Hi Folks,

I went to the gun range today to test out a "new to me" Savage Model 24C .22/20ga Over/Under combination gun.

The firearm worked flawlessly and the .22 rifle barrel was accurate enough with iron sights and my old eyes.

The trouble was that I ran out of adjustment on the sliding rear sight insert and the rifle was still shooting 6 inches low.

I could lower the front sight but was thinking of replacing the rear folding sight with a peep sight.

Does anyone on the forum have any experience with a peep sight on a Savage Model 24?

The old type peep sight that clamped onto the barrel grooves is no longer produced so I would have to drill and tap the reciever to add the side-mounted peep sight. I do not like putting extra holes in a good gun, but without finding a used top mounting peep sight I do not have much choice.

I had the trigger weight reduced on this firearm at a local gun shop, it is not the cleanest trigger I own but the pull weight is now acceptable.

Grouse season opens in 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

Mike

I haven't had a Mod 24 in my hands for a while, so I don't remember how the rear sight is attached. If it is in a dovetail slot, Lyman makes a leaf rear sight, available with various blades to compensate for extreme elevation adjustments. That might help you. Sorry I can't come up with a peep for you...

Thanks OBG,

I never thought of replacing the dovetailed rear folding-leaf sight with a taller one, good idea.

In the basement I know I have an old folding leaf sight, I just do not know exactly where?
This is how a 2 day search of the house usually begins; only to remember that you loaned the item to your brother-in-law 5 years ago.

Mike

If you fail to find the one you have, the Lymans are only about $15, but you would need to know what height to order. Here is their website...

Williams Gun Sight makes two peep sights for the Savage 24 series. Check them out at: http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/5D.htm

Hi Herb,

Thanks for the link to Williams Gun Sights.

The Williams sight 5D-22/410 (large or small aperture models) are the sights I am considering to side-mount on the reciever of my Model 24C.

I would prefer to use the existing narrow scope grooves on the top of the .22 barrel (therefore no drilling/tapping of the reciever required) but the Williams .22 sight # 5D-AG does not clamp-down small enough to fit.

Williams and other companies used to make the correct top-mounted aperture sight for the Savage 24 but all have been discontinued, used models are hard to find.

Has anyone had experience with the Williams side-mounted aperture (peep) sight?

- Was it accurate/consistant (considering the rear sight is no longer mounted on the barrel)
- Did you prefer the large (shotgun) or small (rifle) aperture
- Was it durable
- Was there a need to replace the front sight (higher or lower)

Any information/experiences would be appreciated.

Mike

If he's still in business, Gary Fellers in Sequin Texas is THE MAN for locating vintage and discontinued units. He should be advertising in Shotgun News or Gunlist.

Have had a bit of experience with the Sav. M24 over the years. They can be a great little gun, as far as mounting a reciever sight.. I think that it would depend on your main usage objective.

If no wingshooting is required then a reciever sight would be a good alternative, with respect to aging eyesight, sight radius. At least reguarding one barrel - usually the rifle barrel, as these are not "regulated" the rifle barrel may, may-not print close enough to shotgun patern be usefull.

Drilling and taping the reciever would be my preference over the "Tip - off" dovetail method, as these can slide under 20ga. recoil. ( the dovetail option may not apply in your case, as you mentioned yours was smaller than standard)

Accuracy will most likely meet your demands, only range testing of your gun can answer this question. If no percievable movement between the reciever and barrels is noted, barrel vs reciever mounting should not be an issue.

Large vs small aperture? Depends upon lighting and speed of use, as well as eyesight, but these are inexpense - try them both, also dont forget that these can be removed for an even larger "gost ring" opening.

Durablity should not be an issue, but a back up (folding leaf) might be wise.

As to the posable replacement of the front sight? Savage has produced many varitions over the years, with front sight heights from Very low, (.25" ?) to pretty high (.400"-.500"), If you have a higher one you may "get away" with it.

On the flip side of the coin, ( aka wingshooting) the only reasonable approach (IMO)would be a folding leaf sight, folded out of the way.

Just my opinion, your milage may vary, best of luck to you.

you could check out auction arms I have been using them to try to find out what kind of rifle i have just recieved from a relative but they seem to have some hard to find parts. Or check Brownells for the part you need

Hi Herb, Chris, Gunsmith and Reddog79,

Thank you all for the information/direction on my sighting problem with my Savage Model 24, with your help I have some research to do!

With regard to wingshooting with this firearm I highly doubt I will be doing much of that. The grouse in northern Ontario are not very smart and most are shot on the ground with the .22 barrel. If you are quiet about it (no shotgun blasts and I even use sub-sonic .22 shells) it is possible to shoot your daily limit of 5 grouse (could be ruffed or spruce) all from the same flock. The shotgun barrel is nice when I miss with my first .22 shot and the bird gets nervous or a second bird takes off on the run.

I could do a little wingshooting on Sharptail Grouse as a sideline to moose hunting but the shotgun barrel has no choke so the flock will have to be close.

The shotgun barrel is more for bear protection around camp, last year bears were not a problem but we were invaded by skunks!

There were 5 of us sleeping in a wall tent when we realized we had a skunk under the kitchen table, "O.K. nobody move and maybe it will go away", after about 15 minutes it left, that could have been really bad if it had of sprayed within the tent!

I appreciate the input,

Mike