Score! The last of the "guns of my youth"

[cmansguns]

Early 1960's...before I got drafted (1966) were some mighty fine years indeed. Age 17 to 20 I had accumulated a pretty nice firearms selection including a Ithaca M37 (12 ga), Win 94 (30-30),
SMLE Sporter (303), Mossberg (22 lr), Stevens SxS (12 ga), a Remington 1903-A3 (30-06) and a Savage 340 in 22 Hornet.

ALL of them were sold to local men, quickly, and on the cheap when I got drafted because I had no where to store them and of course...the times being the times...no one could guarantee you would even be returning from the Army.

Fast forward some 62 plus years and I have been fortunate enough to not only replace all of the guns, save one, but to add so many fine handguns over the years and start a S&W interest that has really been a lot of fun.

The ONE that has eluded me for so many years was the Savage Model 340 that was my "job" in those late teen years. My friend (later my best man at my wedding) and I had a deal with local dairy farmers to clear their pastures of woodchucks for $.25/tail.

The farmers would have the herd in alternate pastures, so we would usually find clear fields of fire, but could seldom get closer than 75 to 100 yards without spooking them.

That 22 Hornet was just plain deadly, most times were one shot, one kill cause that's all you got, then wait it out for 1/2 to 1 hr before another would pop his head up.

Anyway..........years of watching estate sales, auctions, LGS, seems never could find anything in decent condition. Most had set in barns or besides the back door, rusted and pitted, cracked stocks, missing parts or sites, etc.

Last week a guy contacted me from a town less than 30 miles from where I grew up in New York State and he had a Savage Model 340, Series E in 22 Hornet, complete with sling and a 3-9 x 32 scope and side mount. He told me the gun in a soft case, appeared to have never been fired. He could not find a serial number so he considered it "pre 1968" and he would ship directly to me.

We made a deal and the rifle was shipped to me on my C&R.

Rifle arrived yesterday and I am shocked...it does indeed appear to have never been fired. It will not stay that way. Ammo is hard to find but after finding some 32-20 WCF last year...22 Hornet should not be a problem.

I found the serial number under the scope mount and it represents (B 849422) a 1974 manufacture by Savage at the Westfield Mass factory. Very hard to date Savage Arms these days since all records are held by BATF since they went bankrupt in 1988.

Enjoy the pics (I know..bad light, crummy cell phone quality)..more later when I get ammo and get it out to the range.

 

[50 target]

Glad you were able to recapture part of your youth. Been there done that. Feels good. Hope this one lives up to the performance of your first. Now to find that pasture and foolish groundhog.
Enjoy.

 

[H Richard]

Very lucky man! Don't find one like that very often.

 

[murphydog]

It's never too late to have a happy childhood (early adulthood)! Congratuations!

 

[lihpster]

I have a 340 in 30-30 Win. Not as pretty as yours, however. My father bought it used and refinished the stock and touched up the metal. Mine has a peep instead of a scope. Dad used it to take a nice 3 point one year. The only year he didn't use a muzzleloader, usually one he made himself, in the last 30+ years. I have about 4-5 magazines for it. Sweet handling little rifle. Glad you were able to find such a nice example. Congrats!

 

[JRB416]

I enjoyed your story and have done the same as you replacing a few of the firearms I enjoyed when young. Two of them were the actual long guns I had as a young teen! Congratulations on your find and many happy days at the bench and/or in the field with your hornet.

 

[Bald1]

Congrats on the rifle. I see you’re smart enough to live in Virginia now. Beautiful state. As a New Yorker I’m just curious where in the state you grew up ?

 

[Krogen]

you made me grin, cmansguns! I'm very happy for you. Who says you can't go home again? I bet it feels good, real good.

 

[LVSteve]

The "no serial number" thing on scoped 340s and 325s has me shaking my head. I cannot believe that word has not got around that the scope mount covers the serial.

 

[sigp220.45]

The "no serial number" thing on scoped 340s and 325s has me shaking my head. I cannot believe that word has not got around that the scope mount covers the serial.

I have a Stevens 325 30/30. No scope mount, no serial number.

 

[Drm50]

I found in my quest for a perfect Cruz’n Piece in 22 Hornet that Savage must have had the secret on 22 Hornet barrels. The Sporter/23series, 340series and the lowly 219 on average out shoot Win 43 and any Ruger 22 Hornet. I never had a M70 in Hornet mostly because if I was to tote a full size rifle why do 22Hornet? A Cruz’n Piece was to sneak around potting groundhogs 0 to 150yds. In my neck of the woods things are steep, even hay fields. The bigger cartridges were used out to about 400yd and after that bigger calibers like 243 & 25/06. After shooting literal hundreds of groundhogs with HV varmit rifles and 16x scopes it got to be more fun walking them up.

 

[Valmet]

Congrats on tracking that one down. I know what it’s like to be after “one” for awhile. I love threads like these.

 

[Jakerin]

My first was a Fanner 50 cap gun. My Paladin derringer belt buckle was my backup.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

If it's been shot it was by the infamous little old lady that drove her car only on Sundays to church . Followed by a visit to the local gun shop to buy a Savage 340 in 22 Hornet .

 

[M29since14]

Glad you were able to round up that one. Yes, sometimes you are able to “go home,” sort of. I hope you get many years of enjoyment from it.

 

[Bobbysixkiller]

Glad to hear you found it. Got me thinking. I haven’t shot prairie dogs in years. Not mean little critters but cattle and horses will fall right in the dens and get hurt

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My 340 22 Hornet is from about 1958. The date on those is a capital letter in a circle that most mistake for a proof or assembly mark.

Not all but most 340's in Hornet will outshoot guns several times their cost.

If you can find it Hornady's V-max 35 grain Ammo shoots very well in those guns.

Reloading is super easy if you take your time. In this cartridge you can get superior ammo with very basic equipment. A Lee Loader is a smash together with a hammer and as cheap as you can get, but weigh powder charges instead of scoop. The two best powders for Hornet I found were H-4227 for the 45 grain semi spitzers and Accurate 1680 for the 35 grain V-Max bullet. Many use Little Gun but that is a troubled use powder, I would recommend you stay away from it.

Now days primers are the biggest concern. You can get away with Small Pistol primers on most rifles. But on Small Rifle Primers the primers are way overpowered. The Remington 6 1/2 was designed for small case capacity, like 32-20, 22 Hornet, & 221 Fireball. (Too much primer, pushes the powder charge down the barrel before ignition is close to complete and causes a much higher velocity spread and larger group size vertically.)

Ivan

 

[cmansguns]

Some answers & details on the Savage 22 Hornet

So...nice way to spend rainy day(s) Memorial Day weekend, minor disassembly for cleaning and lubing my "new to me" Savage 340 E series 22 Hornet, some basic research, ordering 4 boxes of Hornady 35 grain V-Max, can't wait to get it out for a little 100 yard exercise on "woodchucks". For me the "real" woodchucks are days long gone by, and steel replacements are just fine.

Some answers to the questions and observations in above posts:
@Bald1. I grew up in Wellsville, New York, just a few miles from the Pennsy line which was Shongo NY (aka Bean Town). Hunting grounds were mostly farmers fields out by Alma Pond (aka Beaver Pond). The hills were great for Whitetail (shotgun..slugs only), the fields great for woodchucks. Had to be real careful when hunting whitetail because the top of the mountains was the Pennsy line and if you wounded one and he went over the hill you could noy chase em down and tag him. Game Wardens were out in strength during season, not so much because of us "locals" but more so because of the "city hunters" (down from Rochester or Buffalo) who truly didn't know the difference between a buck and a cow!

PS: up the steep side of Alma hill, toward the oil pipeline is where I learned first hand that young black bears can actually run faster uphill than down. Scared the daylights out of me, but super glad I didn't encounter "mom"!

@LVSteve: The seller in New York was a 01 FFL, and I was buying this rifle basically over the phone. I know he is a much younger man, with a decent reputation so I did ask him several questions that would help date the rifle. With the rifle in his hands he could not find a serial number and he "determined" it was "pre-1968" and shipped it upon receipt of my 03 FFL (C&R). I am sure that there may be many FFL's or sellers out there that have no clue about Savage/Stevens (Chicopee Falls up to 1960), Westfield Mass to 1988 date codes and various schemes used by the OEM. It's just something that non-collectors probably don't even think about.

@sigp220.45: Your receiver is probably Chicopee Falls, MA factory (up to 1960), hence the letter in a circle date code scheme. I had a Stevens Model 530A 12ga. SxS that had letter "E" in a circle on the water table, which meant 1953. The letter codes started with A=1949, B= 1950, etc.

Thanks for all the comments and replies. It has been a long search and this one is actually a heck of a lot nicer than the 340 I had in 1962.

PS: the Hornady 35 grain poly tipped V-Max is claimed to be 3070 fps, which sounds like it zips right along. For the life of me I cannot recall even the brand or type (HP, SP, semi-jacketed?) ammo I used way back when. Do any of you folks recall what was popular for 22 Hornet in those days (1960's)?

 

[Bald1]

Very familiar with the area. My cabin is in Portville NY. County line runs through the middle of my pond. My road is Catt Co but cabin sits in Allegany Co. I’ll be selling it and our house in Buffalo area soon to move south. It’s raining here too this weekend. But that’s better than snow.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In the old days, all the factory ammo was Semi-Spitzer flat base. There was Soft Point, Hollow Point and some American and Canadian military surplus Full Metal Jacket.

I have loaded 30gr & 35 gr BTHP Berger, 40 gr. Ballistic Tip, 45/46 grain Simi Spitzer and the 35 gr V-Max with good results. I tried a small batch of 55 gr FMJ/BT, following a magazine's recommendation, The 10 I fired from my 340 all tumbled at 50 yards. Too fast of twist.

Ivan