This piece should be in a museum. Purchased from a gentleman from Doe Run, Missouri for $215 delivered to my farm in Linneus, MO. Serial number 6854 with a mirror like bore. Appears to be all original and in excellent condition. Shoots and cycles perfectly. Regards, Rick.













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Beautiful. I was raised on a 23AA, a little later one than yours, so I know what can be done with them. They have the perfect "feel" for a hunting rifle. GREAT price, too!

Beautiful!!

What's the function of the knurled knob on the bottom of the magazine? Spring tension? capacity limiter?

The serial number definatly isn't right - way to low for a 23-A and it looks hand stamped???? Did you check the numbers under the butt plate?

Jeff, that knob is just to grab the magazine by when you pull it out of the mag well to reload. Hardly an elegant solution, but it works. The later ones were a little more streamlined; used a conventional magazine latch like the 340/42.

Volume knob

Hello Gene. No I haven't removed the buttplate. Where would the numbers be? Perhaps it's a hybred of some sort. I'll remove the buttplate when I get home tomorrow. It also has the newer buttplate marking. The sn looks odd in that every other number is offset slightly.......The font is identical to other older Savages I've seen. Perhaps the stock was replaced during it's life? Not much info on these that I can find. Regards, Rick.

The serial number on the stock and buttplate is 97185. So now what do I have? the SN on the action is 6854. Regards, Rick.

I have a 23A in pretty nice shape and it doesn't have a serial number. They weren't required by Federal law, so I think serial numbers were a bit of a hit and miss proposition back then.

Until I find some information that is well documented to the contrary I have to go with 23-A's all having serial numbers and all being between 25,000 and 127,000 as stated in all Savage Parts catalogs. The 4 digit 'serial number' pictured with the number out of line does not look factory to me - I have not seen another gun with numbers so out of line (and the numbers on the stock are in the listed range).

The early 23-A's had the serial number around the rear of the reciever where it could easily be ground off without being to noticable - but seldom did anyone think to also remove the numbers under the butt plate (and they would show signs of being removed - if one looked).

My 23A has the original finish on the stock and blue, and there is no serial number stamped into the metal. There is a number stamped into the wood beneath the buttplate, but nothing in the metal. My two early 19s, 19-33, 23AA and 23D all have serial numbers stamped in the metal as well as in the stock. The serial number under the buttplate of my 23A is in the 104XXX range. Is this characteristic of Savage?

Until I find some information that is well documented to the contrary I have to go with 23-A's all having serial numbers and all being between 25,000 and 127,000 as stated in all Savage Parts catalogs. The 4 digit 'serial number' pictured with the number out of line does not look factory to me - I have not seen another gun with numbers so out of line (and the numbers on the stock are in the listed range).

The early 23-A's had the serial number around the rear of the reciever where it could easily be ground off without being to noticable - but seldom did anyone think to also remove the numbers under the butt plate (and they would show signs of being removed - if one looked).

Hello Gene. That being the case, my rifle has been altered in some manner. The bluing looks too good for a 80+ year old rifle so it must have been reblued along the way and the original SN polished out then someone added the 4 digit number. So the question is why? Having collected older rimfires for many years I've seen some weird things and this one is no exception. Thanks for the great info on these. Regards, Rick.

These two guns certainly raise some questions, I would like to actually hold them - it's really hard to give an accurate assessment from just pictures or a description. I offered my thoughts as a subject for discussion and certainly would like to get a definite answer ... but some things we may never get definite answers to. The bolt actions are not my main area of collecting so I have not paid as much attention to details - I will now be looking for serial numbers on any of these I run across to see if I can find any more that are similar.

Rick, on your gun I had thought that the lettering looked to be slightly rounded in your pictures, I took an example I have and tried to duplicate the lighting that�s in your pictures with a glare line running parallel and through the lettering; I could not get a result that I thought could be used to come to a definite conclusion. I think the lettering looks slightly sharper in the pictures I took of mine but I don't think there is enough difference to come to a definite conclusion so I did not plan on posting them, or mentioning that I thought your gun might have been reblued. I still lean toward a reblue but have not ruled out it's being original, I just don't see enough evidence either way.

You can see my example has quite a bit of wear & thinning blue, I tried with & without a flash -

[quote=GeneB]These two guns certainly raise some questions, I would like to actually hold them - it's really hard to give an accurate assessment from just pictures or a description. I offered my thoughts as a subject for discussion and certainly would like to get a definite answer ... but some things we may never get definite answers to. The bolt actions are not my main area of collecting so I have not paid as much attention to details - I will now be looking for serial numbers on any of these I run across to see if I can find any more that are similar.

Rick, on your gun I had thought that the lettering looked to be slightly rounded in your pictures, I took an example I have and tried to duplicate the lighting that�s in your pictures with a glare line running parallel and through the lettering; I could not get a result that I thought could be used to come to a definite conclusion. I think the lettering looks slightly sharper in the pictures I took of mine but I don't think there is enough difference to come to a definite conclusion so I did not plan on posting them, or mentioning that I thought your gun might have been reblued. I still lean toward a reblue but have not ruled out it's being original, I just don't see enough evidence either way.

These old rifles are what they are and I am not surprised by anything I find on them. I am a expert on US Property marked rifles and little more. My 23A is still a cool gun that didn't suffer from neglect that's for sure. It's a cool little .22 with gobs of history and it's a very good shooter to boot. I especially like the Missouri Black Walnut stock.....a window to the past. Regards, Rick.

I am skeptical about experts.....no disrespect.....experts in my business are friggin dangerous!

You are right, fatjack. I am not an expert on all of them but after looking at these for some 40 years have a pretty good sense of what is right and what is wrong. As to the .22 US property Mossberg models I am a pretty good source of information on their history and various versions based on empirical evidence. To say anyone is an expert on all is folly. Regards, Rick.

Rick...you my friend are not only a wise man, but a very good natured man as well! Many would have come unhinged!