Savage 340 Rifles In The 22 Hornet

The Savage 340 rifles were sturdy little firearms. They would have been manufactured by the Savage Arms Company, starting around 1950. I would have the pleasure of selling, repairing and installing scopes on these classic firearms. The early model Savage 340s in the 30-30 cartridge were not drilled and tapped in the early years. Great shooting rifles at a reasonable price.

I would (as a gunsmith in the 80’s and 90’s), drill and tap many of these bolt action rifles for scope mounts. I would pretty much exclusively use the Weaver side mounts and enjoy installing them on those Savage firearms.

This is one model that you would have to remove wood on the left hand side of the receiver in order to get the scope and rings to line up center on the receiver. This did make a good looking rifle and worked very well.

The smaller cartridges of the Savage 340 rifles in the222 Remington and the 22 hornet were drilled and tapped from the beginning. I believe the 30-30 cartridges in the 340 model were considered more of a short range brush gun so were not drilled and tapped in the early days. By the mid-1950s the Savage firearms in the 340 model would be drilled and tapped in all calibers.

 

In 1956 they would advertise the Savage model 340-S with a 24 inch barrel in the 222 Remington cartridge. Great concept at the time and with the detachable magazine. Would also come with a peep rear site. Great find today, especially if with original rear peep site. This would be the deluxe model in the 50s. Great collector gun for sure.

 

The Savage 340-S would be listed for $62.00 in 1956.  The standard model would list for $49.95

 

Savage Arms would offer 2 models in the mid 60s. The standard model in the 222 Remington cartridge and the 30-30 Winchester round. They would offer a new cartridge in the mid to late 60s. That would be the 225 Winchester round in the new 340-V. This would come with the 24 inch barrel.  The 225 Win cartridge would never gain much of a following after its release. Good cartridge, but to late to the game in my opinion. Both the 222 Rem and the 225 Win models would have the 24 inch barrels. The 30-30 Win model would have the 20 inch barrel.

 

The Savage 340 model in the 222 Rem and 30-30 Win would be listed for  $71.50  in 1966.  The Model 340 in the 225 Win would list for $76.50 in 1966

 

The 340 Savage model in the 225 Win would certainly be a great piece to collect. Good collector firearm for any Savage collection in my opinion. When collecting the Savage 340 rifles, you will need to watch for condition. They were not bought for collecting in mind at this time. They were a cheap hunting rifle and where a necessary tool to be used. So finding them in collector condition can be a problem at times. This would be especially true with the deer hunting round. (30-30). Check out my  USED GUN VALUES  and   FIREARMS VALUES   page for more info on collecting Classic Firearms.

I really liked the little Savage 340 rifles in that they were fairly compact and lightweight yet were extremely accurate and were a nice addition to the commercial made rifles of the early 1950s. I especially liked the use of a magazine and the 340 was an early rifle that would use the detachable magazine concept.

This is one rifle that will become a good addition to any Savage gun collection if you can find one that has not been drilled and tapped. The next issue is finding one not drilled and tapped but in great condition. This was one rifle that was well used and handed down to kids and grand kids.

It was a relatively cheap rifle at the time and it was meant to be used. Future collector value was not part of what the Savage 340 model was bought for. Use it and use it often. A great brush gun in the 30-30 Winchester and that is where it was used. Do not pass one up if in great condition.

340 SAVAGE

While doing gunsmith work on these firearms I would probably deal with issues of poor maintenance and neglect in most cases. They were not expensive guns and people tended to let maintenance go until the gun malfunctioned. I would have to sometimes clean the chamber so that the shells could be extracted.

The extractors on these guns were not the most reliable but they did work well and if the chamber was cleaned and the gun maintained they did work well. Issues with the ejectors and misfires were also common on these firearms. Because of the neglect on these guns I would also reblue many of these Savage firearms

 

These Savage 340 rifles were really popular in the 22 hornet and 222 Remington cartridges.

These Savage 340 rifles were fun to shoot and very accurate and was a nice firearm for the young shooter or lady shooter in the family. The 22 hornet and the 222 Remington cartridges were great little additions to the 340 line. The little 340 model in these cartridges would account for many woodchucks in my area of Pennsylvania. I am sure the rest of the nation would use these great rifles on all sorts of varmints across the fruited plain.

It is one gun that is now a little collectible, if in original condition and it still maintains very good condition overall. Some of the old 30-30s that were not drilled and tapped are becoming hard to find. Although it is not a great gun for the collector it is still a great little gun to own and can be bought at pretty reasonable prices today.

I would give these a good rating in my rating system. Visit my gun ratings page for rating the firearm for firearms collectors

I would like to add an update to this article on the Savage 340 model firearms. I have worked on many of these rifles over the years and do like them as stated above. If someone is interested in the gunsmithing end of this rifle and some expert advice on it. I would recommend you visit  Go To Leeroysramblings.com  There are many other good articles there.

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