Shot a 100 yr old rifle today.

[ShadeTree]

Always does my heart good to get this one out. A Savage M1920 made in 1920, chambered in 250-3000.

Had it stored away with oil in the barrel, ran 1 dry patch through it and shot it. First shot on that clean bore is the high shot, next 3 were in the middle. I've shot 3/4" groups with this load and rifle at 100 yds, but every yr gets tougher with iron sights when I get these rifles out. Struggle with the fuzzies on vision.



Pic of it today on the bench. Short action Mauser action with tang safety and weighs 6lbs. Cool old rifle I think. Has a dovetailed flip up bolt peep.




Also had the Rem 760 in 35 Remington along. The Rem Core Lokts I just picked up have the cannelure sitting higher on the shank of the bullet than the factory bullets I pull and load, so I wanted to make sure they weren't noticeably different in how they shot. Have it sighted in around 1" high with the Speer 180's, and these shoot higher. Group measures 1.064, which is pretty typical for this rifle. Have shot much tighter at times but not today.



Everybody has their own preferences but I wouldn't trade this rifle for a bucket full of plastic stocked modern rifles. I just like it. Especially in the woods. It's never thrown a what was that shot flier, doesn't matter what I've shot in it so far. 1.25" is about the extent of its poor groups. 1.5-5 scope on it.

 

[DrMike]

Very nice. It does the soul good to fire those old classics.

 

[cloverleaf]

Good to see the old 250 "out" shade! Would be a shame, in some ways- but does weaver make a "side mount" for that model. It could look pretty good w/ an old k-4 on top...and easier to shoot. CL

 

[1100 Remington Man]

That is nice CL

 

[JD338]

Good stuff ST.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Excellent. I enjoyed the photos & short descriptions. All three look quite useful, and in good shape.

Guy

 

[ShadeTree]

Good to see the old 250 "out" shade! Would be a shame, in some ways- but does weaver make a "side mount" for that model. It could look pretty good w/ an old k-4 on top...and easier to shoot. CL

That would be the ticket CL as far as wringing the most out of it for me, but I'll probably let it as it is. If it ever gets to the point that all I can do is hit a gallon jug 2 out of 3 times at 50 yds, I will still enjoy it. Or maybe when I get older than I am now, my views about preserving such things will change. Never know.

One nice thing is that bolt peep is not in a fixed upright position but has a locking lever that allows you to flip it down out of the way. So if a scope was ever put on it, you could let the bolt peep untouched.

 

[SJB358]

Awesome stuff ST. Sometimes it’s just nice to shoot these old critter getters and man, neither of them leave anything wanting.

That 1920 Savage is pretty dang cool.

 

[hunter24605]

Cool! We have an old ‘94 Winchester 38-55 that was handed to me as my first deer rifle in 1980. It has the octagonal barrel, my grandpa said it was made around 1900 give or take a few years either side. I like shooting it, even though many, many years ago the front sight was lost in the woods and the mechanic at the coal mine grandpa worked at “fixed” it by cutting a dime in half and soldering on the barrel. Still wears that dime to this day.

 

[RL338]

Always does my heart good to get this one out. A Savage M1920 made in 1920, chambered in 250-3000.

Had it stored away with oil in the barrel, ran 1 dry patch through it and shot it. First shot on that clean bore is the high shot, next 3 were in the middle. I've shot 3/4" groups with this load and rifle at 100 yds, but every yr gets tougher with iron sights when I get these rifles out. Struggle with the fuzzies on vision.

Dang that's good shootin' with open sights at 100 yds.

 

[TackDriver284]

Nice stuff. I used to have a .244 Rem 760 GameMaster, it was my grand daddy's rifle. Miss that rifle. I started reloading for the first time using this rifle back in the early 90's. I think it had that 4X scope, possibly a Cub, can't remember. It sure was old. I was using 70 to 85 grain bullets only, it would not stabilize the 100 grains and I remembered the 100 grain keyholing on paper.

 

[ShadeTree]

Dang that's good shootin' with open sights at 100 yds.

That was around 2 yrs ago when I was messing with this rifle pretty regular.........up to 1.5" was pretty standard and every now and then I'd get fortunate with my hold on 3 shots and it would be under an inch. That old rifle would really shoot with a scope on it I'm certain.

Done this with it at 50 yds during that same time.



Here is one of the 3/4" 100 yd targets. Looks like I was consistent on hold with this one, but about 2" low.

 

[DrMike]

Without a doubt, the rifle and the rifleman can account for game consistently according to what is presented. Good show!

 

[ShadeTree]

Cool! We have an old ‘94 Winchester 38-55 that was handed to me as my first deer rifle in 1980. It has the octagonal barrel, my grandpa said it was made around 1900 give or take a few years either side. I like shooting it, even though many, many years ago the front sight was lost in the woods and the mechanic at the coal mine grandpa worked at “fixed” it by cutting a dime in half and soldering on the barrel. Still wears that dime to this day.

Can't buy the authenticity rifles like that come with. And can't reproduce it. Very nice.

Nice stuff. I used to have a .244 Rem 760 GameMaster, it was my grand daddy's rifle. Miss that rifle. I started reloading for the first time using this rifle back in the early 90's. I think it had that 4X scope, possibly a Cub, can't remember. It sure was old. I was using 70 to 85 grain bullets only, it would not stabilize the 100 grains and I remembered the 100 grain keyholing on paper.

Grandpa's gun would be the most important thing, but man if you had that rifle today. Those 244's in 760's don't poke their head up very often as they didn't make many, and when they do they bring big money. On a side note, the 244 isn't near the rifle the 6mm is in my opinion only because of that slow twist rate. If it would've shot 100 grain bullets like a 6mm does, you'd probably still have it. It's a shame but that was another unfortunate big miss by Remington.