Savage Sporter 25-20Win

What can you tell me about this rifle - Savage Sporter 25-20Win Serial #97xxx?
25-20Win is one of the calibres I reload for. My other 25-20 rifle is a Marlin 'Safety' 1894 25-20Win Take-Down made in 1900. I've built up a decent stash of components.

About all I know is what I've read, these were made between 1922???-23 & 1942. Some referred to them as a Model 23B, but I can't find 23B anywhere on this rifle.
Looking up the RCMP 'Canadian Firearm Reference Table' info at armalytics.ca:
-FRT#2190-1 lists a Savage 23B 25-20Win with a 635mm/25" barrel, manufactured from 1923 to 1942, 4 rounds (2 rifles under the FRT#2190).
-FRT#101855-14 lists a Savage 25-20Win with a 620mm/24.4" barrel, no dates provided, 5 rounds (15 rifles under FRT#101855).
Eyeballing mine with a tape measure I get 24.5", not 25". I put 5 in the mag yesterday.


Rifle had a minor issue, who ever reassembled it last did it wrong. They bent the floor plate, leaving the Mag loose & sloppy in the mag well. Assembled properly the mag sits snug in the well and rounds feed into the chamber with no problems.
-IMO this is the reason it was listed in 'Fair Condition' at $300Can c/w a full box of 86gr Winchester ammo.

My initial light cleaning with Ballistol & 0000 steel wool removed the odd speckle of white paint and the black gunk on top of the barrel and receiver. I'm guessing at one time there was a rail installed in the rear dove tail. Under the black gunk there's a line top dead centre where the rail wore off some bluing.
Before shooting, I quickly ran a bore snake thru rifle, rifling is clean and bright.
Wood looks good, no major dings, cracks or scratches. Renaissance Wax brought life back into the wood finish.
There was a lot of old lube on the outside of the bolt. Wonder how much is on the inside, are there any How-To's on taking this bolt apart?
Now I'd rate rifles condition as in 'Good+ working condition'.

Rifle is drilled & tapped for a side scope mount, missing rear sight and has an old Lyman receiver peep.
-I'm going to get some set screws to plug the scope mount holes and maybe touch up the bluing around the holes and line on top of barrel.
-Numrichs lists a Buck Horn rear sight for the 23B rifles. Was that the style they originally wore?
-I like receiver peep sights, but I've never seen this style before. The stock required a cut out for the receiver peep sight. Stock does not look Bubba'ed, could this have been Factory installed?

I'll try to follow up with a couple pictures later on to-day. Thanks

I have the same rifle with the Lyman peep. I believe it's a #41. It was after market. The two holes on top of the receiver were for a factory Savage peep sight, but I've searched all over and have not found one yet!

The Super Sporters are similar in that they were designated Models 40 and 45, but not marked as such.

They also required stock relief for the optional receiver sight. If it’s done well, there’s no way to tell if the relief is factory or after-factory.

Back with a couple pictures, was too cold & dank to stand around for long.

The receiver peep site.
https://i.imgur.com/dkQOG6Hl.jpg
The gunk really stands out in a close up pic.

Quick picture of the good side lol
https://i.imgur.com/5kEh8UAh.jpg?1

Nice wood and beautiful finish!

As far as the gunk in the peep and the potential gunk in the bolt, this is why God created ultrasonic cleaners.

I had to order another ultrasonic. The old one died, but it got 90% of the gunk before it passed on to the recycle bin.

Slight issue now reinstalling the Lyman Peep. I need to shim the top of the Peep out away from rifle.
Ref picture above: Looking at the top, left corner of the Peep there's no space, below the rubbery shim there's a space. The rubbery shim disintegrated during disassembly. Without the shim, the Peep cants to the right.
I've got a couple ideas. #1 use a leaf from a feeler gauge, #2 put JB Weld on the Peep and file to correct thickness, leaning toward #1.

I've given the bolt a good scrub with 0000 steel wool & Ballistol. That cleaned off 98% of the old yellowed lube. The Action now operates smoothly.
Unloaded, with original mag in place, muzzle pointed 60 degrees in the air, and you open the action, the bolt now slides to the rear with just gravity.
Once I get a handle on how the bolt is held together, I'll take it apart for a once in a Century cleaning.

I've done some touch up to the blueing around the side mount scope base holes and the other mark, top dead centre from behind the dovetail running to the rear.
With the rifle out of the stock, I degreased the area, warmed up the barrel, not hot just warm to the touch, used a Q-Tip to apply bluing, wiped off excess, oiled area with Ballistol. Not perfect but the rifle looks better. Going to revisit when I get some plugs for the side mount scope base holes.

I've ordered a spare mag and rear Buckhorn sight reproductions from Numrich. Fingers crossed the repro mag works. The repro rear sight is interesting, the 'Buckhorn' leaf "looks" easily removable, it's held in the dovetail insert with a screw. Also in the order is an ejector spring for my 24" SS Rossi R92 357/38. The stock Rossi ejector spring launches brass into a low earth orbit.

It looks good!! Nice job on the clean up! My kind of project, I love the 23's!