New to posting on the Forum

[RWCochran]

I have long had a 219 in 30-30 that, the story goes, was purchased used by my grandfather in the early 1940’s to take his older son hunting. The older son carried a lever action, not cartoon what make/model. Grandpa died in 1949 and the model 219 was left to accumulate rust in the corner of the garage. My father (second son) found it there in the mid/late 1950’s and decided to clean it up and eventually had it reblued. The receiver came out a deep plum color as a result of the reblueing and I have gown to appreciate it.

My older brother, younger sister and I all started our deer hunting adventures with this old gun. Great for beginners because of the single shot aspect. As I was the fortunate one to inherit it, my sons likewise both started deer hunting with it. At one point in the 1990’s before I inherited it the firing pin or sear broke. A local gunsmith told me it wasn’t worth fixing and said I should just display it. Not good enough for me! I insisted he repair it ( especially since it wasn’t even mine at that point) and he said he had to make the park for it as he could not locate the correct one anywhere. Cost near $100 for the repair which I know was more than it’s market value. But sentimental value is higher.

My grandson is now ready to embark on his hunting experiences and I came across a Model 220A 20 gauge shotgun at an auction. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a matching set. The 219 I suspect is an early model from Utica with a stamped steel trigger guard and the 220A is a later model from Chicopee Falls with an alloy trigger guard.

The internal mechanisms (trigger, sears, etc) look different as well, I suspect more based on dates of manufacture then rifle vs. shotgun. Picture are 219 first and 220A second (correction…pictures appear to have uploaded randomly)

I hope to get a copy of your book and learn more about these two firearms, but for now Amazon is sold out.

[Garnett]

Thanks for the pictures.  The Utica 219 with the steel trigger guard could be prewar.  My local gun smith said the early 219/220 actions were "Rust" blued.  When these actions are reblued in a hot bluing solution, they turn red/purple, depending on how long they are in the solution.  Savage was constantly make internal changes to the actions.  The First and Second Model Utica's and the 219/220A's were striker fired. and the action cocked when the top lever was pushed to the right to open the action.  When the 219/220B's were introduced, the striker was replaced with a normal internal hammer.  These barrels have a stud on the side of the barrel lug that engages a "cocking stud" inside the lower right of the frame that cocks the hammer as the barrel is opened.  Changes continued through out production of the B, C, and D models. Starting with the "B"models, all actions were color case hardened, with very few exceptions. 

Looking at your pictures and the "979" number on the 219 barrel, frame, and forearm, leads me to believe your gun was possibly a "Utility" gun originally with a shotgun barrel and matching forearm.  By this, I mean it had both a rifle and a shotgun barrel with 2 forearms.  These were produced in limited numbers.

I hope this information helps some.