I dug out a Savage 220 that belonged to my Grandmother. It is a rather sleek looking break action hammerless single shot. It also came with a .22 Hornet barrel that it shares the same forestock with. (unfortunately, the .22 Hornet barrel had a mud dauber nest about 6 inches from the chamber when I inherited it, ugh!).

My stepson is expressing an interest in shooting, and has asked about a single shot to start with. I'm fine with that until he (and I) get more comfortable.

My questions are 2: Any idea on what choke it may be? No marks.
What can I do about the Hornet barrel?

It is almost certainly full choke. Very few single shots were anything else. Is the nest out? If it is, try shooting the rifle. Some pretty awful looking barrels will shoot well. Conceivably the rifle could be rebored to something like 32/20 or 25/20.

Just got back from shooting it, full choke would be my guess. The nest is long gone, but it left a rough patch about 2" long all the way around the bore. I will try it sometime.....even if it doesn't shoot so well not a whole lot of utility in an open sighted, single shot .22 Hornet. Even less in a ..25 or .32-20, lol. Either of those would have been my guess also, on a rechambering.

Neat gun though, must be from the 30's somewhere. Like brand new, really. Very stiff on the open and close.

OZ

The Savage 220 (20 and 16ga actions) will take the rifle bbl just as the Savage 219 will accept a shotgun bbl 20 or 16.
They are made on the same action

The 220 was sold as a shotgun
The 219 sold as a rifle

They both date from the mid to late 1930's IIRC. But were mfg'rd as late as the 60's or 70's.


The 219 rifles are still quite popular and bring decent $$ for what they are. In good condition they start around $300 and go up.
.22Hornet are the most common along w/ 30-30.
The hard to find ones are the 25-20 and 32-20.
I believe these 4 were all the factory chamberings. But not all were offered all through the entire production.

They can be rebored/ or relined to quite a few different rounds.
38-55 is popular as are some of the big bore pistol rimmed rounds, .
357Mag is another possibility. The dia of the bbl at the muzzle limits what you can do with the orig bbl.
The bbl can be used as a monobloc and rebbled that way to about anything reasonable. Much the same way people are using the H&R HandiRifle to built single shots in many calibers.

The early actions are top lever opening,,late model side lever . Difference in striker and hammer inside too.

I have an early one in 22H that awaits my doing something with it.
The one done by John Madole some years ago was always an inspiration to me. I'll probably go that route.

*JOHN MADOLE CUSTOM ENGRAVED SAVAGE MODEL 219 SINGLE SHOT RIFLE.

Thank you for the info!,
The frame has a 219 on it, so I am going to assume it was acquired as a .22 Hornet rifle and the 20 gauge barrel was an add on. That may explain the stiff action with the shotgun barrel. Probably needs some fitting. I'll shoot the Hornet check for accuracy, and might casually look for a barrel in 30-30 just for ammunition availability. Handling it this am, the forstock won't snap into place. I suppose I'll have to tinker with it some more.

Thanks again,
Oscar Zulu

If your Hornet performs like my 219C you will be very happy.

__________________
Mighty 90's,Trying 4 a 100!

Some bore lapping compound might clean up the rough patch from hornet's nest in your Hornet.

It appears the "hook" that holds the fore arm on has ben enlarged, probably to fit a modified fore arm that was done to fit the 20 ga barrel. So I have a Very tight (Too tight) 20 ga single shot, and a .22 Hornet with a forearm that won't snap on.......
It will work with the 20 ga, just with a lot of effort.

Oscar Zulu

They way you complain about it, I'd think you believe you've been the recipient of Hand-Me-Down junk! If you put just a little effort into it you have a heirloom! No it isn't a black plastic rifle! It is a 75+ year old treasure! Change your attitude or give it away as a Karma!

Ivan

All my sons started with a SS 20 gauge! I foolishly traded off my 219 Hornet 35 years ago. And wish to have it back! I was on the trail of a 219 Horney with a 20 gauge barrel, when I walked into the store, there was a friend of mine and fellow Hornet fan holding it, and knew better that to set it down! It was $269 with the fore end electrical tapped in place(still a bargain!). That model was grooved for 22 scope rings, mine had been factory drilled and tapped for a Weaver base.

A buddy of mine had the .22 Hornet rifle back in the early 70s. A sleek rifle and the only one I ever saw in person. Since the Hornet is my favorite I wanted one but never found or even saw another.

I'd shoot the damaged rifle. You might be surprised at the accuracy. If the damage is close to the chamber, the barrel has a long way to straighten out the bullet path out.

I had a model 220 in 20 ga it was my first gun , I shot a lot of rabbits with it . it no hammer to cock on a cold morning and when I broke the barrel the safe would go on ,

I'm certainly not ungrateful! It's a neat old single shot, been in the family since the late 30"s I would guess. I'm just trying to breath some new life into it. I am concerned why the forend won't lock when the Hornet barrel is installed. i found a 30-30 barrel at an online auction we'll see if the forend will be an issue on it.
The quality of a "cheap" gun from the thirties compared to firearms made today amazing, and rather sad.

OZ