Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors New Model 1920

I found a nice Model 1920 yesterday. It's a pretty early .250, #1351, with 22" barrel. I'm assuming that this is a first year Model 1920. Correct?



Seems to be in nice original condition. It has a small chip out of the toe of the stock, but aside from that I don't see any big problems. The bore is nice.



It has a Savage marked open rear sight with an elevator that has a screw adjustment. Is this the correct sight?







With the short barrel it seems to be a sweet handling little rifle. If I can get some shooting done with it this month, it may get some time in the woods this deer season.

Rod

Sure is pretty Rod. It should be first year. I can't answer the other questions. Sweet rifle.

My drool is about to short out my laptop!

Rod,

Had SN 1982 in the same cal. Same rear sight. Looks like a nice one. Congrats!

Wow what a find!

Sweet!

Very nice rifle!

Rory, thats a nice find.

Back in the 90s there was an article in shooting magazine over here with photos of a 1920 with original box & papers in 250-3000. The journo went to one of our major stores to photograph it and do the story. A bloke walked in and saw it, asked the price, which I believe was very high and bought it.

Well this week a mate tracked it down for me, I hope to somehow start talking with the owner, but I think it will be out of price range.

So to hi jack your post

Johno

Nice find, Rod. Letting us find nice 1920's is God's way of saying he likes us!

Absolutely! +100

Loading up some 87 grain bullets this morning. I'll be taking it to the cabin next weekend for some shooting. I've got a couple of deer stands up there that are well suited for iron sights.

I still don't know what to do about my 300 Sav. Model 1920.

Much more of an arms user and hunter than collector, I am hesitating about hunting with the rifle or putting it up for sale.

I am yet to shoot a round with the smokepole.

Scoping the rifle means drilling/ tapping the receiver and bending the bolt's lever.

Scope bases would have to be custom crafted.

Collector value would be lost.

On the other hand, as to the 300 Sav. round, there's a fully functional and well-scoped 99F of the sixties standing in the gun cabinet...

Itching, isn't it?

Resist the urge to Tinkerbell. Hunt the 99.

Hunt it....don't need a scope.....and as for the 300 Savage. It works.

Nothing saying that one has to attach a scope to a 1920 to get good use out of it.

One alternative is to mount a tail block (bolt sleeve) sight, the Lyman 54, on it. Minimally intrusive, and puts an aperture right back in front of the eye where it does the most good. Cost? Not cheap, but probably less than a quality scope and the cost of mounting it. "Bad" eyes? Bah. My eyes are worse than most and I manage my 1920 quite well with one of these sights.

The other obvious alternative is to just go with the sights God put on them at the factory. Alter your hunting habits to accomodate open sights, by getting up close and personal with your quarry. Take it as a challenge to be mastered, much like the growing wave of interest in mastering traditional recurve bows by the compound bow devotees.

You gotta wonder how our forerunners manged to kill stuff back when these guns were new and scopes were so rare as to be non-existent.

If not comfortable hunting with iron sights and you like hunters/shooters, use it as trade fodder for 1 or 2 older 99's that have been drilled and tapped already. Older ones are cool.. especially if you branch out to 250-3000 or 303 Savage or some such.

I like your T's.

Sound advice Fireball2, I believe.

I have not shot open sights since the early 70's, so it would be more than a challenge to go back to ...basics.

Will think about it this afternoon while sitting on my Hochsitz (It's moose season in my area...).

Talk to you Friends!

That's one of the great favors our fathers did for us was starting us on iron sights. It comes right back, or never left at all.