Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns . Look at a Savage 420 ...

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. Going to look at a Savage 420 O/U shotgun, 12ga I think, today, Tuesday 7th.

.Were there any problems with this gun that I should look for?
Besides the normal wear of finish & bluing, cutting down of
barrels & stock, changing of sights? .Mechanical defects?
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. ...99 LL...

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..Saw this SVG 420, 12ga., 30"bbls, 2 trigs, plain wood, heavy.

l 1/2" crack by trigger guard. 1 1/2" Chip missing by upper left tang. Rubber butt pad. Rear stock didn't fit flush against receiver. Bluing good on barrels, clean bores, safety worked, Good as a shooter.
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Decided to spend money on something else.

... 99 LL ...

Unless you just GOTTA have a made-in-USA Savage, I'd look for a decent 16 or 20 guage Marlin Model 90. Heavy too, but handles better.

If you just have to have the Savage "brand name," which I very much like and respect, look for a Savage/Valmet 330. NOT made-in-USA, but VERY well made.

Had a 20 ga for a while years ago. Was pretty cool and shot fine. It went for new prettier toy.

Yeah, the 16s and 20s in these early O/Us handle better, unless you're looking for a dedicated duck gun. And they really aren't made for steel shot, so that would be kinda iffy.

.Mesa:
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. I don't GOTTA HAVE but LIKE TO HAVE any Utica Made in USA SAVAGE, rifle/shotgun. Haven't seen a Marlin 90 O/U in any gauge in over 20++ years.
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A friend of my sister, over 35 yrs ago, sold her husband's Valmet 12ga/.308 for $75.00! She had bought it for him as a gift (?) and then needed money.
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I told my sis I would of givin her $150. at that time. The person didn't want to sell it. ...MAN, things I remember..
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... 99 LL ...

I see Model 90s occasionally down here in LALA. They are either ridiculously overpriced (usually) or sold at an estate or garage sale for next to nothing, as in, "I just want to get this thing out of the house" nothing. Always glad to accomodate.....

20s are hard to find in any of these guns, or price is sky high. 16s less so ("They don't make shells for those anymore, you know" Sure, EVERYBODY knows THAT.)

BTW I just found a really cherry Savage 220A .410 in a garage sale for $125. Missing butt plate (Think I can fix that). The firing pin is even unbroken, and it came with 7 3" Winchester/Western red paper case 6s!