Could possibly be a left over. The CIL actions were round top rears, is yours?
At a gunshow in the mid-80's looking for left hand stuff. Find an action on a table which turns out to be a factory Savage, short action, solid bottom single shot in "left hand". Guy says they made a handful and he bought this one around 1970. I take it home, turn it into a Palma rifle and shoot it for the next 25 odd years not thinking about it, and never seeing another one. Son was looking up Savage info awhile back and says the action was from the 1969-70 era. The serial number of mine is 135233. No letter pre-fix. Markings on action read "Savage Arms Westfield Mass. U.S.A." I know that Savage made a few left handers for CIL in Canada around 1970, but they were stamped CIL, with no reference to Savage. This summer, I ran into a young guy at a match who had the same set-up, and his serial number is within a handful of of mine, again with no letter pre-fix. Says he got it from his dad, who got it around 1970. I don't remember seeing any left hand single shots back in the day, but that was a long time ago. Anybody remember? Think it is a left over from the CIL contract? Or?
Last edited by wizzer; 10-27-2013 at 12:24 AM. Reason: spelling
Could possibly be a left over. The CIL actions were round top rears, is yours?
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
No, the rear is flat. Guess that rules out any CIL connection. It appears to be a standard 1st gen LH short action in all respects, other than a solid bottom single shot.
It was never a cataloged item, but that's not to say Savage didn't do a special run for somebody back then the same as they do today. Left-hand rifles were few and far between back then so the demand for them might have been a little higher to warrant such an order.
"Life' is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." ~ John Wayne
“Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” —Mark Twain
True enough. Maybe time for me to see if Mr. Callaghan knows the secret.
Savage made a special limited run of rifles for a canadian company called CIL. (Canadian Imports Limited)
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
Hi. In case you wanted to know, going by the Serial #, your gun was made in 1968.
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