Need Info: Savage .22WinMag/20 gauge O/U

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kymasabe

New member
Friend of mine brought over a old shotgun that was given to him. We took it apart and cleaned it real well tonight but were looking for some info on it. It's a Savage 24S-C Over/Under with a .22 WinMag barrel on top and a 20 guage barrel on the bottom. Nice gun, has a selector switch on the hammer to determine which firing pin gets hit. We have a few questions though.

I'm not knowledgable in the world of .22 at all. Will a .22 short/long/L.R. fire in a .22WinMag barrel? Is it safe?

Also, the hammer seems kinda loose, there seems to be some play in it, is that normal for this gun?

The only numbers we could find were CUU3 on the receiver after we took the barrel off and VCUU3G on the underside of the barrel. Other than the model number, there were no other numbers stamped in the receiver. Seems like a short serial number to me but...

Based on those numbers, can anyone tell me how old the gun? When manufactured? Any history on the model?
 
It's a *bad* idea to shoot regular .22's in a .22 Magnum chamber. At the very least, the cases will probably split. Invest in a couple of boxes of .22 Magnum ammo instead. There lots of choices these days, but the Winchester brand 40 grain HP is still an excellent all around load for a .22 magnum rifle or pistol. Plan on spending $5-$7 or more per box of .22 Magnum ammo.

For the 20 ga shotgun barrel, I always found the best 20 ga squirrel & rabbit loads to be the old standard 2 3/4" Hi-brass shells with #7 1/2 or #6 shot. YMMV. ;) BTW, you might try a few 20 ga slugs & see how close to point of aim they hit. Makes a dandy deer load if you hit 'em well & don't stretch the range too far.

No idea about the hammer.

I always thought one of those Savage/Stevens over/unders would make a great camp & cabin gun. Congrats to your friend! :D
 
I have one of those as well. i tried to find the serial number on it for insurance filing however, like you, the only numbers i found were on the receiver inside. so those are the ones i used also. mine too is a 22 mag on top with a 20 gauge 3inch on the bottom. the receiver has a fox and a turkey scribed into it too. i have taken turkeys with it, using magnum loads in the 20. it works quite well. this gun was a gift to me in the mid 60's from an uncle who bought it in the 50's i think. nothing loose on this gun though.
i have shot the 22 mag and was very impressed with how accurate it is. i shoot a winchester model 275 (22 mag pump) for varmits however i would not hesitate to use the over under savage. oh yeah mine i think is a model 24L
 
I had one called the savage mod 24VA. It was 222 on top and 20ga on the bottom. It was an old gun but sure did shoot great. With 20ga slugs at 50 yards it would hit to the point of aim. And damn that 222 would shoot 1 inch at 100 yards. She was a great gun. The hammer seemed to be tight to me! The barrel selector on the hammer had a little play but not to bad.

I got sick back in 98 and sold a bunch of my guns. My BDL in 222 was the first to go and then the 24VA :( . I really hated to let those guns go.
 
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