I have 2 rifles, a savage 340c and a rem 700 both chambered in 222, they both shoot tight little JB, 100 yd. groups for 40 or 50 year old used field rifles. What id like know is, are there replacement magazine followers that will convert these guns to single shots? Ive been working with the savage the most, i`ve free floated the barrel, bedded the action, made and installed a 1.5” extension to increase length of pull, added a slip-on recoil pad and the 1000 yd scope of unknown manufacture that came with the remington and even with a horrendous 15 lb. trigger which at least has zero over travel its an impressive little gun. The remington i haven't worked with as much but shoots very well. Ultimately 1 of these will a JB gun and the other will be CB gun. Any and all help appreciated.
Can i convert it?
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- Last Post 29 December 2014
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You mention the problem that sounds the worst. Get a decent trigger job done. I have competed at 1,000 yards and a 1 pound zero creep trigger is basic for even marginal success at long range.
A magazine follower for single shot firing will not make the rifle shoot better. 40-50 yeqr old rifles will usually be improved for cast bullet shooting with simple bore polishing also. consider the bore polishing method I have posted on this forum, many have been very happy with the results:
Good stable front and rear rests will help you shoot better than stock extensions also. I make a front rest from an automotive scissor jack that has worked better for me than commercial bench rests costing over $200. I use a magnum rear rest that keeps the rifle high also for upright sitting at the bench. My setup that I also use long range but with a light sport single shot rifle here:
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Remington SS follower: Sinclair International/Brownells
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Thanks for responding. The follower will help considerably in the savage because of the cone shaped breech and its depth in the receiver. As to the trigger, no argument, worst trigger ive ever shot. My fellow club shooters (BR shooters) tell me the trigger assy. is an in house design and therefore generally not worth a trigger job. Can someone recommend a gunsmith in West Central NH or East Central VT?
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onandaga, i plan on lapping the bore(s) after making a “pound cast” on both rifles, but mostly for the savage which has a particularly tight chamber. A cartridge made for the M700 will NOT chamber in the savage. I have downloaded your link, thanks for that.
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222,
I have played with a few of these Savage / Stevens from the 1940's and 50's. If the trigger really is 15 pounds there is an internal problem, as these were prior law suit days and most were 3.5 to 4.5 pounds. Yes, they are built into the receiver and use multiple slave pins to hold it all together. Your best hope is to really clean the mechanism with the strongest choke/carb cleaner. These were noted for collecting linseed oil and bore cleaning gunk. Flush with compressed air and use dry, not lubed, for 100 cycles. Double check to insure that the bedding job is not touching IN ANY WAY the trigger mechanism, safety or bolt release. And no drippings got into the trigger. These are not like modern triggers in most ways.
Gary is correct in that the bore needs to be clean, really clean.
I know of no single shot adapters for the Savage, but I made one for mine from a piece of aluminum plate. Then I found it was just a easy to drop a cartridge down the barrel and close the bolt.
Welcome, and best wishes, Ric
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Ricinyakama. A recent internet search showed no replacement mag followers for those savages. I`ll have to find a second mag to modify for single shot use. A coming pound cast will tell me the chamber/throat relationship which will help me determine seating depth to throat, something i cant do feeding from the mag which limits cartridge length. As you know. Thanks
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After you get the trigger immaculately clean, oiled and cleared of any interference and any binding pins freed up...there is another trick. You can do an “In Situ" polishing of the bearing areas and friction points like the sear and parts that pivot on a pin. You will definitely need an A-Zoom Snap Cap or other dummy round that is used for dry-firing safely and absorbs shock from the firing pin with a spring loaded primer piston when dry firing.
With the barreled action out of the syock and action/trigger thoroughly cleaned, chamber the Snap Cap and drown the trigger parts with a syrup made from 300 or 400 grit valve grinding compound and light machine oil. Dry fire 20 times, then redistribute the polishing syrup and do 20 more dry fire cycles. Keep going like that and when you get to 200 cycles, That is about all you can to to make what you have a lighter and smoother trigger pull. Finish up by alternating spraying WD40 and high pressure air from an airgun till all the polishing syrup is definitely gone. Blow dry and then oil the trigger and all action parts with a premium quality trigger oil like Blue Wonder DISOTEC XFR or the very stinky but good Marvel Mystery Oil.
This is as close to a real trigger job as you can get unless you are a gunsmith that is very familiar with the specific job you really need, and that would be well over $100.00 to have a smith trigger job done.
Gary
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222,
Since the Savage company has been sold 4 or 5 times since the last one was made 50 years ago, there aren't any new parts either! This rifle was like all of the early Savage bolt guns; made for hunters, not gun bugs or target shooters. If you wanted a “real” rifle, you bought their Model 99! But they were always accurate and dependable, if you have a good magazine. Let us know how it goes.
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Onandaga Thanks for the instruction and recipe. Along with the Bore Hone and Ricinyakamas suggestions ill be busy for awhile. I might add that ive also been collecting casting/smelting info, im on 4 other sites and have accumulated 6 double sided pages of info/ideas. This in addition to the 3 cars/trucks im rebuilding, keeping my girlfriend happy and lifes little challenges. Funny, ive never thought of myself as OCD! Oh, i should mention, on the Accurateshooters site, there`s a link to Google for free downloads of long out of print books written by the gun greats of their times on Shooting and Marksmanship, for free.
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One option you might consider (although it is rather permanent) is to dam up the stock from above and fill the magazine well with Devcon 10-110 or JB Weld (both are filled epoxies which is what you want). This is a pretty big space to fill, so you might consider using lead shot or BB's to help make your bedding compound go further. Once that is done, putty up your action for a traditional bedding job, but leave the bolt in place. Be sure to putty the gaps all the way around the bolt so bedding can't get in there. Cover your action and parts with Johnsons Paste Wax applied with a toothbrush and blown into every orifice with an air hose. Finally, bed your action in place with a good deal of compound over the magazine well so that it marries the underside of the bolt.When you crack it loose you have a single shot follower made of bedding compound, and your stock is a much more rigid platform for launching long range shots. 
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@ Goodsteel Thanks for posting this, very good idea! I like it, and this has got me thinking. With this post im thinking ill mock up in wood first before making a more permanent modification. And the saga continues.
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