Hello all. This is my first post on what looks to be a great site. I have been keeping an eye on these Savage 219 and 220 hammerless singles on the auction sites for a while now. I'm waiting for one in near new condition that isn't price like a Parker AAH. I grew up using single shots as a boy because my father found them to be the safest. In 1962 I walked to school carrying my Winchester Model 20 to give an oral book report to my third grade class on the function and inherent safety of break open firearms for young folks. I even discharged a primer into the teacher's empty wastebasket. Mrs. Thompson gave me an "A" for being so thorough. A few years ago I brought my nephew out to the gravel pit to practice with that little Model 20 which unlike the hammerless 219's and 220's has a hammer. I was teaching him how to carry it open and how to close, cock, shoulder and swing on a clay bird all at the same time. It was supposed to simulate a hunting shot. It was how I was taught and it worked fine for me. He is 12 years old, about 80 pounds and can do more chin-ups in a minute than you can count. None the less his thumb slipped off the hammer and it discharged with the pellets hitting the ground about 15 to 20 feet in front of him. He followed the rule of always point your firearm down range so it was lesson well learned. If I had one of these Savage singles the outcome would have been clearly different. My grand kids will soon be old enough for their rite of passage so I think I will have to pass on a high condition 219 or 220 and get one that will be of good service to train them on.
