There was a time several years ago when Savage had some financial problems & nearly went under. Previously, I believe they made 2 or 3 action lengths, short, long & magnum. When things got tight, they standardized on 1 or 2, long & magnum (This is from a dim memory, so check me out on this if anyone else has input. I'll check with a friend who has a safe full of Savage.....), but I digress. The "short action" guns built after the crunch were long actions with a spacer in the mag box & a spacer lug on the bolt to reduce stroke to short action length. The guns work well, although the internal machining sometimes looked as if a gorilla with a cold chisel had cut it out. They were using milling cutters till there was nothing left in non critical areas. The critical areas always looked good. The guns have always been a great buy for what you get. An accurate strong reliable gun.