Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Infor on Savage Model 4?

I just found and immediately laid away a Savage Model 4 .22 bolt repeater. Didn't have much time to go over it except to verify that it all worked and had a proper clip and excellent bore. Also saw the Model 4 marking on the barrel, chambering .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle,etc. This one is in very good cosmetic condition with very tiny spots of peppery rust on the barrel blue, which look like they could be made to go away easily. A few scratches on a very nice walnut stock with Savage hard rubber buttplate and hand checkering on grip and forend (excellent checkering, but my gut tells me it is not original). Long (24"? 25"?) barrel with hooded ramp front sight with a Beeches "flip" insert that has a fine aperture and a thick post. Middle barrel sight elevates with a horizontal "wheel" not a notched sliding wedge, and there is a large target-type aperture peep on the back of the reciever which seems to also be aftermarket; very simple and crude with only the stamping "Pat. Applied" on it. Rather badly installed nice quality leather sling on it, too. Just couldn't pass on it for $175 plus tax, even tho' I'm short because of shopping for the "other holiday." So, on layaway for a few days.

This one has the action with a two-piece bolt and a cocking knob like the pre-1923 "Sporters". Clip seems identical to what I remember of the clip on a 23A or Stevens 416 (no little knob for removal); I'll compare it to my bro's 23AA when I get it.

Anybody have a approximate range of manufacture for this style of Model 4? The only ones I'm familiar with are the late 1940s and 1950s speedlock version with no cocking piece (My friend has a 1960-vintage 4M Deluxe in .22WRM that is a jewel.

I think this will make a great winter project, once I can get my hands on it!

MY Christmas just got a leetle merrier, if ya know what I mean!

Hope all yours do too!

Mike Armstrong

The rear peep sounds original, so does the checkering if it's only on the grip and not the forearm.

It did come with a hooded front sight but no a beech style that flips up. The aperture posts were held in with a clip. The rear sight sounds like it was replaced with a Dockendorf (spelling?) rear sight. I'll see if I still have pics of the sights on my model 7.

Ahhh....your right, I'm wrong, it's got the correct rear sight on it to. Here's my model 7 sights.

You've actually got whats called a Savage model 4S, all the S means is that it was supplied with the special sights you see on the one you got. All the sights will have a patent number on it, starts with a 2 if I remember right. Heres the patent numbers. 2083677

Here is some info I put together for another forum, it will only date your gun within a 13 year span......

The model 3 first appeared in No 66, price list dated Jan 1932

The model 4 first appears in No 67 (I do not have a price list but I assume 1933)

.....There is no mention of stock finish for the 3 or 4 - but for the 23-AA in these catalogs it states "hand rubbed varnish". In No 70 (march 1936) the 23-AA is listed with an "oil finish" . (in No 67 the 23-D descrirtion says "Oil finish $5.00 extra).

---->In catalog No 70 (March 1936) the No 4 is shown with a checkered stock - not mentioned in the descrition

Catalog No 74 is the first to actually list checkering and oil finish in the descrition for the model 4 (the Model 3 does not show nor mention checkering)

The 1948 catalog (first catalog to drop numbers and just use year) the Model 4 still is describes as having checkered stock and an oil finish.

---->1949 checkering dropped but oil finish still in description

The catalogs do not list the alpha characters on these models in the catalogs so there is no way using catalogs to tell when the 4 was changed to the 4B etc.

1954 is the last listing and it's still just listed a Model 4, in 1955 the stock was changed to a monte carlo style with a larger fore arm and it then became the Model 4 Deluxe - which was the only version cataloged other than the 4-S Deluxe which just had special sights (peep etc).

There were two different notch heights for that rear sight, I had thought that the taller was to be used with the hooded post front sight. My 7-S has the taller one and the hooded front but I see Mad_Dog's has the lower version. I have other guns using the lower version of this rear but they have standard post front sights. These sight will also be found marked "PATENT PENDING" which might help the date - patent granted June 15, 1937.


Sights that came on a -S version, the sighting disk with 3 apertures was only used for the first couple of years - later guns were shipped with 2 different disks.

Thanks, guys! The rear barrel sight is the one pictured, all right, and the checkering is only on the pistol grip (I mis-remembered that; just called the gunshop to ask 'em) so apparently is original. I have heard of the Dockendorf sights, but don't remember much about them. This one seems kinda "crude but effective" compared to other reciever target sights of the period like Redfields and Lymans. I didn't look closely enough at it to tell if the stock had to be inletted to fit it like the Lyman on my brother's 23AA.

I think all I need to do with this is to give it a bath, check the zero on the sights, shoot it a bit to find out what kind of ammo it likes, and go kill ground squirrels when they come out again. And look for a spare clip, of course.

I MAY remove the sling and clean up the holes in the end of the forend and the toe of the stock. If the hole in the end of the forend is really gross, I'll replace it with a black forend tip. But I may just leave the sling alone; I don't shoot with a sling in the old style, but I do find them very handy in rough terrain, where I use a staff to stay on my feet and to rest the rifle on for shooting. (Otherwise the rifle itself tends to become the staff. NOT good.).

More details when I actually bring it home and get it to a range.

Anybody know ehen these were made?

As listed above, 1933 to WWII.

Thanks, Rick!

Gene, I've got a #68 that lists the #4 for $12.

Also, my #7 came with the S sights but was missing the hood and post on the front sight, you can imagine I was thrilled to find a complete front sight on Fleabay for it, only had one post that was attached to it but who am I to complain!

No Stevens parts yet but it's Christmas, I imagine everything is running slow, maybe today.