Howdy. I know this is not the Savage collectors forum but I have a few questions about my weekend purchase and I seems a lot of you nice folks are very knowledgeable about the 24. I bought one this weekend as a project gun that I looked at a month ago and had to go back to the pawn shop and get. You know the kind you regret not trying to deal on the last time that you know will be gone? Anyway it is not a collector and I just wanted it for shooting around my place in the country and not worrying about banging it up.
It is a .22 LR / .410. It has 24" barrels. It is missing the sights. It has a small dovetail for the rear sight and a single hole to mount the front sight. I suppose Gun Parts Corp. is where to get those unless someone has a better idea. It is not serial numbered and the left side of the receiver just says Savage Arms Corporation MA and there is not mention of a model 24 or any other model number on the gun. I suppose this was before the 24 designation. Is there any way to tell when this was made? Didn't the serial numbering start in 64?
The gun is not in the greatest shape so I had it in my mind to use some miracle spray paint to paint the barrels and stock and just make a good farm gun out of it. When I got it apart, the rusted areas were really only surface rust and I cleaned it up pretty will with some WD 40, a stiff cloth and some elbow grease. There is really no pitting. Most of the blue is still there and overall looks pretty nice. The stock looks to me to be hardwood and it is scratched but not gouged. I can see now that it is the original finish. I am now planning to strip it down and try to finish it with a reddish stain and some oil. I will not have to sand it. Does this old junked up gun have any collectors value that someone might want for that purpose? I left in in my safe 200 miles from here without taking any pictures so I am sorry about that. I shot both barrels and it shoots fine. I even hit the target in a pretty good group with the .22 barrel just sighting down the top.
Another question is what size socket is required to take off the buttstock? I tried all I have and it doesn't seem to grab on. Does it take a special tool?
Lastly , the trigger guard is some kind of black painted pot metal. It is loose at the front. I removed the rear screw but it won't come off. Is there a screw inside the action that holds the front of it on? I guess I need to look at an exploded parts view.
I have a lot of Savage 99's and one other O/U in .222 / 3" 20 Ga. I also have a few modern Savage rifles. I really like the older ones and all are really, really accurate. Thanks for your help.
BT
