I used to fantasize about owning one of these.
Never saw or handled one
It is A Savage Anschutz model 54 sporter.
I picked it up today.....too bad the eyes aren't great anymore.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Fixed sights ain't so good for me either....

Congratulations on scoring your grail!

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Even older, even crankier....

Congratulations on finding one of your dream rifles! It's good to hear that someone else appreciates the quality of a rifle that I'v admired, owned, and used, for many years. I bought my 1969 Mod. 54 Sporter in 1970, paid a whopping $139.00, brand new, and have used it since. Along the way, as my eyesight went down hill, I added a Leupold Vari x 2-C 1-4 scope x Rings. It is an option that I can recommend. If Vanity is a factor, just explain, that you prefer the looks of the rifle with a scope on it. I'll share a picture of mine.
Chubbo

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Beautiful, I love blue steel framed in pretty wood.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Thanks Chubbo I can freely admit I need a scope.
To me the stock really is set up for scope use.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Paul, we have very similar taste! I have owned 2 Anschutz rifles, and they are the most accurate rifles you can have. The Match 54, a 1403 ISU match rifle I bought for my son to use while in high school on the rifle team. He used to pass the time splitting playing cards, and snuffing candles at 50 ft. A couple years ago I sent it to him for his son to use. I did buy a 65 Sporter and put a 4-12 Burris compact on it, (I need glass to hit anything any more). Both rifles shot like lasers. You will love your new rifle.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Is that the model that was featured in the ad showing a middle aged guy leaning on the hood of his Mercedes Benz and holding the rifle with an admiring look on his face ?
I remember that it made an impression on me that an Anschutz .22 was the rifle for a man of means and taste. Something that I wanted to be when I grew up....

Beautiful gun & congrats.

There's any number of diopter & other aids that attach to glasses to help focus on iron sights.

Have you tried the peel and stick peep sites that go on your shooting glasses? Eye Pal is one and Lyman makes one called EYEPAL (one word)
I've tried these and they really do help with old eyes.

Congratulations on your nice 54 sporter! If you go over here:
Anschutz - RimfireCentral.com Forums you will find a lot of fellow Anschütz enthusiasts and the best source for info on these fine rifles.

I have a good number of 54 sporters, four Mannliccher stocked 1423s and several 1422s, their .22 Magnum, .22 Hornet, .222 Remington versions and a 1710. Until ten years ago the only scope I ever had was on issued rifles, now I have them on all sporters.

I use original Anschütz bridge mounts and generally vintage German scopes. All my rifles have the DST, the double set trigger.

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I still have open sights on my sa 54 sporter, but I am afraid that is going to have to change. I have a .22 wmr sa with a scope that I shoot so much better. Aging eyes sigh.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

Congrats to you! I'm lucky enough to have inherited 1517 .17HMR (one of the first ones made) from my grandfather. Anschutz makes an amazing rifle. Enjoy your grail gun!

Even at a young age, I recognized those rifles as a step above the others. Their ads showed class.

I remember their ad that stated, "Every man should own one perfect rifle."

I was about 12 when I saw that ad, and it made an impression on me. While I've still never owned an Anschutz, when buying something really nice, I still recall that ad!

We should compare notes when I saw the 1517 MPR.
I had to have one so it is an early one also.
Sorry about how you acquired it.
The 17 HMR is a useful little cartridge.
Very precise as well.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

I had 2 54 Sporters over the years and foolishly sold them both off. They are things of beauty! Enjoy yours.

Forgot I had these bookmarked:

Hyskore Expert's Optic Aid Set :: Glasses & Earmuffs :: Bullseye Gear

Though a scope wouldn't look too out of place on that gun.

It's all scoped and ready for a nice squirrel hunt.
The shag bark hickories are even loaded with nuts.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

This option should be easy for anyone to make. Any 54 Sporter, any caliber, if wearing a factory stock, was designed to be used with a scope. They, can be used with iron sights, as an option. Very nice, easily available scopes, rings, and mounts are offered, by Leupold, here in the USA. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read somewhere that some German shooters prefer Leupold scopes above other brands. So, if you are not limited to iron sights to shoot in a class that requires iron sights, why not "kill two birds with one stone" swallow your pride and install a scope on that prized 54 Sporter, that's designed for it anyway, help your failing eyesight, and enjoy it even more? I did, but did it to start with, when I first got the rifle, back in 1970. Haven't had even a twinge of guilt, for paying the unheard of high price of $132.60 for the 54 Sporter, or, adding the Leupold Scope.
Chubbo

Awesome gun. I have wanted to find a vintage one for some time and just never had one cross my path.

If the eyes aren't good with irons, buy the biggest and best scope you can for it. Who cares if anyone gives you a hard time about it; it'd be neat to put clover leaves on a bullseye...

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Rather be outdoors

Ya know, way back when I used to hustle home from school to get the mail before my dad got home. Once a month I'd score the American Rifleman with a beautiful picture on the front, often with a great rifle leaning up against a departed game animal. And even if I failed on the cover, inside there were more pix. From the beginning I dreamed about owning a Model 70 and the best scope made, a BalVar 8. Had I stumbled into big bucks somehow, I knew what my first purchase would be.

I kept haunting gun shows. I even bought the mandatory Weatherby to waste space in my safe. But I never forgot the M70. Then one day about 15 years ago I was at another gun show. I'd walked the entire 3000 table show I thought. But skinnying out the narrow slot the promoter gave us, I noticed a rifle in our own island. I asked the guy who owned it if I could look at it, and he promptly responded "that's what its here for". So there it was, it all its 1937 beauty, a late first year 2000s serial M70, complete with the needed BalVar 8 scope. Not the greatest condition, but well cared for. So being kind of an old hand at the gun show deal, I put it back and continued on my rounds. Except it was eating at me. But it was Sunday, and getting close to time to pack up.

I knew the best time to buy was as they started to pack up. I held my words and waited. Sure enough, they started to haul out the gun cases to pack them. And the owner stepped right into the hot steamy pile I'd left for him. He asked if I had any interest in that rifle. As cool as I coul.d be, I said I did, but it was priced too high. There are rules to follow in all this. One is the price is discounted to neighboring tables. Another is at pack up time, the best deal is made because $100 bills are easier to carry than a long gun. And he shifted the onus to me by saying what did I think a fair price would be. Gotta be careful not to insult the other guy, but leave room too. So his $800 was countered by my $600. He acted like I stabbed him in the heart. But he recovered to $700. It was easily worth that to me, but the game is important also. So I counterd his $700 with a $650 and bought my M70. He even tossed in the carrying case. A good guy if there ever was one. That was back in the early 2000s. No, I haven't bothered to shoot it. I've got other .30-06s. Its function was to soothe my pain of poverty from my early youth.

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Dick Burg

that early mod 70 will kick like a mule off the bench. Best leave it in the safe.

My 54 sporter, not a very flattering pic, and yes, I write my self notes. I love the rifle, not the safety so much, but the rifle is a "up town".

Charlie

Charlie yours is an absolute beauty.
I couldn't wait to shoot mine and it will be out hunting tomorrow.
I'm hoping to challenge my son to a squirrel competition this fall.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726