This one has 32 inch barrels, 3 inch chambers, Kautsky trigger, ejectors and factory beavertail forend. It was caked in dried, darkened oil and once cleaned shows almost unbelievably little use. Sadly, the gun had suffered some damage, every iota of it caused by a fumble-fingered attempt at removing the auto-safety link. I was puzzled that the damage to the grip area of the wood had no counterpart on the strap portion of the triggerguard. Upon disassembly, it became clear that the damage to the wood occurred while it was off of the gun. Apparently the stock was dropped, damaging the grip and breaking the grip cap (which our intrepid hero duly schmutzed back together). The auto safety link was missing, although black staining in its bore spoke of it having been there originally.
Here is the gun as it arrived. Notice the lack of damage (other than a screwdriver slip) to the triggerguard.
The grip cap was beyond any hope of salvage. It was broken in half, badly glued back together and chipped at the front. While pondering the time it would take to steam the dents, I made a master for a new grip cap and from that I made a silicone mold. With the mold I could cast a new grip in black urethane and correctly fit it to the wood when the time came.
The dents actually did steam up almost completely but I'll wait until the end so as not to spoil the surprise. So, with joy (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) in my heart, I went about making screws to replace the butchered originals.
As I stated earlier, this gun has seen damned little use. How about almost 100 percent, original, Savage era, cyanide case hardening colors. Yes, the rest of the gun looks as good, right down to the ornamental "lining" of the barrel breech faces.
The grip repair. Yes, it's the same wood.
