Savage Sporter 1924 in 25-20

[John F.]

Call me a heretic, but my pristine, early Savage 23 with a perfect bore (.25-20) got a nice set of Unertl scope mounts added.
They are period-type, and it makes a heck of a nice rig. The purpose of the rifle is to be used. I'm using it, and not fretting about
a change in the value. I'm not planning on selling it unless I croak, anyway!
John

[tejano]

Call me a heretic, but my pristine, early Savage 23 with a perfect bore (.25-20) got a nice set of Unertl scope mounts added.
They are period-type, and it makes a heck of a nice rig. The purpose of the rifle is to be used. I'm using it, and not fretting about
a change in the value. I'm not planning on selling it unless I croak, anyway!
John

Photo please.

[FISH4BUGS]

Photo please.

Yes, photo please.

[Dimner]

OK...so I need to pick the hive's brain on this one.
I have a pristine Savage Sporter made in 1924 in 25-20. I even have a factory letter for it.
My eyes are getting worse and iron sights really don't do it for me any more.
I am a collector and really look down my nose at modified non-original guns but I would really like to scope this one and use it as my woodchuck gun. I am the neighborhood chuck assasin, and shoot in a number of farmer's fields around here.
I would like to scope it but it requires drilling and tapping it, and that hurts my collector's sensibilities.
How does the hive feel about drilling and tapping and scoping an old original gun?
Yes, I know....it isn't a Holland and Holland or a Rigby. It is just an old Savage Sporter that is worth MAYBE $400, but it is still a pristine 100 year old gun.
I am really torn on this one.
Your thoughts?

Just swap it with me and I'll send along a savage 24 in 223/20ga. It's all setup with a scope mount.

But the serious answer is that varmint rifle in 22 mag or 17hmr or 17bmag can be found for only a bit more than it costs to get that collector rifle drilled and tapped. For example I have a savage 93 in 17hmr that is lights out upto 250 yards. I'd check arms list to see what is available local to you.

[26Charlie]

25-20 up to 100 yds or so? You can use low power reading glasses to see the sights better and still see targets well enough. There used to be a little suction cup peep sight to stick on your glasses to sharpen up sight picture. It worked, but I don’t know where you would get one now. I favor keeping the rifle unaltered.

[tejano]

I think the Merit Corp. is still in business. I have one that I bought 20 years ago. Pricey but works well.

[dverna]

OK...so I need to pick the hive's brain on this one.
I have a pristine Savage Sporter made in 1924 in 25-20. I even have a factory letter for it.
My eyes are getting worse and iron sights really don't do it for me any more.
I am a collector and really look down my nose at modified non-original guns but I would really like to scope this one and use it as my woodchuck gun. I am the neighborhood chuck assasin, and shoot in a number of farmer's fields around here.
I would like to scope it but it requires drilling and tapping it, and that hurts my collector's sensibilities.
How does the hive feel about drilling and tapping and scoping an old original gun?
Yes, I know....it isn't a Holland and Holland or a Rigby. It is just an old Savage Sporter that is worth MAYBE $400, but it is still a pristine 100 year old gun.
I am really torn on this one.
Your thoughts?

I have other guns to kill varmints with so would leave the old girl alone.

[nueces5]

A few years ago I was in the same place as you
I had bought a 1909 Mauser in very good condition, but my eyes were limited to shooting at 100-150 meters, not sure what I was shooting at.
After thinking about it for a long time, I considered that there were two possible configurations.
1/_ have the original in my safe, take it out from time to time, look at it and save it again. Although at some point I would take it to the range, I would try again to do some precision, and I would be very frustrated.
2/_ Take it to a gunsmith and have him come with his drilling machine to remove its originality.

Finally I stayed halfway, getting an accumount mount, an old German scope, which although it is not the original, is quite "in tune" with the weapon.
Now I have fired it again with the pleasure of knowing where I am aiming its barrel.

[FISH4BUGS]

I looked up the Stith Mounts and came up with a number of possibiilties. I'll have to do some digging on that one!
I will also meet with my gunsmith to see what he might suggest.
My goal is to scope it and leave it original. I hope I can do that.
My eyes (actually one eye - I'm blind in my right eye) don't work as well any more.
Tough to get old!

[FISH4BUGS]

Change of plans! I talked with my gunsmith and we are going to try a mount that fits into the dovetail of the rear sight, and install a 3x red dot scope. It can stay original and if I want, i can always move the red dot sight somewhere else.
We talked money and now I have to consider if it is worth $500 to do that....for a $400 rifle.
25-20 is a cool little caliber and quite capable of woodchuck hunting. I think it would be a fun little rifle.
Oh man, I hate this decision making.

[charlie b]

Quite a decision. And one that many of us deal with.

Unless the gun is of sentimental value I would either sell it and get something you want to use, or ante up the money to convert it. But, between the gun value of $400 and the conversion cost, that $900 would get you a REALLY nice rifle that fits exactly what you want to do. Savage 25 Light Varmint in .22 Hornet or .222 Rem? Or the Howa mini action in .223?

But, there is the satisfaction of shooting an old classic that cannot be measured in dollars (and sense ).

[ulav8r]

at https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1184573594?pid=818605 Might not need alteration to install, could be a good start to mounting a red dot.

[FISH4BUGS]

Quite a decision. And one that many of us deal with.
But, there is the satisfaction of shooting an old classic that cannot be measured in dollars (and sense ).

I think that weighs heavily on my decision. For some odd reason, i am very interested in casting and loading for 25-20. I bought a bunch of brass here from Grumpa (I think that was his name as I recall) before he passed.
I scrounged maybe 600 powder coated and 600 jacketed bullets. I have 2 moulds for it. It took me some time to accomplish all that.
I am working up the most accurate load I can for it. So far, so good but my eyes are just not doing it any more.
The man that gifted me the rifle for helping him move has passed. It took a while to find an original magazine for it.
I LIKE the idea of a 3x red dot.
All of those facts make this gun very sentimental to me. Now all I have to do is convince myself to spend the money....or not. The suggestion to buy a gun specifically for this use is a good one. But then, it wouldn't be that old classic.
I know...the woodchucks won't know the difference.
I once had a small lobster boat and 25 traps that i fished in a Portsmouth NH harbor when I lived on the seacoast. I figured once that lobster was costing me some $30 a pound by the end of a season....bait, fuel, lost gear, etc. - lobster that I could BUY for $6 or $7 a pound.....but that wasn't the point.
This rifle is heading down that same path.

[slughammer]

We talked money and now I have to consider if it is worth $500 to do that....for a $400 rifle.
25-20 is a cool little caliber.....

How much of that $500 cost is the 3x RedDot?.......I wouldn't count that, I'd only count the price of the mount and the skill to make everything fit.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk

[HWooldridge]

I think that weighs heavily on my decision. For some odd reason, i am very interested in casting and loading for 25-20. I bought a bunch of brass here from Grumpa (I think that was his name as I recall) before he passed.
I scrounged maybe 600 powder coated and 600 jacketed bullets. I have 2 moulds for it. It took me some time to accomplish all that.
I am working up the most accurate load I can for it. So far, so good but my eyes are just not doing it any more.
The man that gifted me the rifle for helping him move has passed. It took a while to find an original magazine for it.
I LIKE the idea of a 3x red dot.
All of those facts make this gun very sentimental to me. Now all I have to do is convince myself to spend the money....or not. The suggestion to buy a gun specifically for this use is a good one. But then, it wouldn't be that old classic.
I know...the woodchucks won't know the difference.
I once had a small lobster boat and 25 traps that i fished in a Portsmouth NH harbor when I lived on the seacoast. I figured once that lobster was costing me some $30 a pound by the end of a season....bait, fuel, lost gear, etc. - lobster that I could BUY for $6 or $7 a pound.....but that wasn't the point.
This rifle is heading down that same path.

I know exactly how you feel with regard to originality, trust me on that…and my eyes are in similar shape. One thing you might consider if you want to stick with iron is a peep sight. I have a Marble tang sight on a 44-40 carbine and it makes a 50 yard difference for my vision. I can only hit reliably under 50 yds with the barrel sights but the peep makes me downright dangerous out to 100 or a bit farther. Of course, a 25-20 is geared more toward smaller targets/game so some magnification makes it more usable.

[dverna]

This stuff is cheap, effective and comes off easily:

https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-14021...40609748&psc=1

I have used it to mount ribs to a Trap gun to try different set ups. Never tried it on a CF rifle but your .25/20 is not going to have much recoil and on a lightweight red dot there is not much mass.

You can rough shape a mount to fit the receiver/barrel and Goop will fill the gaps. Easy to remove with a bit of fishing line worked between the barrel than the mount if you ever want to remove it. Whatever Goop is left on the barrel will peel off with a bit of rubbing using your finger. I have used it on an $18k trap gun with no issues.

If it does not work, you are out less than $15.

[Good Cheer]

Getting ready to load some more 85 grain plain bases with 3.5 grains of Unique and then wait on more bokchoi munchers to show up.