Model 4C

I've got an old Savage Model 4C. The only thing I know is that it's old and has a checkered pistol grip. I was told the checkered pistol grip makes it a pre WW-2. Not sure if that's true or anything else about it. Is there a site or anywhere someone can point me to look up some info on it? Thanks, Matt

Not alot of other places to go.

What color is the bolt? Does it have a peep sight or is it drilled and tapped for a peep sight?

I can probably narrow it down a bit.

I didn’t figure there was! The bolt is silver or chrome I suppose. One thing I just noticed was it has the number 1 stamped on the bottom rails of the bolt. That’s the only number I’ve found on the rifle except for the model number. It has a regular dovetail front site and ramped leaf rear site. The receiver isn’t drill and tapped for anything.

What I'm guessing right now is that it's a pre-1940 model if it doesn't have a single hole on the left hand side for the peep sight.

I kinda wish Gene was around because he could tell me if the 1936 model 4's were both D&T'd for that sight or just the model 4S.

That’s what I was able to research a few years ago right after I bought it. No holes in the receiver whatsoever.

Some dates from the catalogs I have -
- retail price list April 1. 1933, no Model 4
- wholesale price list Aug 12, 1933, large cocking knob which was turned to act as a safety, note says "drilled & tapped for a No 55 Lyman sight". Chromium plated bolt & trigger. Stock shows checkered wrist with un-checkered grooved forearm with a steel butt plate.
- catalog No 66 same as above (I do not have a dated price list with this one)

---- all the same through a March 1, 1934 wholesale catalog

- wholesale price list Feb 20, 1935 - no longer listed for the No 55 Lyman, checkered wrist stock with un-grooved forearm and now a black hard rubber butt plate. 4S version introduced for the No 105 sight set (regular Model 4 not drilled & tapped for these, sight set also required a milled relief in the right rear bolt channel in the receiver to allow the bolt to be pivoted down to clear the receiver sight for removal).
- catalog No 70 March 5, 1936 - scopes with Weaver side mounts listed, but guns were only drilled & tapped for them if so ordered.
- catalog No 71 (do not have an exact date) picture does not show the cocking knob and they are listed as being drilled & tapped for scopes (side mount, not at this time specified as Weavers, but later they are).
- 1937 parts list, No 19 folding rear windage adjustable sight appears, this was used with the No 100 front and No 105 rear on the 4S, earlier guns just showed a plugged rear sight dovetail in the pictures
- March 7, 1946 stock still listed and pictured as checkered, still lists 4S version with No 105 sight set
- March 25, 1947, still checkered stock, no 4S version listed
- Feb 2, 1948, still checkered, 4S version reappears but now with the new No 150 WFC receiver sight and a different front, the No 100 front that went with the No 105 rear is not listed.
- Feb 2, 1949, still checkered, 4S now adds a No 150 front sight to go with the No 150 rear.
- Sep 19, 1950 checkering dropped.

Note on the No 150 receiver sight, guns with this sight from the factory will have a relief milled in the right rear of the bolt channel to allow pivoting the bolt down to clear the sight for removal - the No 150 sight is larger than the old No 105 and required the relief to go farther forward. Other guns just sent out drilled & tapped for this sight will not have that relief.

Gene, my catalog #71 has the price list dated "effective Feb 1st, 1937", should fill a gap.

My rifles receiver isn’t drilled and tapped at all. It does have a chrome bolt and trigger. No grooved forearm. The bolt cocking knob is straight, if that matters. The front sight is dovetailed into the barrel. I think that’s a Lyman if I remember correctly. The rear ramp sight is on the barrel. Nothing on the receiver. Only thing on the receiver is the word “safe” with an arrow pointing forward. The butt piece is a black plastic looking piece. I don’t think it’s hatd rubber but I guess it could be. And the trigger guard appears to be pot metal or aluminum and painted black. Not sure if any of that helps. It does have the checkered pistol grip though.

Joe, put a note with the date in my catalog #71. Chewy1010 - your gun doesn't have what I would call a cocking knob, it has a separate safety. The cocking knob is about as big around as the receiver and is checkered, you can manually cock or uncock the gun with it and for a safety you pull it out and turn it into a locked position. I think your gun fits in sometime in 1935 when they were starting to make changes but had not yet made scope mounting holes standard... but it's hard to really tell.

Oh I gotcha now. I know what you’re talking about I believe. I just automatically thought of the bolt handle. 1935 is pretty dang old, huh?!

Hi Matt:

I just inherited my Dad's Savage Model 4C. It also has a checkered grip. He won it in a pest control contest in 1948 or 1949, for killing the most crows and gophers in Hardin County, Iowa. He got it at the Coast-to-Coast hardware store in Eldora, Iowa, the county seat and his hometown. As an aside, he took me there when I was 11 to buy me my own first .22) :)

I just inherited the rifle in December myself, and it was missing the peepsight, although it was drilled and tapped for it. The barrel says "4C", but the hang tag/instruction card says "4-S".

I found another reference that says the 4C came with an open rear sight, and the 4S omitted this sight and had the peepsight instead. My dad's rifle has the open rear sight, and the photo of him holding it does not show the peepsight installed. Maybe he bought the peepsight later on and installed it himself? I remember the peepsight from when I was a kid, but it was missing when I got the rifle, so I found one on eBay and had it installed by a gunsmith (I couldn't find the right screws for it, even though it was already drilled & tapped). The sight is a WCF #150.

I don't know why the original hang tag says "4-S". Maybe it's not as cut and dried as the reference said, and sometimes they shipped them with both open and peepsights? Or perhaps you could order the peepsight as an option and the hang tag came with it? Anyway, I'll post photos of what I have. Maybe it will help you with your own rifle.

Good luck!

- Brad

Oh - looks like there's no photo uploader. Has to be a URL. That sucks. Not gonna do that as I have no URL site with photos. Contact me via email and I'll send them to you if you like.

Will do. Thanks for the info Brad.

Sav22: Thanks for the detailed information. I checked, and my receiver is relieved on the right rear side, meaning the peepsight was installed at the factory. I guess it's just not visible in the photo, or else my dad took it off and preferred the open sight.

Re: the open sight. The "4C" designation is on the top left side of the barrel. Perhaps they produced a hybrid model, or ran out of 4S barrels, or it was a special run, or who knows what. I'm more familiar with vintage military rifles than sporting rifles, and I know that the military contractors did things like that all the time to keep product moving out the door. Anyway, thanks for the information. :)

From what I have found the designation 4S was on paper only - I have never seen any of the models that cataloged an 'S' version that were stamped with that on the gun, your '4S' in on a 4C actioned rifle. The 4S would have shipped with what ever type peep & front sight combination they were using at the time and would still have a rear sight dovetail, some catalogs show a rear sight and some show a blank but I don't think any ever came without the dovetail. Earlier 4S's before WWII would have had the No 105 peep sight and used a No 19 folding windage adjustable rear barrel sight that could be folded out of the way, that sight seems to have been discontinued during WWII.

I have a 6S (stamped 6B) that is post WWII with the No 150 peep sight, it has just an empty dovetail in the barrel and I assume it came with a standard rear that was removed by a previous owner because it interfered with the peep sight.

With that being said, do you still think mine is pre-WWII or post WWII?