Anyone Here shooting a 342 222 Caliber?

[Waldo Pepper]

I still have dad's old 342 in triple deuce and it is still a tack driver.

On more then one occasion I watch as dad popped woodchucks at 200 yards to as far out as 300 yards a couple times.

[sinman]

I shoot a 340 in 222, same rifle. Sub moa with factory winchester ammo. I haven't reloaded for it yet.

[Waldo Pepper]

It never fails to amaze me how accurate these old rifles are compared to todays fancy rifles. I have a semi-custom Browning A-bolt that does not seem to shoot any better even with a new Barska 6x24x40 AO and the Savage's old with a 30 year old 3x9x40 scope that I can't remember for sure but is probably a Tasco brand.

[GaCop]

Older Tasco's were good scopes before being made in China. Don't expect stellar performance from Barska scopes, their just as bad, if not worse than Tacso.

[Waldo Pepper]

Yes, Barska are made in China. But like everything manufactured it all depends on how much quality control is asked by the importer. Barska is actually fair quality for the price point, but that is not to say that it compares to a Leupold in any way. And if you take the made in China scopes out of the picture then you are only left with a small handful of manufactures and most of them would be several times what I paid for my rifles I they are mounted on. My Barska 6x24x40 AO with illuminated Mil Dot Reticle was about $70 delivered and a Leupold of the same power and features is 8 that much at least, if not 10 times as much. The most expensive rifle I own is a CZ 453 American 22LR that I have about $600 invested, but if considering depreciation of the old rifle traded in it would be about $400 at most. My Browning A-bolt 222 one of 300 made for the '07 Shot Show I have an actual $650 in which is what I paid for the POS S&W 17 cal model 647 I traded even for the Browning, which is what the Barska above is on and it works beautiful. Will it last as long and hold it zero like the 35 year old Leupold 7.5x44 AO that I have on the custom FN Mauser in 257 Roberts? Doubt it would last 5 years of what that scope has been through, but it was $80 back when wife and I both were only making about $250 a month.

[Frankdm]

I have a Savage 342 in 22 Hornet that is really accurate out to 150yards. It's got a Weaver K-6 which is just about perfect for the Hornet. I also have a Savage 340 E in .222 with a 4x12x40 Simmons scope and I have dropped 'hogs at 400 yards! I haven't made many shots over 300 yards, I use my Winchester 70 in 22-250 for that. I have never seen a savage 342 in 222, I did some research and all I can find on it is it was made from 1950 - 1953 in 22Hornet only and after 1953 the 342 was then called the 340 which you could get in 22Hornet, .222, 30-30 and the 340V was offered in 225 Win. There was a 342S model in 22 Hornet but it had a rear peep sight, hooded front sight and the stock was hand checkered.

[powderburn]

I have a 340, in .222. It wears a old bushnell banner 6x scope. Would not hesitate to take a shot at a groundhog at 300 yds as it shoots very well. Lately I have been playing with my new stevens 200 in .223 but the old model 340 is a nice little toy to play around with and as someone pointed out it is an eye opener to a lot of folks who look at it and compare it to their latest whiz bang rifle that costs 3x as much.

[Airedaleman]

New to the site, and a Model 340 brought me here! Had been toying with the idea of picking up a 340 in .222 Remington for a while, and one day early this year I walked into a a pawn shop over in Gloucester County to find one standing in the rack. Loooked nice, and it was scoped, albeit with a mutt Tasco 3X9. I walked out with it for $212 total. Took a while to find some ammunition for it, but eventually I got a 50-round box of Sako cartridges for 60 bucks, and two boxes of Hornady cartridges with the 50 grain VMax bullet at $18.99 a box! I remember my best friend in high school paying $2.85 a box for .222's. Oh, well. I did fall into a new set of RCBS dies and shell holder for $20.00, so I should be all set as soon as I can lay in a supply of bullets and primers. ( I have three pounds of IMR 4198 on hand, and, since I am 71, that could well be a lifetime supply...)
The barrel code on my new rifle says it was made in 1953 - no serial number - and it has the Dockendorff rear sight. And it does shoot. The first outing was a disaster, as the Weaver side mount had been buggered by a previous owner who stripped the thumb screw threads
in the base and tried Loc-tite to hold the screws. I squared that away, and the next time I went out, I shot - at 100 yards - three five-shot groups and one three shot group. The best - a five shot group - went into 1" horizontal by 1" vertical. The aggregate for the 18 shots
was 1.06"H X 1.22V. Certainly not bench rest standards, but plenty good enough for me and factory ammunition (the Hornady stuff).
I'm old enough to appreciate the quality of these so-called "cheap" rifles. When you compare the quality of the entry level guns of yesterday with some of the crap that's being produced today, it's a wonder that the 325's 340's and the house-marked guns aren't being gobbled up.

[Eric in NC]

it's a wonder that the 325's 340's and the house-marked guns aren't being gobbled up.


Agree with you there - a 340 in 30/30 makes a better deer gun than most of us that aren't "out West" will ever need, and the 222's are just plain FUN.

[Frankdm]

Just picked up a Savage 340 in 30-30 at a local gun show. It's in really nice shape and has the scope mount but no scope. I gave $140 for it which I thought was a good price. I've got a Bushnell 3x9 I'll put on it. Also seen a Savage 340E in .223 which I've never seen a 340 in that caliber before. I knew the 223 was a offered caliber but seems kind of rare around this area.The price on the 340 wae $375 and that was firm.Check out the new Savage EDGE, bought one Friday in .243, pretty cool rifle for the price. I got the EDGE XP in black with a Bushnell Sharpshooter 3x9x40 scope for $321.24 out the door at a local gun shop.