Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 23A, a little different

I bought a 23A Sporter parts gun more out of out of curiosity than anything else; the stock looked like it was from a 23D or later 23B or 23C without the schnabel fore end. It was a complete set of parts for a rifle missing a small strip of metal on the bottom of the ejection port and a small strip of metal through the receiver that just happened to be the exact same width as a hack saw blade! I found the stock is definitely for a 23A but is in the style first used on the 23D and never shown for a 23A or even on the later 23AA.
Here are the parts put together, the rear sight is a Marlin type used on several models from the same time period -




It has the same trigger guard as used on the early 1919 NRA’s and 1922 SPORTERS that had a hole to access an adjustable sear that was not offered on the later versions, there is no corresponding hole in the wood. The rear attachment screw was stuck when I got it, I did get it out later.


I was hoping the serial numbers would offer some clue to what this is but it does not have a serial number on the receiver, there is a number on the stock & buttplate but it raises more questions instead of answering any.


Here it is compared to an early 23A parts gun I have, serial number 27429, 23A’s started at 25000, the stock on the standard 23A is thicker at the trigger guard, you can see the magazine sticks out farther on the top one and the trigger has been curved more to fit in the trigger guard which is closer to the receiver. This early trigger guard makes me think this is a very early 23A –




The ‘standard’ looking 23A has the same trigger guard but without the unused hole for sear adjustment, later guns had a wide trigger guard of thinner metal that mounted on top of the wood without any inletting –


There is a big difference in the size of the butt -


Here’s a picture after I got the rear attaching screw out of the barrel stud which holds the rear magazine mount to the barrel, the earlier 1922 Sporter used just a screw and the rear magazine mount was held against the barrel by the wood of the stock, adding the ejector to the part (the hook on top) required a more secure mount.


Here’s an old picture of a very early 23AA (bottom) compared to a later 23A that are from this old thread comparing the two –
topics/8136960/early-23-aa-late-23-a
Notice the late 23A still has the smaller size butt and both have the later trigger guard, the number on the stock has no relation to the serial number of the gun that I can see. Both have the SVG logo which starts showing up about 1928.


Cont. due to limits on number of pictures

I thought possibly this stock was something tried on the 23A when they were looking at changing it for the 23D but the early type trigger guard would put it about 8 years before that, by the time the 23D came out the trigger guards had been changed. The lack of a serial number makes me think it may have been a prototype.

I did find that the 1922 Sporter was still listed in Jan 2, 1923, Jan 2, 1924 has the 23A. The 23D does not appear until Jan 25, 1932 and has a ‘new designed stock’ without the schnabel forearm, the other Sporters still have it. Notice the high price of the 23D compared to the 23B & C, $29.95 compared to $22.50.


The 23D also offered some options that could drive the price up a lot more; you could add oil finish, checkering and a sling –


The schnabel forearm was dropped from the 23B & C in catalog #68, March 1, 1934 pricelist and the prices for the 23B, C & D were then all the same.
The 23AA was last listed in catalog #75 with price list dated June 16, 1941, still showing the schnabel, this is also the last listing of the 23B.


1942, Jan 2, only the 23C (32-20) and 23D listed with both @ $42.50
1946, only the 23C (32-20) and 23D listed with both @ $53.65
1947 only the 23D listed but my copy has it marked as “not available 1947”. Price was $57.95.
1948, Feb 2 price list 23D @ $60.65, last listing of the 23D, not in the 1949 catalog.

I would think that checkered bottom on the stock would indicate a 1940'ish+ manufacture date on the stock. Possibly a rifle sent in to be restocked, ending up with a mishmash of parts? Definitely NOT my area of expertise, so just spitballing here.

Yes, that is different. Especially with the early action and trigger guard. As always, thanks for posting.

2 part barrel/receiver?? Is there anything other than trigger guard screws holding the barrel to the receiver?

It's a parts gun, it was sawed in two through the receiver, I tried to make a joke in my first post that it's almost complete, just missing a thin strip of metal the exact width of a hack saw blade.

I am not an expert on these bolt actions, I have a few but have not really researched many of them that much, I went through my catalogs looking for information for this one, but I found little to help me there, just a lot of information on the 23D that I was not aware of before. The lack of a serial number surprised me as did it having the very early trigger guard. I had originally thought it might have been fitted with a 23D stock, checkered grip & forearm were offered as an option on the 23D when first listed in Jan 1932 but the trigger guard used was dropped about 8 years prior to that. If it was a later restock I would think they would have used a blank for the 23AA which would have had the schabel forearm and the gun would have had a serial number. I also did several GOOGLE searches without finding much.

ADDED - it also has an early 1922 Sporter trigger that is threaded for the sear adjustment but it has a screw broken off in the hole and as mentioned above no hole in the wood for it, this is another early part that the later 23A's would not have had.

Custom takedown by hacksaw? I hope you bought as a "parts cache"!

Interesting post--thanks for sharing.

HA! I was so amazed by the two pieces that i missed the joke completely!

The no-logo butt plate, heavier stock and checkering pattern makes me wonder if it was put together much later than the 23A period. Maybe an early rifle sent back for restocking?

(I see Rory made similar statement)

I also didn't catch the saw cut. I am no gun mechanic but I always thought a talented gunsmith would be able to cut off a23A, AA barrel, thread the receiver and screw in a different barrel.

I probably have a barrel/rec. I could check when I get home.

I am not interesting in changing it, it was purchased for research because of the different features. It displays well even with the cut receiver and is more valuable to me for research the way it is. I do consider it being restocked but the receiver having very early parts without a serial number makes me wonder if it was ever originally sold to the public but was used by Savage as a research gun with the new stock configuration being one thing they tried, possibly years after it was originally made, but that is questionable because of the use of the early trigger guard. Someday I might have the chance to compare it with a 23D to see how the stocks compare dimensionally.

I had one of the "Plain Jane" later models 23Ds and I'd say the forearm is beefier. Although the rest of the stock looks very much the same.

Most famous collector of 1919s/19s/1922s/23s/factory experimentals based on them.

Known and loved across the Campfire.

Rochester NY circa 1995

None were drilled (except at factory) to add scopes.

Lower right 44-40 one of one.

I would like to have had a good look at all of those.

Sadly my interest in them waned once I discovered R.F. Sedgley rifles and the 40 odd Savages went down the road to be replaced by 40 odd Sedgleys, 36 of which have also been sold.

Kept the best:
22 Hornet short action
22-06
6.5x55
400 Whelen

The rarest, only 4 known to have been made.

One can only imagine the work to revamp a 30-06 action into a short action to work w/22 Hornet !