Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Vintage Custom Model 1920 in .250-3000

Savage Model 1920, .250-3000 cal. bolt action rifle. Serial #4498. Very interesting little rifle that was barreled and further tuned by Johnson Automatics of Providence, Rhode Island (yes, THAT Johnson Auto Co. - makers of the famous 1941 Johnson Rifle of W.W. II). After the war the Johnson Automatics Co. offered a full line of "conversions" of 1903's, Mausers, etc. they fitted with state-of-the-art barrels and muzzle brakes, etc. This little Savage got a new .250-3000 barrel, front sight and side scope mount (included). Excellent shiny bore. 23" barrel is marked "Johnson Automatics .250-3000". Schabel forend. Wood is smooth and nice. Smooth action. Includes a post-war vintage price sheet explaining all of the custom Johnson features as well as a factory hang tag! Neat! Really cool little rifle with impressive documentation. C&R OK.












So what do you guys think it would be worth? Not original, but definitely an interesting vintage custom in very nice shape. Only question I had was whether the new barrel is a 1-10 or 1-14 twist, and of course it's not marked and they don't want to take the time to check it with a cleaning rod.

87 gr TSX bullets at 2900-3000 FPS would be good enough for me. The 1-14 twist would not bother me if that is what it is and is the only issue you have with the rifle.

Neat rifle.

Edit: Just looked on the Barnes website and the TSX is not offered at 87 gr. Still would not bother me to use any 87 gr Hornady that would shoot well.

MrFurious, Its just a shooter in my book,not being original, i wouldn't pay more than $400 personally, It's whatever the buyer wants to pay .Don

are you buying or selling it?

Bet it shoots great, cuz mine does.

I got a 1899B that was rebarreled by them into 250-3000, shoots better than I can. Course, I wish somebody hadn't blued over the factory engraving or cut the pretty stock on mine, they left yours a bit more original.

As to value, I don't believe there's any interest in it so the rework has only reduced the value. What it might be worth I can't say, I don't watch the 1920's much.

Here's mine with a "Johnson Automatics" barrel.

Considering buying it, but debating on whether or not I want to hold out for something that's original. On the other hand though, I'd have no qualms about opening this one up to an Ackley Improved being it isn't the factory barrel.

Jim

in this case it's really "the eye of the beholder"... for me a gun is still worth more if it's an accurate shooter. (not being a "Puritan")

I might pay more than Loggah for it only because I get a little silly for 250s that may be scoped. My price? $450.-

Rory, what's the twist rate on your 250?

Yah, Bert but thats in canadian!!! Don

Hmm.. I think it's 1 in 14, but haven't accurately measured it yet. On factory 100gr I couldn't do better than 2moa and with 87gr handloads I do sub-moa most of the time.

MrFurious, I'm pretty sure doing the AI thing would only reduce the price even more. 250's are VERY popular, 250 AI..? And besides, a 250 with 87gr Speer HotCor works just beautifully.

Rory, your pm box is full, like to talk to you about that 250.

Since it's not a collector, what would an ultralight bolt gun in 250 sav set up for some sort of scope be worth to you? If I had a Rem 700 or the Ruger 77, or a Mod 70 (wouldn't that be nice), in 250 Savage it wouldn't be worth much to me. That's how I would go about valuing it.

Be worth a lot more to me if it were a lefty as I'm a little bullheaded when it comes to buying right-handed guns. Think I'm going to stick with my plan to just build a 250 custom on a new Savage short action.

Tal35, sent you a link to the auction via PM if you're still interested in it.

Jim
That is a Great Looking Gun....
They did a bang-up Job on Reworking It.
As far as Building one
Why Not Build One on a Mauser Action????
Steve

Left handed Mausers are a little scarce, I reckon.

Johnson's were a primo custom shop in the immediate post-war era. If I could get it for 4-500 frogskins, I'd grab it.

As an aside, an old Class III collector friend had an original Johnson Light Machinegun which I had the pleasure to put a couple of clips full of ammo through. That and a BAR made for an evening I'll never forget! (The old guy started collecting class III stuff in the 1930's. His collection included the likes of Vicker's, Maxim's, Browning's, Thompson's, ad nauseum. Often wondered what ever happened to his stuff when he died 20yrs. ago.)

There was a booth in Tulsa with several Johnson LMG's up.. I stopped and chatted for a second, but they had no idea that Johnson did custom gunsmithing after the war.

I'll try to get a pic of the barrel address on mine. Barrel looks similar to yours, but I don't recall the lettering looking like that.

I like it. Problem will be to find a scope mount that fits those four holes in the receiver. Might be the old Weaver QD sidemount. Furious, if you don't want it I'd appreciate a tipoff to it.

Well, in less than a day two guys have driven the price up from $310 to $690. Just goes to show some of you collector types have flipped your lids. lol

Yep, very rare.....and VERY expensive when you do run across one. Last one I saw went for well over five grand.

Can buy a boat-load of LH Savage actions or half a dozen Stiller custom LH actions for five grand!

The aluminum Weaver #1 side mount and ringset is in the top picture, at the foot of the stand.