Late last year the young bloke down the road inherited his grandfathers 22 hornet and has had trouble getting it to shoot. He asked me if I could have a look at it for him (I have previously done some work on his old BSA Meteor .17 cal springer).
It's an interesting rifle, as there is no seperate barrel and action; the rear end id the barrel blank is milled out to become the action, which is really just a glorified .22 style action.
Research finds that the Savage 23 (23A, 23B, 23C and 23D) series were chambered in .22lr, 25-20, 32-20, with the 23D in 22 Hornet being produced in the 1930s.
This one is factory D&T and has what I assume are Weaver bases, Weaver rings and an old Nikko GC 2-6x20.
The trigger was very heavy with a fair bit of creep. Some careful atoning and a plunger spring changeout improved things significantly.
The safety is a very simple affair - just some steel strap that rotates around the action:
The stock has cracks in the webs between the 'recoil lug' and the mag well, and between the mag well and the trigger opening
The scope reticle was skewed and the rings loose so sorted that out and went and tried it out with factory Hornady 35gn v-max rounds, and factory Rem 45gn HP rounds.
The Hornadys shot the best:
Went for a quick run with the spotlight and found a half grown fox pup moseying along the track:
I have out together a few reloads a d sources some different trigger springs to try - will have to wait until lockdown is over.
Marcus
Savage 23D .22 hornet
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- deekay
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Re: Savage 23D .22 hornet
Very interesting, I have never seen any thing like that(barrel and action 1 piece). Good to see an old rifle getting a new life.
- fenring
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Re: Savage 23D .22 hornet
Cool old rifle.
Neighbour has an old Savage .222.
Neighbour has an old Savage .222.
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Re: Savage 23D .22 hornet
Good job helping the young bloke out Marcus
Interesting concept not to sure I would trust it
It looks like the trigger mechanism is made of mild steel
How tight is the trigger pin tolerance ?
Thanks for the write up
Interesting concept not to sure I would trust it
It looks like the trigger mechanism is made of mild steel
How tight is the trigger pin tolerance ?
Thanks for the write up
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Re: Savage 23D .22 hornet
Well it works.
A bit of glue and a rub, it will be better than new.
Bruce
A bit of glue and a rub, it will be better than new.
Bruce
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Re: Savage 23D .22 hornet
So while I did some work on the trigger of the young fellas .22 hornet using springs I had on hand I wasn't completely happy with the result, so ordered 2 different springs from eBay - same length and coil diameter as the factory spring but thinner wire diameter.
They took a number of weeks to turn up, and I went down on the weekend and changed out the spring I previously installed with the lighter of the two I ordered.
It worked beautifully, and the young bloke was pretty happy with the result. These were the first two shots @60m once we put the barrelled action back in the stock. One click tow the right and three up and he was good to go!
The springs came in packs of 10 so I have 19 left if anyone has a Mod 23 series savage and wants to try one.
Marcus
They took a number of weeks to turn up, and I went down on the weekend and changed out the spring I previously installed with the lighter of the two I ordered.
It worked beautifully, and the young bloke was pretty happy with the result. These were the first two shots @60m once we put the barrelled action back in the stock. One click tow the right and three up and he was good to go!
The springs came in packs of 10 so I have 19 left if anyone has a Mod 23 series savage and wants to try one.
Marcus