Seal,

Not a highjack at all - in fact it brings up some useful data on why you can squint and mumble looking for that date code football, to no avail.

My Savage/Stevens cheat sheet shows the B prefix to be manuf '72-'74. That would be after they discontinued putting the date code ovals on their firearms. No need to, as all firearms were serialized by then.

Regarding those pot metal trigger guards, they (Savage/Stevens) used those same units on several low end single barrel shotgun models. You'd think there would be plenty around in parts bins at gun shows. I've only found one, which I keep for an extra.

Below is a trigger guard off of a no name double bbl that I rigged to fit this 24DL. Worked/looked so well that I'll leave it be. The loose trigger guards at bottom are the POS plastic unit that a previous owner had engineered. Also on the left is another guard similar to the one I installed.
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