I'm not a huge fan of 340's (nifty ones posed beside dead whistle pigs excluded!), but appreciate their utility. I often wondered why Savage didn't offer it in more chamberings though. I often wondered why they ever discontinued it. Had sales dropped off badly?
Savage imploded in the mid-1980's and quit making the 24s, 99s, and 340s. They were so desperate to generate money that they assembled an unknown number of 99s in non-cataloged configurations from whatever parts were left in the warehouse. I read somewhere that when Ron Coburn took over as CEO in 1988(?), Savage was losing millions of dollars each year. Coburn decided to focus on the 110 series and that plan pulled Savage out of bankruptcy.