner and the shop, the matching (usually un-numbered) bayonet, the Savage sling and the shipping boxes disappeared. (yes, I've asked, they are permanently gone, but apparently were recently with the rifle at one point according to the family friend that was brokering the sale). Also, it was apparently stored in an unheated building with a concrete floor for a year or two after the previous owner last cared for it, so there was the odd light surface rust bloom on the exposed metal. Some very careful application of a brass scraper and oiled steel wool took it all off and the finish is pretty much intact - thank goodness. Had it been left out another Canadian winter, I expect it would have started to get pitted up and been reduced to a beater/shooter. The concrete floor also added a little wear to the tang end of the buttplate. Nothing bad, but it's no longer "mint" in that spot.

The wood, of course, is basically spotless. Nice dark metal that is sand-blasted and finished (action, bottom metal, and muzzle area) - non-blasted barrel from Nock's form to just behind the front sight assembly (i.e. smooth off the lathe, but with the same finish as the rest of the rifle).

This would be a later-production Savage with 2 groove barrel, high side-shelf stock, slab-type cocking piece, 2-position flip sight.

Anyhow, these don't pop up that often anymore, so figured I'd share some pics now that it's cleaned up and preserved.

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