Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage Model 1920

I have a question for the resident Savage experts…..just picked up a Model 1920 in .300 Savage with a serial number of 69XX. It is in very good condition and was told by the great grandson of the original owner that the gun was not used much and was taken very good care of (which seems to be the case). He said his great grandfather purchased it new and never “messed” with (again based on condition and lack of any extra holes seems appropriate - the only thing “wrong” with it is a small chip in the toe of the buttstock). The question I have is when I took it apart to clean the internals the stock and buttplate have non-matching numbers (59XX). Is it possible it left the factory that way? Of course the great grandson would never really know if it had been restocked at some point but was just wondering if it is possible it either left the factory that way, or was returned and a new stock put on it, or someone just swapped at some point?

It’s a beautiful rifle no matter what the case but was just trying to piece together?

Thanks in advanced!!

PennDog

Yes, It is very possible that your 1920 left the factory with a stock not numbered to the receiver. This is often found in these guns. My 1920 is a .250-3000 in the 6XXX serial range, and its stock is close to the reciever S/N, but not a match.

Not uncommon for the numbers not to match

Thanks - I knew if anyone would know it’d be you guys!! One other question - if I may - I once read where they stocked these with French walnut…..is this true?

Thanks again!,
PennDog

I've owned a lot of these rifles and have never seen one come from the factory with high grade wood. There weren't many factory options cited in the catalogs that the 1920 and 20/26 appeared in.

260Remguy - thanks for the response. I found the article - it was by Layne Simpson and he said (FWIW) that the stocks were English walnut. The stock on this rifle is no where near “high grade” but it doesn’t have the coloration of walnut that was typically used in that time period on American firearms and more in line with the lighter color of English walnut (I had French walnut in my head for some reason??). Anyway guess I was just wondering what the resident Savage gurus thought about whether it was true or not - Layne seems to be pretty detailed oriented in his writings.

PennDog

Layne Simpson wrote an article in Rifle some years back that is full of errors, as is Frank De Haas' chapter in BOLT ACTION RIFLES. The problem, as I see it, is that both men wrote articles without consulting the catalogs that these rifle were advertised in and limited their knowledge, which they passed on to the public, to a very small sample size. In Simpson's case a sample size of one significantly modified rifle. When something gets into print, many people assume that the article was well researched. In the case of Simpson and De Haas they were not.

As to the type of walnut used in these stocks, I doubt that Savage used any other than their usual sources for walnut, so whatever type they were putting on Model 99s, they were probably putting on everything else.

The caveat is to not believe everything you read from a single source, even if the author is usually reliable. Simpson and De Haas are usually reliable, but in the case of the 1920s they were not and consequently incorrect information attributable to them is out there just waiting for the unsuspecting to embrace its accuracy. For example, Simpson's rifle has a barrel band attaching th barrel to the stock, an attribute that no 1920 was ever cataloged with. I wrote to Simpson about his article and never got a response. I wrote to De Haas and got a nice letter back that basically said that he had only seen two of the rifles, neither of which were in their original, as cataloged, factory specs, and wrote his article assuming that they were correct representatives of the type. Since I've owned close to 100 of them, still have 38, I probably know more about them than most folks who are interested in such things.

Book, book, book,....

If not a book, perhaps an article(s) to document the Savage rifle model 1920. ???

Some years back I wrote a monograph on them that I have sent to several people on this site, including Mule Deer.

The last few hundred appear to have been assembled with whatever parts were available in the warehouse, so there are more than a few factory built 20/26s that have other than "as cataloged" specs.

Thanks for the input 260…..I was wondering why they would use English walnut and not the sources they had on hand for their other rifles. Excellent point in not believing everything you read - and why I was asking here. Neat little rifle, the first that I have really found that was in excellent shape and “unmolested” (i.e. no extra holes, nothing shortened, etc…), and an excellent shooter too (took it out yesterday and sighted it in was keeping three shots with open sights in less than 1.5” at 50 yards which is about the best I can do with open irons!).

PennDog

I have one that was worked over by the 'smiths at G&H, custom stock, Winchester 70 style bolt release, G&H side-mount with a Lyman Alaskan, etc. that illustrates the potential for the 1920. I also have a 1920 that once belonged to Larry Koller per his son Paul and two that were in the R&D collection that was sold off in the late 1980s.

I'd love to have the 1920 in 300 Savage that Savage sent directly to Roy Chapman Andrews or one of the three in 250-3000 that they sent to the Museum of Natural History to take on their 3rd Asiatic Expedition into Mongolia. Or one of the long action prototype military rifles in 7x57, 30-06, and 303 British. Even better, the long action sporting rifle in 256 Newton with the aluminum trapdoor butt-plate. Any one of those rifles would be the Holy Grail of 1920s for the obsessed 1920 looney. Mark Benenson once owned the long action sporting rifle in 256 Newton, then it went to a guy in Texas by the name of John Smyrl, and then to Bruce Jennings in Wyoming. After Jennings passed his daughter sold all of his Newtons and Newton memorabilia, including the Savage, but she wouldn't tell me who bought the Savage.

260Remguy,

The ones you have sound like real gems!!…..and the ones you would like to acquire have amazing histories - hope you get a chance at them. Mine is just a plain Jane - but have a thing for short bolt action rifles (especially in .250-3000 - the only “flaw” with this one😄) and can see the potential of an extremely handy woods rifle built on this action. Would love to see pictures of the ones you have!

Thanks again!,
PennDog

They have been packed away for years. Once I checked the box, I moved on to other things.

The Koller rifle was a gun show purchase at the Pownal, VT, horse/dog racing track in the late 1980s that I took to Montana to show Paul several years later. I met Paul in the 1990s when he was a fly fishing guide out of Missoula, MT.

That's a lot of interesting history. I've always wanted a model 20 but, haven't found any affordable ones around here.

The flawed article by Simpson can be found on pages 36 thru 42 in RIFLE #76.

The best article on the 1920 that I recall having read can be found on pages 22 thru 26 and 37 in RIFLE #136, written by someone named Ron Carmichael.

There is also a good, although very brief, article on pages 33, 36, and 37 in the 11/98 edition of Australian Shooters Journal, written by someone named Les O'Rourke.

Interesting thread, thank you guys. I had a 20 in 250-3000 once and the numbers didn't match either nor did it shoot all that great. It went down the road for more than I paid for it which made it a pretty good gun. I read Simpsons article many years a go which fueled my desire for one. Learned to take his load data for the 25-06 cautiously too. Now days I don't read him much nor do I pursue model 20's anymore..mb