doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Wingshooting - literally

Yes Gil, you are correct. It was the old hammerless Savage 220, and I still have it. I'll have to get it out to see if there is a letter after the 220. It does get confusing because Savage also makes a bolt action model 220. It was my first shotgun, which I bought with my paper route earnings. It is choked so tight that solid hits inside of 25 yards shredded game. It would consistently put at least two or three pellets into a pop can at a full 100 yards, so to only put two pellets into that pheasant probably meant that I caught him with the outer fringe of the pattern.

I saw a really nice one in 16 ga. at a gun show last year, and set it down after examining it while I thought about buying it. The guy next to me immediately picked it up and bought it. I don't see them very often, and most are well used.

OK, I got my old single shot 20 ga. out this evening, and it is a Savage model 220A. I haven't used it in years, and was surprised at the amount of fiddleback grain in the buttstock, considering it is just a plain Jane single shot. The barrel blue and action case colors are still pretty good, but the finish on the stock is worn in the grip area. I think the wood deserves a little makeover. And I left it out so I can run a few shells through it for old time's sake. It killed a lot of pheasants, rabbits, and squirrels before I bought my first repeater. It helped me learn to make the first shot count. I also have a Savage single shot model 94C that I leave out in the garage. The little 220A is a much nicer gun, and I wonder why Savage stopped making them.

Probably a once in a lifetime event. Many years ago in
England a friend shot at a crossing cock pheasant at about
twenty yards. The shot was heard to hit but the bird flew
on for about fifty yards or so where it was found dead.
On dressing it had no less than fifteen pellet strikes
but all but two had little or no penetration. Two in the
neck had killed the bird and there was bleeding.
Shell was short of powder or it did not all burn.
That one was down to cartridge failure.
Very rare but can happen.