Author Topic: Great grandpas savage 219  (Read 4486 times)

Haywire1

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Great grandpas savage 219
« on: April 13, 2020, 09:15:48 PM »
I realized ive been using my intro thread as a build thread, silly me.

In 1939 my great grandpa bought himself a Savage 219 single shot in 30/30 and because of a disability he was ineligible to join the military in ww2, so he used it to poach deer, moose etc during the war and made sure the families in his community had meat while their men were off fighting. Sometime between then and 1947 when my grandfather got it great gramps had shortened the barrel to 22”, ported it, drilled and tapped for a scope base(bit of an amateur machinist, and pretty progressive thinker), put on a weaver 2.5x scope, and changed the buttstock for a savage 24 stock.

I inherited it a number of years ago, and have been searching for a utica addressed barrel to replace the original damaged one. Finally found one, and sent it off to a good friends shop to get some work done. Considering he usually builds long range precision rifles, i am very fortunate he took this on as a personal project. We had some misteps along the way with the bluing due to the early reciever turning a particularly nasty shade of purple, but he managed to get it. Shortened the barrel and ported it, and drilled and tapped for a scope mount. He custom fit a rail rather than two bases, as we were unable to match whatever great grandpa used(wasnt weavers lol).i also managed during the time he had it to locate a weaver 2.5x that dates to 1950ish and had it gone through and restored. I found a decent piece of walnut, and decided to try my hand at stock making, finished up fitting it this evening, and stained both the original forend, and the new buttstock. For being made 81 years apart i think it came out pretty close. I left the wrist about 1.5x thicker than stock, as i find the originals to be thin, and prone to cracking, the added thickness is comfortable to me and should help the cracking. I also plan to bed the tang both at the rear, and on the scallops just to help ensure the fit is perfect, and to help it a tad. With all the other work Great Grandpa did, i have no doubt he woukd have bedded it himself if he had of known about bedding or the eventual cracking. I’ll continue updates here.


The finished receiver


Finished barrel

Couldn’t  wait to mock it up

All the stock fitting finished

And finally stained


Tomorrow the stock and forend finishing begins, then bedding and final assembly. I apologize for the novel length post, it is definitely not my usual style, i am just super excited

Garnett

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2020, 11:49:54 PM »
Thank you for sharing this with us!  You have a great story and project.  Please send more pictures when finished and let us know how it shoots.  Best wishes!

Haywire1

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2020, 09:24:19 PM »
All back together and finished. As for how it shoots, see below  8)
All together


And after sighting in, a 5 round group at 100yards



.647” at the widest, minus .308 for the bullet equals it shooting .339 moa. Savage always did build great rifles, aside from the absolutely horible trigger pull lol

Garnett

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2020, 10:41:23 PM »
Thank you for sharing this information with us.  When I got my second M219 in .30-30 I wanted a scope on it.  It is a First Model Utica, like yours.  I did not like the two piece Weaver alloy mounts and cheap rings so my gunsmith modified a one piece Redfield mount with the steel rings.  I think the reinforcing where the forward part of the stock meets the frame is an excellent idea to prevent cracks.  That is the other problem in addition to a very hard trigger pull with these guns.  I built a .22 Hornet for my daughter for her last birthday.  The trigger pull was the worst I had encountered.  On the indoor range at 25 yards, the pull was so hard it was difficult to hit the man size target.  My gunsmith corrected that.  The trigger now has a very crisp 2.5# pull.  I hope you will have many years of fun with your Great Grand Dad's gun!

Haywire1

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2021, 01:17:18 AM »
Well its been a while since I’ve been in here, but a bit of an update. I found out some more information about great grandads 219. My grandfather used it from 1947 to 1951 as his go to hunting rifle, then in 1952 bought himself a mauser, and the 219 was retired, and never shot again. After I restored it last year, i mounted a 3-9 scope on it as my, lets say well matured, eyes just arent up to a 2.5x any more. I took it hunting last year, but while i saw deer, nothing that stayed around long enough to shoot, very skittish. This year, 2 days ago in point of fact, three nice sized does walked into a clearing i was watching. They bolted, i led the one, shot and down she went. 218 yards from my position to hers. 70 years after its last deer hunt, and still putting meat in the freezer. I admit it was a somewhat emotional moment.
« Last Edit: September 23, 2021, 01:19:55 AM by Haywire1 »

Garnett

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2021, 11:17:17 AM »
Thanks for sharing with us!  This proves that something can be useful, even though it is old!

Winter Hawk

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #6 on: November 23, 2021, 01:25:15 PM »
Well done!

Though lots of "experts" pooh-pooh the .30-30, you can't argue with success! Too bad you couldn't have wrung one more yard out of the distance - 219 yards for a 219 Savage!

~Kees~

Haywire1

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2022, 09:18:44 AM »
While i dont post on here very much, the old 219 is still my favourite hunting rifle, this year took another nice doe, and stalked up onto a very nice moose. One shot for each. Note the moose picture was taken after dragging it out from the bush. Road is an old non maintained bush road




Garnett

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2022, 10:44:57 AM »
Thanks for sharing with us!

Haywire1

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2023, 07:27:50 PM »
And the old savage is still getting the job done. Big body atypical buck(10” spikes, no forks at a very wierd angle from skull)315 yards, 82lbs of meat in the freezer


Garnett

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Re: Great grandpas savage 219
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2023, 11:20:48 PM »
A great shot at 315 yards!