Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Peep for Savage 1920- old or new?

Hello All:

I'm looking for a bolt-mounted peep for a Savage 1920 already drilled for a bolt-mounted peep, and am having current difficulty finding the proper Lyman #54.

I have found a vintage Marbles peep for the 1920, but I understand it will require drilling additional holes.

Is anybody making an after-market peep that will affix without drilling new holes?

Thanks

Nobody's making one. I haven't even seen one for sale in quite a while.

Personally, I wouldn't be hard on you for installing a Marbles S-20(?) on it. It's period, kind of, and in fact as rare if not more rare than the Lyman 54. What little you may lose in the value of the gun will be made up for in the value of the sight. But, a purist would indeed blanch at the prospect.

The Marble's are very cool... but I wouldn't put holes into a collector grade 1920 for one. Just me.

With holes drilled and taped for a S-20 sight, could maybe be used for a homemade style stith mount for scope .

There is that too. I wonder if in that instance a Stith made for the Winchester M54/70 could be coaxed into working? They are far cheaper than Stiths made for the 99 when they turn up, but that isn't too often either.

I can see one problem with using the Marbles sight. The aperture intrudes into the space for stripper clip usage. The few times I carried a M1920 hunting I carried spare cartridges in M1903 Springfield clips. (They feed cartridges into the magazine slicker than goose grease.)

Stith did have a mount for the 1920, we had pics of it on here a long time ago.

I think I still have a Stith set here for a 1920 that I traded up some stuff for (off Rod IIRC).

Make the first shot count.

Hopefully with the addition of the peep sight you would not need all those extra shots....

When I looked at the fit of a Miller-Kodiak mount on a 1920 the bolt clearance became quite apparent - to mount a scope without modifying the bolt it would have to be quite high and I don't think any of the Stith's would be high enough. I have some of the Stith rears for the Winchester 70's and they are not very high.

Here is some information on Weaver N mounts, including the 1920 which has a note about bolt modification for the short mount -
- Savage 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 19, 23, 33, 219, 40, & 45; low = N2, high = N3
- Savage 20*; low = N1, high = N4 - the * indicates the bolt handle must be modified for low mounting
- Savage 25, 29; low = N5, high = N5

My thoughts for the 1920's would be a Miller-Kodiak type mount with a long eye relief scope like those used on top eject Winchesters - this would not require adding holes and should put the scope far enough forward to use still use stripper clips (for those who require extra shot fast).

Here is the picture of the Miller-Kodiak held on a 1920/26 (could not actually mount it because there is no dovetail for a rear sight to use) -

Maybe we could get Lightfoot to build a basic rear sight base. Something that would affix to the bolt shroud and use an elevation staff from something like a Redfield 102.

Took some quick pictures of a couple Stith mounts, they match the diameter of the receiver and seem set on the side of the receiver in the correct position without any need to remove wood, but they are way to short. I included a picture of a Stith front that has nothing to do with any of this, but was right there with everything else in front of the camera.

Hey everybody:

Thanks for your information and input. Very useful information. It will be a tight timber gun, so I would rather not scope it.

I will keep looking for a Lyman #54, and in the meantime see how well I shoot the factory iron sights with a developed load. I'll carefully consider getting the Marbles peep, and only drilling to attach if I simply can't shoot it well offhand.

Regards,
GC