Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Savage 330

A local dealer has a nice Savage 330 made by Valmet. I'm very impressed with it. Is $525.00 too much?

Well it is a quality O/U so $525 is probably not too bad. The problem with those though is as I understand it is parts are almost non existent so if something breaks your pretty much cooked. Is the 330 the one w/o a rib?

I don't think it had a rib.

It is designed similar to the Remington Model 32. I think it's a good buy.

Parts are somewhat hard to find; they don't interchange with the later Valmet 412 unfortunately.

But I'd find a really nice condition 330 hard to pass on; it is a great design and extremely reliable. I have a 330, two 333s, and a 2400, so I have some experience with Savage Valmets.

If the gun hasn't been screwed around with by some so-called gunsmith, I doubt if you'll need parts. The basic action is extremely rugged and simple; basically they took the Remington 32 and simplified it for cold weather and cheaper production costs. The original Remington action was a 1921 French patent by a Czech emigre inventor; Remington picked it up when the European patent expired in 1931.

The only one of these guns I've had to repair in over 40 years was one 333 that I got cheap because some jackass had removed the safety! But I found one at Gun Parts Co.

If it's in good shape and the wood is OK (check the checkered area on the pistol grip for any crosswise cracks), I'd try to get the guy down to $475 or so, and buy it.

It looks and feels nearly new. It's like opening and closing a bank vault.

Yeah, I like that little "cluck" they make when the top locking block goes home!

I don't think you'll miss the rib; if you hunt hard and long, you CERTAINLY won't miss the weight of the rib. What bbl. length and choke is it? Which guage?

I actually like the 330 in both guages, 12 and 20, but find the fancier 333 is a little too heavy in 20 guage. You won't have that problem with the 330 in 20 guage if that is what you're lookin' at. BUT you will find that the 20 really kicks when you shoot 3" magnum shells in it! You pay for that light weight then.

Usually the 12 guage 330s are chambered only for regular 2 3/4" shells, probably because of the recoil problem. If the one you are looking at is a 12 guage 3" magnum, grab it. I have the only one I've ever seen, and I've been looking since about 1974. Unfortunately before I knew they were scarce, I added choke tubes to mine so I could shoot steel in it, which pretty well kills any collector value it has. But it sure kills ducks as long as you don't mind a little kick!

Come to think of it, I've never seen a 333 (the fancier model with a rib) in 12 guage magnum, either. But all the 20s, 330 and 333 are magnums. The Europeans all seemed to go for that chambering, even in featherweight doubles that kick like the devil. I had a Bernardelli Gamecock 20 magnum that would send your dentures flyin' with a 3" magnum!

They are good shotguns, but you might think more along the lines of $450.00 for it. As mentioned, they are not the newer Valmets with interchangeable barrels. I had one and one of the Valmet Lion series, and I have owned probably two dozen of the later Valmets, plus two of the Savage 2400s. All were good firearms.

The 330 is much lighter than the 412 Valmets, and they are a better field/upland gun in that regard, IMO.

I agree with Luv2safari; the 412 is very strong and has many virtues (and many barrels!) but it is too heavy for upland humping. Great trap, waterfowl and turkey gun, tho.

I also have a Valmet "Leijona" or Lion, the original Valmet imported before Savage started branding them 330s. Mine unfortunately had a Poly Choke aluminum rib put on it by the importer, Sloan's. But it still shoots great, and the wood is nicer than the average 330. Wood on 330s goes the whole gamut from "pallet grade" gray/blonde muddy crap to really beautiful dark walnut. I've had a few of each. (The fugly crap IS light weight, tho!).

I have a Savage 330 with both the 12 and 20 gauge barrels. I like it and $525 is a fair, but not great, price.

JEff

One of the best for the money, have had one for yrs, 25 strait at the trap club is not unusual for this one. They go for $4-5 in decent shape, more in excellant.