Anybody else like Savage/Valmet O/U guns?
I've had a bunch of these shotguns and shotgun/rifle combination guns imported by Savage from Valmet in Finland during the 1970s. The first one was given to me by my wife after I got a new job and we recovered somewhat from the early 1980s "recession" which was really devastating in our area of the Pacific Northwest. It isn't really a "Savage/Valmet," it was imported by Sloane's (in Chicago?) before Savage picked up the Valmet line. All of my shotguns and other guns except my first gun (Win 37 .410 single) and my grandfather's Colt "New Service" DA .44-40 born in 1913. They went for house payments (along with just about everything else we had that could be turned into cash).
It has a red-and-black Turkish walnut stock that looks like rosewood, and fit me perfectly, luckily. I was the second owner, and, as far as I'm concerned, the last before my son. Killed a lot of birds with it so far, in 6 different states.
After that I started looking for the Savage/Valmets and have found quite a few, and given some to relatives and hunted most of the rest. Right now I have only a Savage Model 330 20 guage magnum and a Savage Model 2400 12 guage over .222 Rem combination gun (also has a stock that looks positively edible!). I sold off my 2400 12/.308 when I moved back to CA, since big game hunting is a VERY long distance proposition if you live in the LA Slurb, and I'm getting a little long in the tooth for it anyway.
The Savage/Valmets are a Finnish simplification of the Remington Model 32 O/U, but usually just field grade, unlike the 32, which was made in some fancy grades. The German Krieghoff K-guns used by champion trap shooters use basically the same system.
If you've never noticed these and like O/U shotguns, look around for one (Models 330, 333, and 2400). I think they're sleepers; I got a 330 12 for my son for just under $400 in near new cond. He loves it and better yet, uses it.
