Came across one of these today and am looking for any info. Looks clean in pics, the guy didn't know much about it but said he didn't see any extra holes drilled and I didn't see a rear peep site. Barrel address is style 7 in murrays book. He is asking 150,is that a decent price??? Is this considered a target gun?

I don't think it was considered a hard core target 22, but any old Savage in nice shape has got to be a cool gun. The 4 looks like it may have been built on a variation of a Stevens 416 action. Is it worth 150? I guess the best way to address this is to ask yourself how hard would it be getting your money back out of it if you had too. Now with that price point in mind go make the seller an offer as that may be where he is at.

Is the gun just stamped 'Model 4' with out a letter after it? The early Model 4's had a cocking piece on the bolt that was also part of the safety which was engaged by turning it. Later guns had a separate safety on the side of the receiver and a bolt with a faster lock time that did not have a cocking piece. I think the bolt was changed around 1937~1938 based on catalog pictures, which are not always correct.

The Steven's 416 was a variation of the later Model 4, the 416 had a heavier, larger diameter receiver and an adjustable trigger, but used the same improved Model 4 bolt design, I don't know if it was exactly the same, they interchange but there might be internal differences. Externally the 416 bolts were a blued finish and the Model 4 bolts of the same design were bright plated.

Here is my 4C. I've carried it since I was a kid. I think I would pay $150 for a nice one, especially if it was the earlier checkered version.
It is drilled and tapped for a peep....I actually bought mine (peep sight) from some guy in a fast food restaurant parking lot. Remember that, Gene?

"I actually bought mine (peep sight) from some guy in a fast food restaurant parking lot. Remember that, Gene?"

... what we won't do for a Savage fix. That brought to mind of few occasions from past years.

I'd say a nice condition late model 4 is equivalent to a Win 69 or Rem 511. And try to get one of those for $150!

If it isn't trashed its worth 150. Agree with Mesa. Mine gets used and it shoots well with the aftermarket scope.

The grip is checkered, bolt looks like it is plated ,not blued. Barrel is stamped 4 no letter behind it and the front sight is hooded, seller says he couldn't find a serial #. Is this an earlier one? Did these come with a peep sight or just the rear sight?

Sounds like an early one to me. There was a peep sight made for these and available from Savage at extra cost, a #150 I believe. Attached at the back of the receiver on the left hand side. A simple but effective peep. Nothing like the Lyman sights. Think more along the lines of the Mossberg peep sights. Most came from the factory with the rear barrel sight though.

If the hooded front sight is original then it would have had a peep sight, the hooded front sight was part of the set. Pre-war and post-war used different sights and will be drilled different. Pre-war had a manually adjusted sight and post-war used the micrometer adjusted W.F.C 150... and Brian, I do remember selling one of those in a fast food parking lot, I believe you were in the area for your son's sporting events, I also remember you got one of the folding rear barrel sights that go with the set from me at a Savage Fest.

If these were sent from the factory with a peep sight the rear of the receivers will have a relief milled on the right side of the channel for the bolt so it can be swung down and under the peep sight and removed with out taking the sight off. The 150 sight required a longer relief than was needed for the earlier peep sight.

Sounds like a nice little 22 that is worth the money if in good shape.

Here are some pictures I did a few years ago concerning the sights -

The first type peeps typically on pre-war guns -




Here's a Model 7S semi-auto, the action plug does not allow enough clearance for the larger three position aperture disk that was used with bolt actions, they were shipped with two of different sizes -


Here is a Steven's 416 top, Model 4S middle and a Model 5 tube fed bottom. The top two have the reliefs to allow the bolt to be swung down and brought out under the peep sights, you can see the difference required because of the different sights, the reilef for a W.F.C. 150 is somewhere between the two shown. On the 416 the safety stamp even had to be moved forward because of the length required -




The 150 & 175 -

Ever notice every #150 and #175 you find is always missing the aperture and backing plate?

- Many parts for the 175's for the center fires are available and apertures are a design that can be readily reproduced and are available, I believe some are NOS originals - 175PeepSight

The 150 is a different story, the aperture is a very complicated design and there never was more than one size available. It's uses a miniature rack & pinion gear set. The windage adjustment is accomplished by turning the eye piece left or right, it has small gear teeth on it that act a pinion gear and mesh with teeth cut in the aperture base that acts as the rack. There are some part for them available but not those parts, and they would be very hard and expensive to try and duplicate so they worked correctly - 150PeepSight

Numrichs isn't Canada friendly, ever if they will sell it to you there's a $30 charge for international orders. So a 30 cent part would cost me $30.30 plus shipping plus exchange rate so around $50 for a 30 cent part.

GeneB - thanks for all the great info!

Really enjoy your posts Gene!

Thanks for all the info, will be picking it up Friday, and will post again after I try it out.

Let us know. I had a 4M a few years ago and it shot really well with the right .22 WRM ammo, although not quite as well as the 93M "Sporter" I replaced it with.

What happened to your P.O. box on our side of the ditch?

Gotta use a credit card for Numrichs so they know where your from as soon as they punch it in and they only ship to the cards address.

I know a guy who can help with that

Thats why I got buddies like you and Gene, never need Numrichs.

Finally pulled out the Model 4's. From top down -
- early Model 4 with the early style bolt
- 4C with special sight set - catalog designation would be 4S
- 4C
- Stevens/Springfield 84C target version for one of the large chain stores, machined for a peep sight but came with the hole plugged, it should have sling swivels but had the wrong ones when I got it and they made extra holes to mount them.







The early Model 4 bolt will fit in a 4C but the sear will not engage, the later bolt has a much stronger spring for a faster lock time and needs a separate sear bar instead of having it on the trigger.



Here is the safety accomplished by turning the cocking knob -


I bought a Marble's S7S sight that just came in the mail today!!! That's the code for the Models 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7. It appears to be counter stamped over W7S, which would have been the code for an 1873 Winchester...???? I was thinking it must have just been stamped wrong and they corrected it, but then noticed the sight is also stamped M.S.A which I think would date it to 1911 or earlier, that's quite a few years before any of the Savage Models were introduced. Could Marble's have had a bunch of sights they weren't selling and then tried to re-purpose them? - similar to what they did with the S20's for the 1920? Looks like it would work, if you wanted to put holes in the wood, this couldn't have been much more popular than it was for use on an 1873 Winchester, if that was the original intent -

Can't tell from your pics Gene, is the peep sight hole just supplied with a filler screw or is it permanently plugged?

Ya I'd say they sold off some sights and redesignated them, does it look like anything else was replaced? Diffent blue on the staff than the base?

Joe, The Springfield 84C has a plug screw where the peep sight goes, it's all set-up for the sight, even has the relief milled in the rear of the receiver for bolt removal with it on.

The S7S sight does not show signs of use but does show differences in the aging on the parts, first pictures is without flash, second set with - which usually brings out any brown tint and third another possible use -

You need to buy yourself one of those Savage Snail Traps, you could have a whole lotta fun in your basement!

Had time today to take out new to me model 4 and put 5 rounds in a pop can at 20 steps standing without a rest, I imagine will be even more accurate off a bench. Gun didn't have the peep sight so I will be looking for one, other than that bore is clean and the wood and checkering is nice for its age. Its my first old savage 22 and am sure it will put a dent in the squirrel and rabbit population.

Great stuff, could someone tell me which style sight I need for mine? I can guess from the pictures, but is there a model number of keyword that would help me in my search?

The gun is the WesternField version

Hello, new to the forum. Lots of knowledge being shared on here, love it! I just picked up a Savage model 4 with the early bolt. It was missing the magazine, but I only put out $100.00 for the rifle (shipping and FFL included) so $30.00 for a 10 round mag was no big deal. I am having a problem though. When trying to cycle the bolt, it catches after only moving back about 1/4-1/2 inch and holds up there. If I slightly pull on the trigger, it will move back far enough to extract a snap cap, then push forward to chamber the next snap cap. This happens every time. Naturally, like with any bolt action, if I fully pull the trigger I can remove the bolt completely for cleaning. Is this normal? Has anyone else ever had this issue?

I removed the bolt and trigger, cleaned up the bolt with brake cleaner, soaked the trigger assembly in acetone and got the many years of built up gunk off of everything. Broke out the cleaning kit cleaned her up from stock to muzzle (bore is in good shape!), reassembled, and same problem with cycling the bolt still exists.

Numrich has no schematic for the model 4, only the 4C, so really not much help as far a checking if something is missing. Sooo... I went on their forum page and stated my issue, and I was told that an adjustable trigger from a 4C would work.....well.....not really. I found said 4C trigger complete on eBay, installed it, and on the first attempt to work the bolt, it just slid the whole way out the back. Didn't even catch anywhere on the way out. I had my doubts while installing it, but I was under the impression the MAYBE the trigger spring was going to catch the bolt somewhere along the line. Nope, not a chance. Then I noticed the there was a small number 5 stamped into the bolt. There are what look like directional arrows on the different sections of the bolt assembly, I assume to make sure you would put it back together correctly? Do I have the correct bolt? If anyone would be able to post a pic of their model 4 bolt, it would be greatly appreciated, because I want back on the Numrich site and the only pic they have of a complete bolt looks NOTHING like mine.

Sorry for such a long post, any help with this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance

Savage had the Model 1904 single shot, later just called the Model 04, and later they had the Model 4 repeater, Numrich has listings for both the 04 and the 4 but have parts from both mixed up in both listings, the bolt your seeing in the Model 4 listing is the Model 1904/04 bolt.

The model 4 had the trigger & sear as one piece, the 4C had a sear bar separate from the trigger. There seems to never have been a 4A or 4B, when they upgraded both the Model 3 & 4 to a new bolt design the Model 3 was already at 3B and they seem to have just jumped the 4 right to 4C.

I would check the trigger stop, it might be allowing the trigger to move forward enough to catch the on the rear of the slot that the front of the sear is supposed to slide over until it hit the actually stop. If you do anything with this Make sure the sear engagement isn't reduced - is the trigger farther back with the gun cocked?

The sights are covered earlier in this thread, it looks like the pictures now display clear but with a water mark through the middle.

I had a house brand version of the model 4 handy and a model 3 bolt, that's what the pictures are of, the Model 3 bolt fits in the Model 4 but ends up a couple inches short of the chamber.

Thanks for the quick response, Gene. It's apart right now, so I cant say if the trigger is farther back. The trigger stop shows some wear, and there is also wear in the area where the trigger stop is supposed to rest (in the notch on the first pic). There is still some buildup on the trigger, so it's soaking in some acetone again, so I can get that cleaned up a little better. I also was able to find another trigger on eBay. The catch looks a bit more defined on that one, we shall see. Thanks for all the info. Fingers crossed!