I just purchased a Savage 330 O/U 26" with Mod./Imp. Cyl. It was made in December 1970 according to the stampings near the serial number. All numbers match. It is realy a nice gun in great shape. I have seached the net and this forum and found very little on these guns.

Anyone here have any information that can be shared?

I am looking for a manual, parts scources and or general information. I have a couple of Savage 99's one in .303 and one 250/3000. They are great guns and expect the same results with the 330.

Ron

I'm curious. Whats stamped near the serial number that told you it was made in Dec of 1970?

Never heard of that before.

On the lower left side of the chambers, right below the serial number is "12/70" then right near that is "Mod/Imp Cyl". It is in the exact matching type.

They were imported from 1969 to 1980 by Savage so I just put it together. In the other locations of the number this is not repeated, just the one time.

Ron

Cool, never seen them do that before.

I believe 12/70 is 12 ga/with 70mm chambers (2 3/4 inch).

You may be correct that it is the gauge and shell length. However on the exposed blue of the barrels it does say "12 Gauge" and "2 3/4" also. Seemed logical to be a date to me but I admit to guessing.

Ron

Gary is correct. Just checked some European 12 gauge ammo I have.

Cool. I will call it confirmed and it does make sense. Now I need to know production dates and serial numbers as well. While I am leaning more I find I know less. SOS.

Thanks for the help!

Ron

GL, Welcome - sounds like you're happy with your new purchase. The only place I can suggest for a manual is Steve'sPages, and hopefully that site will have a match in the Valmet section.
http://stevespages.com/page7b.htm

If you've done a search here you'll likely find only a few posts on Savage shotguns, and most of those will be related to the combo-guns or the 219/220 switch barrel single shots. Others come up though and hopefully you'll get some more hits.

Dons1:

Thanks for the link. I just printed the Shotgun booklet. It is not directly on point but it is a very good start. I have searched a bunch and that is the first time I saw that page so again, Many Thanks.

Ron

You're quite welcome. Some more input may arrive here, but you may want to also post a question on the shotgunworld.com site. I'm a big A-5 and Ithaca 37 fan and post most of my shotgun questions there. Like here at 24Hour, a good group to deal with.

Ron, Is there a oval stamp with a number and a letter in the oval any place on the gun. (Im wondering if they smacked the date code in these like they did so many others.)

It would have had to have been made in 1969 or 1970 then.

I don't think they went into the X's and Y's did they?

Thanks for the ideas and questions. I am a member on shotgunworld.com as well. I will post there eventually but this Savage forum seemed more likely after reading the related posts after a few searchs on that site.

As far as other symbols I will have to check and get back to you. It is not acessable to me right now.

Thanks again. I have been a member just a few hours and have lots of great information on an obscure weapon and many new friends.

Ron

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ored_a_nice_Savage_double_12#Post5889164 Here is an older post.

You may want to contact the OP, he is a regular here.

Just checked; it has other marks but hard to tell what. One is a tiny triangle with what appears to be a pile of rocks or dots in it. No identifiable letter. The other mark is a tiny series of many very small marks and the last 2 of the serial number maybe.

No ovals. No clear dates or letters.

Thanks

Ron

Ron, the "Gun Digest Book of Exploded Gun Diagrams" (or something like that) has exploded diagrams of the 330 that show you all the parts. If you can't find it, PM me and I'll snail mail you the page copies (I'm scanner/fax challenged....).

I have had a passel of these Savage/Valmets over the years: 330s both 12s and 20s, 333s in both, and 2400 combos in .222/12 ga. and .308/12 ga. Still have a 333 12 ga., a pre-Savage Valmet "Lion" 12, a 3" magnum 30" barrel 330 (only one I've ever seen) and both of the combination guns. So I guess it's apparent that I have a high regard for this series of guns.....

Keep light grease on the locking surfaces of the action (I use RIG) and you won't have takedown or action opening issues with the gun. Ungreased it can get stiff.

These guns are a Finnish re-design of an action originally patented in France right after WWI by a Czech (actually Bohemian, meaning German) gunsmith/inventor. When the European patent expired in 1932, Remington started using it in their Model 32, later in the 3200. It is also used in the Kreighoff O/Us, but I don't know when that started. A Valmet designer simplified the action and made the parts compatible with cold-weather shooting and hunting beginning in the early 1950s. The gun was imported into the US by Klein's Sporting Goods as the "Finnish Lion" in the late 1950s and early '60s, then slightly redesigned for Savage to import in the later 1960s and early 1970s.

The date you give your gun is logical enough, but what you are citing is just the caliber stamp, as noted.

I think this gun will grow on you, especially when it's cold out. Very glove friendly.

I just found a near new one in a CA gunshop for $400 and jumped on it as a present for my Marine son when he returns (for I hope the LAST time!) from Afghanistan next month. His is a 28" 330 choked F/M; I loaded up some scatter loads for him in case he wants to use it for quail; all he has to do is put a scatter shell in the full barrel and punch the barrel selector.... I'd get it rechoked but don't know where he's going to be stationed next and it might be Duckville or Pheasant City! And gunsmiths hate rechoking Valmets of any breed; my barrelsmith says the barrels are tougher than woodpecker lips!

You were lucky to find a 330; people tend to hang onto them. Enjoy one of Savage's many GOOD ideas!

I owned a 330 for a while. It was sold after I patterned it

I have a 12 and a 20 gauge 330 and like both a lot. shot a 24/25 at trap with 12 which is as good as I can shoot! My regular trap gun is a Berreta. The 20 is nicest looking shotgun I own.

The 330/333 series are not without flaws, although I think the design itself is pretty much genius. The main problems I've observed in the dozen or so I've owned:

Wood quality is like a lottery (kinda like Ruger, in fact). You can find a plain-Jane 330 with wood good enough to eat, and a "fancy" 333 with pallet-grade "walnut-imitating-birch" wood. Sometimes you got a beautiful stock and a plain forend. Not a problem. But the reverse looked funny, at best.

The stamped checkering runs from just cheap to super-suck. On the super-suck models, the pallet-grade wood is crushed in the wrist of the stock by the die that stamped the checkering so that any little shock cracks the stock. Back in the day this wasn't a problem: I got my 333 Skeet for virtually free because it had the stock cracked all the way thru. Just bought a new stock, which was very pretty, and bolted it on. NOW it IS a problem: factory stocks are very hard to find and a custom restock costs 3 times what the gun sold for. (Valmet "Lions" and Savage/Valmet 2400s have nice hand-cut checkering, tho.)

You could get at least the 330 in a two-barrel, two-guage set, which sounds like a great idea. But often the set was a 26" IC/M 12 guage and a 28" F/M 3" Magnum 20 guage, which strikes me as kinda wierd. I assume that having a 12 guage duck gun and a 20 guage upland gun makes more sense, but I never saw such a set. And if the longer 20 guage barrel was to correct the balance, why not make it in a more useful choke?

(HAS ANYONE GOT a different set than the one I mention above? A two-guage 333?)

I've never had patterning or POI problems with these, but I can see how a little slop in fitting the barrels together might cause POI issues. Patterning problems are usually just a re-choke job; expensive and kinda a pain, but really no big deal.

But tex n cal, if you mean the chokes were too tight, that's how the Finns roll, chokewise. Because of what they hunt, and how, their "Full" is REALLY FULL, and modern shotshells make it SUPERFULL. That's what choke reamers (and scatter loads) were made for! My 2400s have chokes marked "Improved Modified," but it is really Full. I shot a .38 ammo box at the range the other day with a 2 3/4" standard ounce and a quarter of 6s. At 30 yards there were 18 holes in the side I shot. Dead turkey. Dead coyote. Missed quail or minced quail, tho.

Here is a link to a reproduction hang tag and manual for the 330. Hope this helps.

http://www.rediscovered-shooting-treasures.com/savage330.htm

Had a 20 gauge like new. Sucker doubled on me quite often and finally after multiple trips to a gunsmith it was somewhat repaired. I no longer have it and very likely will never buy another.

NEVER had one double (actually, I've never had ANY double "double," although I was next to a guy in a duck blind when his AyA Matador 10-bore doubled. LANGUAGE!!!!). In fact the only mechanical problem I've had with any of these is with the 333 Skeet I have presently--guy that had it before me, in addition to breaking the stock, deliberately disabled the safety and the ejectors. He just removed parts from the ejectors and I had to put them back, but he cut off part of the safety. Fortunately I found a new safety. I guess it's fashionable for clay shooters to do this (?), but I wanted the gun for quail....

This is great information. I plan to take it out and break some clays on Monday. The wood and checkering on mine is very nice. Looks like walnut with clean sharp checkering. It is stamped but some of the best stamped I have seen. I bought it to be a shooter and so far I have not seen any reason to doubt it's abilities. The lock up and release works very fluid and the gun is tight when locked. I do not think it has seen many rounds. . . Yet.

I found the parts diagram on line a couple of places now and the Valmet 412 manual is very close and on point for function. I am very pleased with all of the contributions and help thus far. Thanks!

Now I want to find a few more to add to my collection (at least a 20 Gauge). This could be a new habit.

Ron

I've got a 20 gauge skeet model in great condition. My son loves it.

The 20s are nice; I had an "almost matched" pair of 330s for a while; both had very pretty wood and one was 26" IC/M, the other 28" F/M. They were both excellent for upland hunting; light enough to carry all day. Lost both (and most of the rest of my guns) in the "recession" of the early '80s (My WIFE got me my Valmet "Lion" when we began our "recovery"--love 'em both).

One negative of the Savage/Valmet series, and, I think, all Valmets, is that the 12s are HEAVY. I still carry my 333 or my "Lion" for the morning of a two-part hunt, but if we're going to be away from the truck all day long, I take my Gold Label or my Red Label 28, depending on what the game is. At 69, I just can't hump that big iron all day any more.

ROMAC, I also always liked the simple big single scroll on the 333s like your 20. But I don't recall ever looking at it under magnification to see if it's "real" (chiseled) engraving, or was done by a machine. Think I'll take a look at mine tomorrow. Can you tell?

The borders on the other Savage/Valmets (330s, 2400s) is obviously stamped by a machine, as are the borders on my "Lion."

That 20 Gauge looks sweet. I want to find one. A twenty gauge o/u was my objective when I found this 12 and I could not pass it up.

The 20 shown has much more fancy engraving than my 12. My 12 has the simple linear boxes. More great information and input.

Thanks,

Ron

ROMAC's 20 is the "deluxe model" 333; it has auto ejectors and a ventilated rib, plus that tasteful (IMO; not everyone agrees) scroll.

I took out my 333 and examined the scroll thru a 10x loupe. And I CAN'T decide how it was done. It is identical on both sides to the millimeter on all dimensions, including the interior dimensions of some of the sub-scrolls. That sounds like a machine's, not a hand's work, not at this price point.

There are no faint tiny "feathers" on the ends of lines which are common on hand-cut engraving at the end of a cut. But those are often removed by the final flat polish before case hardening or bluing.

There is no visible displacement of metal--slight bumps or raises at the edges of a cut which is often present when a roll die is used to "press" a design into metal.

But the uniformity of depth and dimensions of the design still say "machine" to me. I would guess that this was a very sophisticated roll die design that was "cleaned up" by a VERY careful flat polishing job. Edges are too sharp for a 1960s-technology acid etch, I think.

Does anybody really KNOW how this design was applied? I can't remember if Savage advertising claimed it was hand-engraved.

Your Savage 330 is in fact a Valmet and it is a perfectly fine O/U
Enjoy it.

I just ordered the Hang Tag/4 page owners manual. Thanks for the input and help it all has been helpful.

Ron

Update:

I took the butt stock off and cleaned and oiled/greased the internals all appear to be very low miles and functioning properly. I also relieved a bit of wood where it appeared to be making contact with the action from oil swell.

I shot about 35 rounds through it yesterday without a flaw. Broke several clay pigeons roughly 22/25 and double tapped several. Used my ground thrower out in the desert. It is a great shotgun.

Thanks again for all the help.

Ron

IIRC one barrel patterned about 18 inches high (center of pattern 18" above the point of aim, that is) and the 2nd was centered about a foot lower.