Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Stevens 334, do they actually exist?

Just curious if anyone has seen one in person except say at SHOT show? I emailed Savage asking if and when they might be available, but got crickets in return. I’ve not seen any for sale at stores or on the internet. Seems like after Savage announced them, they went silent. Did the deal with the manufacturer in Turkey go south maybe?

Generally I like to be optimistic and do my best to not be cynical and jaded. But when it comes to hoping a new model I'm interested in might appear, I've gotten a bit worn out over the last few years. As a left-handed shooter that new straight-pull Beretta BRX1 announced in 2021 was kind of interesting. Still haven't seen one over here yet. Ruger announced a new left-handed 10/22 in 2021 as well. I finally just started seeing those appear. I was on a waiting list for a Browning for over a year with my LGS and the arrival date kept getting kicked off into the future so I just gave up.

I don't mind waiting for something if you tell me it will be available at some date in the future. But it is a bit frustrating to get excited about something and then have it go deathly quiet for years. I think my favorite in this regard is when Dan Wesson teased a custom CZ-75 called the DWX Compact back in 2019. Well they finally started shipping it this past month. So four years from announcement to release is the level of patience that might be required depending on the vendor. The best part about this long wait was the already high price went even higher. Ha!

https://www.guns.com/news/2023/05/24/dan-wesson-now-shipping-dwx-compact-pistol

Odonata,

While I’m not a lefty, I fully understand the anticipation and then nothing shows for a long time. Several years ago, I was on a wait list for a Honda Pioneer. I got tired of waiting and went and bought a four wheeler so I could go out hunting. About a year later, I got the call saying my Pioneer was in, since I did not put anything down, told them to let someone else have it. The wife and I are thinking about buying a new Ford Bronco soon, I know to get the one I want, I will be waiting a while, probably longer now with another recall on them.

Anyone have the inside scoop on when the Ruger XGI is going to be available?

I was a victim of Browning Order Lag myself last year. Ordered a new 725, was told to be patient. Four months later I called and was told they had no idea when it would come, and that they had no way of checking on it. Well I called Browning and they asked my dealer’s name and then said they weren’t on the list for the next shipment and it would be at least two months before they got more. I cancelled my order, losing $100 deposit, and went where I knew a couple used ones were. Picked up a LN one along with a couple of extra extended tubes. Saved about $700 overall. Got a call from the LGS in October, nine months after I ordered, wondering if I might still want the one I ordered, as it had finally landed. Glad I didn’t wait. What really got me was they wouldn’t even make a phone call to check on a $2700 order.

Last gun I bought was through Gun Genie. Knew it was in stock, and had it in a few days. That dealer got a fair profit, and I didn’t have to pay a transfer fee. I asked if he was good with that method and he said the only difference for him was he didn’t have to front any money on a GG sale.

Seems like you never know on new firearms models. Back in 2016 I had a certain model of CZ-455 .22 ordered and my FFL said he had no idea of when he could get one. Waited over a year and found out that model had been discontinued. Cancelled my order at my FFL and a few weeks later a local sporting goods dealer got three of that exact model in. Found out when I went in there to buy powder and mentioned to the counter guy how I couldn't get the CZ I wanted and it's discontinued. Turns out their distributor still had some in their warehouse. Someday, somewhere, some Stevens 334's might show up.

Well, I just got an email back from Savage this morning that says “The firearms have not shipped yet, but should be available in the next few months”. So I take it, if you wanted one before hunting season, you might be out of luck this year.

My earlier experience waiting for the Browning was the model will eventually appear but not always in the caliber you want. In other words, all available options aren't always available immediately. For me there was an initial wait that turned into a secondary wait that turned into a tertiary wait. It felt like they were taunting me by slowly releasing calibers I wasn't interested in.

Hopefully you'll have better luck and the one you're hoping for will appear sooner than later.

You funny G.I.

ha ha ha ha

kwg

Honestly, I just want to see if the 334 .243 actually has the 1:9.25” twist or the 1:10 that the actual manufacturer lists on their website. A 1:8 twist would be better, but for a cheap rifle, I’ll take the 1:9.25” twist.

You're in luck! You can get the newly announced Sako 90 in .243 with a 1:8 twist if you want to. You'll only have to wait a year & spend +6x more money and it's yours...

Yeah I’ll pass. Sami’s are nice rifles for sure though!