New guy here!

[Mike Britton]

Mike Britton here in Texas!
 Just found this forum, and I am excited to be part of it!
 I bought a 219B in pieces from an estate. Apparently, the old gentleman was a tinker, as he had several single shots in various states of disassembly. The family thought there might be parts missing, and everything was in a ziplock when I bought this 219B-.30-30 for $75.
 I thought, what the hey, if the barrel is any good, I have my $75!
  I have wanted a 219 ever since I laid eyes on the first one. Here in the DFW area, 219's are somewhat non-existent, so when this one became available, I jumped on it sight unseen.
 What I ended up with is a 219B, as best I can tell from the circle, a 1961 model, in overall about 85-90% condition. It has a wrong , for 1961, forearm. Mine has the forearm with the finger grooves along the side. I like the fore arm, it adds some individuality to the rifle.
 I finally found a diagram for the parts and ordered the parts I was missing. I put the thing together, and I have 2 issues. 1; the locking bar hangs up sometimes, and the rifle won't lock closed. Several swift thumps with a plastic mallet on the right side of the reciever puts that right temporarily. 2; after getting everything back in the receiver, I went out in the shop with an empty piece of brass with a new primer. I pull the trigger, and click! I open the action, and not only has the new firing pin struck the primer off center, it was such a light strike the it didn't set off the primer.
 So.....long story longer, when I get money ahead, this little jewel goes to my favorite gunsmith to get it running like it should!
 Sorry for the long winded hello, I'm just excited to find someone else that likes the 219's as much as I do!

[Garnett]

Mike, Welcome to this forum and thanks for sharing with us your find.  I also enjoy taking on a project like that.  I wish I had the knowledge to make suggestions as how you can repair your problems.  You are the 2nd person since I wrote my first  book to say they had a firing pin that was striking "off center".  My only suggestion is to be sure the internal parts are clean.  Some of these older guns show lots of use without proper care and can have lots of gunk inside.  If the firing pin hole happens to be gummed up, that could restrict the forward movement and lessen the force of the blow from the hammer.   Maybe the mainspring has been shortened or is weak?  Hopefully your local gunsmith can fix everything.  Please keep us posted.  I have felt for sometime that these guns are not fully appreciated for what they are, especially compared to the lower cost single shots of today.   Best wishes, Garnett

[Mike Britton]

Thanks, Garnett!
 I 'm left handed, and have always been a fan of single shot rifles. Since most of my shooting for 69 years has been at targets, the single shot works fine for me.
 I'm infatuated with this rifle! And, I'm a sucker for an orphan!
 It is so graceful, and well balanced! I've gotten it to about 80%, and I think it will make a fine shooter.
 I wish though, that the old gentleman that had it before me had been a bit easier with the claw hammer he used to drive the pins out! He marked up an otherwise cherry receiver with great color.
 I was taught to tap those pins out with a punch and plastic/wood mallet, and then push the pins back in with a vice!
 At this point in time, I'm into this rifle for about $100, so I have some room to spend. I bought it thinking that if I could salvage the .30-30 barrel, I could recoup my investment. The barrel is perfect inside, and about 95+% on the out side. But after cleaning up what I had I decided to get this jewel running and put it in the safe!
 And I agree with you that it is a crime to dismantle a gun that could be repaired for the parts. This one is just too nice to be a parts gun!
 The forend I found on E-bay intrigues me. It is a bevertail style, with finger grooves along the sides. It apparently had, I'm guessing, impressed checkering at one time, sanded off. There is the ever so slight ghost image of some of the checkering left back toward the receiver. I'm guessing shotgun. I really like the look, it kind of "upgrades" the rifle.
 As soon as I figure out how to upload pics from my computer I'll post some pictures.
       Thanks again, I'm going to enjoy this forum!  Mike
   

[Garnett]

I look forward to the pictures!  In addition to Savage, Fox and Stevens made single barrels of different designs and a lot of the parts will interchange, especially stocks and forearms.  The forearm you describe could have been designed externally for one of the other models.  I have been told, but have not tried it, that the barrels for the Savage 94 single barrel shotgun can also be fitted on the early hammerless Savage actions.

[Mike Britton]

Trying to see if I did a picture correctly!

[Garnett]

A great picture!