I did come to a conclusion. I have a 16-gauge 420 and acquired a nice set of 20-gauge barrels and forearm. The frame on the 16-gauge appears wider than the 20-gauge frame. When I put the 20-guage barrels on the 16-gauge frame they fit but there is a noticeable gap between the inside walls of the frame and the sides of the barrels. The 20-gauge forearm fits on the 16-gauge frame.
Crazy you dusting this thread off as I just bought a decent 420 in 20-gauge off GB. It should be at my FFL in a couple days and soon I'll have that gun for making comparisons. At present I don't have a 12-guage to compare anything against but I'm looking
So here are my thoughts.
1. Savage made the frame sizes of all three gauges the same but they removed different thicknesses of metal from the inside walls of the frames to accommodate the different widths of barrels (12, 16 and 20-gauges).
2. Savage made three different widths (or sizes) of frames to accommodate the different widths of 12, 16 and 20-gauge barrels.
3. Savage made the 12 and 16-gauge frames the same size but removed metal from the inside walls as discussed above to accommodate for the different widths of the 12 and 16-gauge barrels.
Seems to me you once mentioned you had a 420/430 or two. Put up the frame specs and we'll make some comparisons. Thanks for dusting this thread off.
