Savage Single Shot Firearms > Savage 219 Single Shot Rifles

PERHAPS in the clear?

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Sentry44:
Hi All,

My second post.  The first was in the intro forum.

As previously stated, I THOUGHT that I sheered the tip of the firing pin right off this little beauty.  Alas, upon cocking this guy firmly all the way, the little nub reappears.  While I PROMISE you I am not new to firearms, I am indeed new to the 219.  On the Savage 24 these pins are somewhat loose, such that they fall back into the receiver with no pressure at all.  But on this 219 (early) I've acquired, the pin stays firmly forward after firing (using an A-Zoom .30-30 Snap Cap), whereafter, the action cannot be closed until the lever is pushed to the right.  One cannot simply "snap" the gun shut with the firing pin 'nub' exposed.

Forgive me...but is this normal?  Or is my action just 60+ years in need of gun grease, such that it actually SHOULD close and that pin just fall back easily without moving the lever?

ps  Garnett, I've now completed your book.  You've done a fine job sir.

Regards,

Sentry44

Garnett:
Sentry44, Thank you for your compliment and sharing your thoughts on the 219.  In my experience, if the trigger us pulled  after opening the action, the firing pin will remain in the forward position until re-cocked before closing the action.  Re-cocking is no problem with the early guns with the striker system, as all you need to do is move the top lever to the right and this retracts the firing pin.  I must admit that I have never dry fired either system (striker or hammer) and do not know how easy/difficult it is to re-cock the hammer system.  I am away from home and will try it when i get back next week.  Best wishes, Garnett

Sentry44:
OK!  Then I think I'm all good then, and my pin is not actually broken.  In my naivety about this gun I thought that the cocking mechanism was actually controlled by the act of the action breaking (as it is on a Spanish over/under I own), and some others I know about.  On such guns, as the breech end of the barrel angles away from the face of the receiver as it opens, a spring-loaded cocking mechanism is then freed to allow the sear to engage the spring, and then when the barrel is shut the spring is push into tension, and the gun is again cocked. 

But in reality, on the 219, it's the act of the lever going to the right that actually does the cocking.

In doing a little Googling I found two references on other forums where people talk about why you cannot dry fire these guns without risking pin damage.  Savage 24's are like this too, but the difference is, because the Model 24 has an exposed hammer, one can easily de-cock it by simply pulling the trigger as you hold the hammer with your thumb, letting it down gently. 

On the 219, unless I'm wrong, it seems the only way to put the gun back in the cabinet with the mainspring at rest is to pull the trigger beforehand.  The GOOD NEWS is, A-Zoom makes a .30-30 "snap cap" (apparently for a time they didn't offer one in .30-30 cal).  So I picked up a set of those on eBay for $9, so now I can pull the trigger on the gun and store it that way.

I'm a big believer in extending the life of the internals on all my guns by storing them de-cocked.  However this is the first gun I own that you need to actually pull the trigger to get the gun de-cocked (unless I'm missing something, and if so, please tell me). 

Therefore, the helpful "snap cap."

Thanks for clarifying, Garnett!

- Sentry44

Garnett:
I will look for a set of these .30-30 snap caps.  I have never thought of storing mine "un-cocked".  Thanks for the info.

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