Savage 219 and 220 Single Shot Rifles & Shotguns
Savage Single Shot Firearms => Hi! My Name is... => Topic started by: bennysbuddy on October 01, 2017, 11:55:35 PM
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my on screen name is Bennysbuddy after my best buddy my dog benny ,or I will also answer to mike mathiesen . I have been interested in hunting grouse since childhood with single shot shot guns and recently have developed an interest in model 220's as I have always felt they are the Cadillac of the single shot game . I discovered this forum while looking for instructions for disassembly of the gun & see there is a whole book devoted to them that I plan to buy immediately.
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Mike, welcome to this forum. Thanks for sharing your interests with us. I share your beliefs that this is a really a fine shotgun/rifle. My new revised edition of "Savage Single Shot Arms" has complete disassembly/reassembly instructions. Also, the December 1962 edition of Shooting Times has an article with these instructions. It can be found sometimes on E-Bay for a low price. Of course, my instructions have pictures and are more detailed! Best wishes, Garnett
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Welcome!
I think that the 220 is a very decent grouse gun and I used one (an original 220 20 guage made in Chicopee Falls with a factory variable choke) for many years in upstate NYS.
A single shot gun is not much of a handicap for grouse because you get so few multiple flushed birds and so few reasonable second shots. (Most second shots are just guys expressing their frustration--hard on the pine trees but easy on the birds....). And 220s are the quickest and safest singles.
Single shots are dead reliable in the cold and don't weigh much--you can still get that gun up quick even after miles and miles of hunting. We had a saying about grouse hunting--"GUNS don't kill grouse; LEGS do!" Of course a good dog or so helps a lot.
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Mike (Armstrong), I am old and forgetful, but I don't remember you sharing with me that your 20 gauge had a factory variable choke on it. Is is a Savage or a Poly Choke? Both were installed by Savage. I have 3, but all are on 12 gauge guns. And.... the only ones I have seen have been 12 gauge. What is your barrel length with the choke? It would be nice if you could post a picture. Best wishes, Garnett
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Garnett, I'm not absolutely sure that this is a factory installed Poly-Choke, but it looks like the installation shown in your first book. Barrel is just a hair under 28". Still can't do pix.
I kept it set at Improved Cylinder for grouse except in the very early season, when I kept it at Cylinder--when the leaves are still on the trees, you can't see far enough to need any choke (You just need to be full of caffeine!).