Savage 219 and 220 Single Shot Rifles & Shotguns

The early lever action repeaters with tube magazines needed round or flat nose bullets so the recoil would not cause a cartridge in the magazine to fire.  I have always felt that the Model 219 Savages in .30-30, .32-20, and .25-20 would be more accurate with modern pointed bullets.  It would be interesting to see results of 3 shots of each of the two bullet styles at 100 yards.

That is a great result. You mentioned your powder was SR 4759, but that powder has not been made for years? We cannot get in Canada unless one pays crazy prices for the odd old can that shows up on auction sites.

I can get one inch groups with Leverevolution and Hornady FTX bullets. My friend casts bullets, so I will try some loads if he has some 30 cal stuff I can borrow to try with Leverevolution to see if I can get something close to what you did!

Mike

Five shots at fifty yards.  The Range Officer and I couldn’t determine whether the results were 3 and 2 or 4 and 1.  Which do you think it is ?

Thaine,  Welcome to this forum!  Best wishes, Garnett

Reasonable (my idea) is $650 Canadian, with a Bushnell scope on it, and it looks to be in good shape. A 30-30 tends to go for around $400 to $500 up here and I know 22 Hornet is harder to find so it commands a bit more money. The only other 22 Hornets I have seen here were in poor shape and the sellers still wanted $500 or more for them. One was so bad somebody screwed the forearm onto the barrel (with a hole drilled through a nickel as a washer!) so that the gun would not come apart when you opened it to put another round in. I wanted to see the numbers on the barrel and receiver to prove it was all original and the seller got mad when I told him these guns do come apart. He insisted the gun was built that way.

I am waffling on buying this caliber, because it is a pain to reload from what I hear. My friend is far more knowledgeable about 22 Hornet, and he noted you can play around with different powders and bullets for a long time, to find that magic combination that gives you a good grouping. He did eventually find a load that worked in his gun (Ruger #1 I think) that shot thumbnail groups at a hundred yards, which is what you want in varmit gun I guess. That is why I am wondering if there is a decent factory load that people have found works in the Savage 219's. The other issue is even finding a selection of factory ammo for this caliber. I hear they can be a lot of fun to shoot, and I do enjoy collecting these guns though, so maybe I will buy it regardless.