Savage 340

[Foggy]

any one out there as hooked on  340's as me ??

[GANDER]

I have one in 222 Rem. It is a great little gun! Kinda like my Old girlfriend..wasn't the prettiest at the party but would dern sure get the job done.

[Snowshoe]

My wife and I have used a few of them over the years, and still have the one my father gave to my wife. It has shot nothing but reloads for over 20 years, and took a nice buck last year for me.

[Graybeard]

I once convinced a friend who owned a gunshop to let me bring two Savage rifles home with me to try out before buying. Since both were new and he trusted me to either return them or buy them he agreed after having me fill out a fed form to keep him covered. This was before instant check days.

One of them was a Savage 340 and the other was whatever model of Savage with the UGLY action that was being made in those days the model of it escapes me at this time. I cleaned up both rifles and put a good scope on each to replace the elcheapo scopes they were wearing and then proceeded to see if Savages really would shoot as folks claim.

Neither gun was worth owning and neither would group worth a darn. I didn't bother trying to figure out the why of it as they didn't belong to me and the way they shot neither seemed worth the effort to try and improve them. That's the closest I've ever come to owning a Savage centerfire of any description. I won't say I'll never ever own one but must admit that between their ugliness and the way those shot plus the fact that these days they really aren't any cheaper than Remington rifles it's unlikely I will ever own one.

[hunt-m-up]

Just acquired a model 842 version of the 340 this past year in 30-30, replaced the worn extractor, ejector and ejector spring and put a B-square mount on it and a little Cabela's 2.5-7X32 MZ scope. It really likes Leverevolution loads, like 1" or less at 100 yards. When I bought it, the smart@$$ young sales guy said after we were done with the paperwork that 30-30's really aren't that accurate...
While it admittedly won't win any engineering or beauty contests I think I'll keep it because it hits where I point it.

[bilmac]

I had a hornet and a 30-30, for the money they shot good enough to be a behind the pickup seat gun. I shot 130 gr spire points in the 30-30.

[HillBillyFarmer]

My father-in-law collects them and he just recently finished his collection by getting one in 225 Winchester. One of his 30-30's he loads spire point bullets and shoots woodchucks at 200 yards.

[Blue Duck]

I shot my first deer with a 340 in 30-30.  That was 48 years ago.  It was a good gun, shot true and did what it was supposed to do.

[hillbill]

i have a 340 in 30-30, very accurate rifle.i as well shoot it with spire point bullets. not crazy bout the clip setup.good gun tho for what i gave for it but i see them now for roun 300 bucks.seems a bit steep but then look at what the lever guns are bringing.

[OLDHandgunner]

I have one in a .222. I've owned mine for over 40 years. I've written about it several times in this forum.
They ain't much for looks, but boy do they shoot.

[Tom W.]

My son has one in 30/30 that his grandmother gave to him when he was about 12 or so. I had to go to Numrich Arms to find a magazine for it. He still has the rifle and won't part with it. It's a tack driver, ugly or not.

My buddy's wife down in Branford, Florida has one stowed in their closet safe, and I can't figure a way to seperate her from it, either....

[basdjs]

Savage made very accurate out the box rifles. I bought a used model 340 .222 in 1960, and began handloading for it.  It was butt-ugly then and got even uglier as I hunted groundhogs with it for years.  It's still in my gun case and, out to 250 yds, it remains one of the most accurate varmint rifles I have.  It's more accurate and fun to shoot at shorter ranges than my .223 and only the .17 Fireball that I got last year can rival it for accuracy and fun.   At one time I owned the .22 Hornet and 30-30 in the 340 as well.  I remember that the 30-30 had a pretty good kick to it but I wish I still owned the Hornet.

[quatroclick]

I just put a Coast to Coast 843 on layaway.  It would have to be a truly awful gun to be worth less than I paid for it......

[woodchukhntr]

I had a 340 in .30-30 that was made in the early 50's, before they drilled and tapped it for the scope mount.  It had the really neat Dockendorfer rear sight with the elevation wheel.  I also had a Savage peep sight that I mounted on it.  It was a good shooter, about 1-1/2" 100 yard groups.  So what did I do?  I got rid of it, of course!

I also had a later .222 that would shoot 1".  The problem I had was with the tiny brass extractor.  Even replacing it didn't help.  That one was sold also, but I don't miss it like I do the .30-30.  A local gun shop has a 340 and also the Stevens equivalent with the spoon bolt handle.  After he has had them for a while, I'll try to talk him down on the Savage.

[ftlupton]

I should have posted this earlier but it is on the bolt action section. For those who don't think the 340 can shoot. all I did was glass bed the action and finish the stock. Load is 130gr Speer/35grs of H-335.

[Blue Duck]

I shot my first deer with a 340 in 30-30,  49 years ago.  I wish I still had that gun.