Savage made No4 Mk1

[Brian Dick]

I still have one Savage No.4 Mk.1* that's minty with an obscure serial number stamped on. I'm suspicious it was a "lunch box" rifle. I imported one several years ago from Canada that was new in the factory carton. The bolt was in it's own little cardboard carton too. I'd heard a batch of those turned up north of the border and it wasn't just a one off. I also imported a few from New Zealand in near new condition many years ago. There were also a few of Long Branch manufacture from NZ that had obviously never been used much if at all. There were many Savage rifles imported from South African stores by Interarms in the late 80's. The majority were post war Fazakerley but there were original wartime rifles of all manufactures, FTR Mk.1 and 1* plus Mk.1/2, 1/3 and even very early factory original Mk.2's. I had 33 Savages in one lot of a couple hundred No.4's I purchased from a distributor here in South Carolina back in the early 90's. There were even a dozen Savage Mk.1 rifles in that lot. I kept one of those, a 6Cxxxx I think. It's not minty but honest and original. Some of the Mk.1* Savages were near new condition except for handling marks in the woodwork. The good old days. So many lovely No.4 rifles to choose from.