112-R Series J Rifle?

[bootsmcguire]

I bought a Savage yesterday in 25-06. It has a factory made varmint barrel, with what looks like a factory crown. On the barrel it is stamped "Savage 112R Series J" The action is a flat rear long action with a little higher luster of blue than most older actions I have seen. It has a 4-screw trigger and has standard 5.062 screw spacing.

It is a bling mag model and has a bolt head thats a tad bit different than I have seen. It is the same as the current models (not the head the very early 110s that had the different barrels) except that between the bolt head and the front baffle on the left-top side (as looking down on the bolt in the open position) there is a bit of the baffle milled away and pin protruding from the bolt head into this gap preventing the bolt from rotating the wrong direction when in the action (I hope some of that makes sense).

The barrel has either had the headspace altered or is not original to the gun. The script is rotated down just a tad and the rear sight holes are not at the 12 o'clock position. Speaking of screw holes there are two screw holes with plugs about where a rear sight should be but nothing for a front sight. As said above it appears to be a factory type crown and the barrel is 26".

The stock is wood (birch or walnut is my guess) and is of the varmint/target style of the older 112's I have seen pictured here over the last few years from time to time. Serial number is D105xxx. Also the safety's grip lines (for lack of a better word) are much wider than models of the last 15 years, there are only 6 cross lines rather than like 15 or so on the standard (non accutrigger) safety buttons.

So all of that being said:

Is this a 112?
What is a 112R?
Why would the barrel have only rear sight holes since it does not appear to be shortened?
Any idea of Year of Manufacture?

I will try to get some pics up, but my wife has my computer today so I cant link up my camera, so maybe by the weekend. Thanks everyone in advance.

[Gmac5]

The holes that you think are for the rear sight are for target style scope bases.try savage for ser # ,orig date and model
Sound like a nice find , does the stock have stippling in the grip area and a palm swell?

[northlander]

When Savage brought out their factory Varmint Rifle it was called the 112 V (Varmint). These were the highly sought after single shot Long Actions. After a little over a year of customer whining, Savage brought out their Model 112 R (Repeater). These were the repeater version of the Model 112 V rifles. I have one in a 112 R that I purchased new in 1974. These were the J series rifles.

Jim Briggs
NSS

[bootsmcguire]

Thanks Jim, I had heard of the 112V but not the R, so the R for repeater makes sense and since this one is in a Long action caliber it was built on a standard LA rather than the oddball Short action often referred to as the "J" action is the take then. Great.

Gmas5, I have not yet heard or seen anything like the target bases you are referring to, but that seems logical since I was unaware that such a thing exists. If anyone has any pics of such a thing I would love to see it with bases installed. As to the stock, this one has the palm swell but a smooth finish, no checkering or anything like that. It was a heck of a find I think since I was able to get it for less that what a used Stevens or Axis seems to bring around here. I found it at a Scheels store as a recent trade in. I told the salesman that I wanted to pop the barreled action out of the stock and give it an inspection and he said "no way, not allowed." So I told him that the barrel had obviously been messed with since its clock positioning was off and obviously then someone had been messing with it. Also pointed out that depending on what trigger it had in it would make a difference if it was worth anywhere near what they wanted and also the follower was binding slightly and I wanted to know why. After explaining to him that I have taken Savages apart hundreds of times and giving him a crash course on the simplicity of it he finally let me. Luckily when we pulled it out, there was a pinch of powder under the follower (maybe Varget or similar looking extruded powder) that was causing it to bind up. Between that, a small chip in the stock, and the barrel being off position I was able to get him to drop the price enough to get me to take it. Now as long as the wife doesn't blow up about it I am all set.

I will try to get some pics up sometime, I am just so busy right now doing any last minute preparation for the homecoming of my new twin boys so time is hard to find.

I will say I am glad to see that the riflings and chamber seem to be in great shape since the rear baffle has a fair bit of wear on it from being cycled and I tad shocked since I would think that the 25-06 would scorch riflings with that much firing. Time will tell how she does, now to save up for some 25-06 brass and dies, and better reset the headspace since who knows whom or why it was changed.

[bootsmcguire]

Thanks Gary, I wish I would have had more funds. There was also a used MarkII FV-SR in there in great shape for $190. I figured grabbing 2 deals in 1 day would be pushing it with the wife, LOL.