wachtelhund1
New member
This weekend at a gun show, I picked up another project gun. A Savage 219 re-chambered to 219 Zipper. I recognized the gun on a table as a Savage 219 and picked it up. It looked pretty rough. The barrel had been painted flat black with numerous runs, but the bore was very good. Forearm was not original, it was a beavertail and the fit was a little loose. Butt stock had been cut and pieced together to raise the comb and add a check piece. Cutting and fitting was done very well, but someone later tried to file or work on the check piece and did a poor job. Trigger guard was loose and the gun had a cheap scope on it. Through the paint I could make out .22 Hornet, but when I opened the breech, I could see the chamber was not a 22 Hornet.
I asked the seller what caliber was it. He responded with "219 Bee", I said no such caliber. Then he said, "218 Zipper" again I said no such caliber. I asked how much? He said, "$350.00"; I walked away. I returned the next day and again asked the same questions and pretty much got the same answers.
I said I was interested but his price was way to high. I began pointing out the flaws; starting with the scope. Told him I considered it junk and would only throw it away. Next the painted barrel, I told him it looked terrible with all the runs and who knew what was under the paint. I pointed out the trigger guard was loose and the fact that he had no idea what caliber it was. As a kid, I had a 218 Bee and knew of the 219 Zipper, 219 Donaldson and 219 Zipper Improved and thought it to be one of those calibers.
So I offered a trade and cash, He refused, but counter with $250.00 and no scope. I said still to high and offered $150.00 without scope. He refused my offer. We talked a little more and I repeated my offer and added it was getting late and he would only have another long gun to carry home. He countered with $225.00. I countered with $200.00 which he accepted. I carried my new old gun home.
When I got home, first thing was to strip the paint off the barrel. Paint came right off. The receiver had some type of lacquer on it, so I striped it also; which removed the finish off the trigger guard. O well, I was going to take it apart to tighten the trigger guard anyways. Once the paint was gone, I could see what was left of the original bluing. Poor, it was faking off in places, someone had started to sand off the bluing towards the front of the barrel. The barrel was marked .22 Hornet with a small "K" above .22. Apparently, it had been re-chambered twice. On the left hand of the barrel above the receiver, it appeared that a scope may have been mounted at one time. The holes were filled and ground off leaving about 4 inches of grind marks perpendicular to the barrel an low spots where the filled holes were. I clamped the barrel in a vice and cleaned the grind marks and low spots by running a mill file length wise on the barrel. Then sanded the entire barrel with 220 grit sand paper preparing it for rust bluing. I also removed the trigger guard and cleaned I up with a Dermal tool and steel brush, the treated it with Aluminum Black. The Aluminum Black finish may wear off but it will not chip off as paint will and can always be touched up.
Today, I took it to my gunsmith where we cut a new 11 degree crown at the muzzle. I did a chamber casting and it turned out to be a 219 Zipper. I "X" out the .22 Hornet and re-stamped the barrel "219 Zip". Tomorrow, I will start rust bluing the barrel and butt plate. Not sure about the receiver. The receiver has a sort of bronze color to it. I think someone tried to blue it, it was originally either case hardened or it had a lot of nickel in the metal causing the bronze coloration.
I asked the seller what caliber was it. He responded with "219 Bee", I said no such caliber. Then he said, "218 Zipper" again I said no such caliber. I asked how much? He said, "$350.00"; I walked away. I returned the next day and again asked the same questions and pretty much got the same answers.
I said I was interested but his price was way to high. I began pointing out the flaws; starting with the scope. Told him I considered it junk and would only throw it away. Next the painted barrel, I told him it looked terrible with all the runs and who knew what was under the paint. I pointed out the trigger guard was loose and the fact that he had no idea what caliber it was. As a kid, I had a 218 Bee and knew of the 219 Zipper, 219 Donaldson and 219 Zipper Improved and thought it to be one of those calibers.
So I offered a trade and cash, He refused, but counter with $250.00 and no scope. I said still to high and offered $150.00 without scope. He refused my offer. We talked a little more and I repeated my offer and added it was getting late and he would only have another long gun to carry home. He countered with $225.00. I countered with $200.00 which he accepted. I carried my new old gun home.
When I got home, first thing was to strip the paint off the barrel. Paint came right off. The receiver had some type of lacquer on it, so I striped it also; which removed the finish off the trigger guard. O well, I was going to take it apart to tighten the trigger guard anyways. Once the paint was gone, I could see what was left of the original bluing. Poor, it was faking off in places, someone had started to sand off the bluing towards the front of the barrel. The barrel was marked .22 Hornet with a small "K" above .22. Apparently, it had been re-chambered twice. On the left hand of the barrel above the receiver, it appeared that a scope may have been mounted at one time. The holes were filled and ground off leaving about 4 inches of grind marks perpendicular to the barrel an low spots where the filled holes were. I clamped the barrel in a vice and cleaned the grind marks and low spots by running a mill file length wise on the barrel. Then sanded the entire barrel with 220 grit sand paper preparing it for rust bluing. I also removed the trigger guard and cleaned I up with a Dermal tool and steel brush, the treated it with Aluminum Black. The Aluminum Black finish may wear off but it will not chip off as paint will and can always be touched up.
Today, I took it to my gunsmith where we cut a new 11 degree crown at the muzzle. I did a chamber casting and it turned out to be a 219 Zipper. I "X" out the .22 Hornet and re-stamped the barrel "219 Zip". Tomorrow, I will start rust bluing the barrel and butt plate. Not sure about the receiver. The receiver has a sort of bronze color to it. I think someone tried to blue it, it was originally either case hardened or it had a lot of nickel in the metal causing the bronze coloration.