My New Savage Model 42 410/22 over under

**antiacus** · 03-06-2013, 01:09 AM

This is a rifle i will be taking on a survival trip this summer. I thought long and hard about what to bring and ended up with the model 42. I think MSRP is $430, i paid $360.

Some brief impressions:

Trigger: decent, i can work with it.
Front Sight: atrocious, the bead is tapered large to small from muzzle to aft and covers the whole bulls eye at 20 yards.
Rear Sight: Not horrible, but not great. I'm going to swap for an aftermarket peep.
22 Barrel: seems okay. with the horrid sights i was able to shoot pretty tight groups.
410 Barrel: Needs a choke. Shot an 18" pattern at 20yds with no6 hunting shot. I wouldn't shoot at a grouse or quail outside of 15 yards. I'm wondering if a gunsmith could do some sort of screw in choke.

Overall, i have to say i like it despite it's warts. It's just so light and handy and points really well. With improved sights and a little better range for the shotgun and i will love it.

I took my 7 year old daughter for her very first marksmanship session and it was perfect. I like how the action really slows everything down and makes for very deliberate movements.

It's an ugly rifle in my opinion. Not that it bothers me much, i have lots of sexy rifles, this is a knockabout tool. But i've been wanting to try my hand at painting one for awhile and i think it looks quite a bit better. Red on black has never been my thing.

Before:

After: (sorry for the cellphone pics)

**d-alex001** · 03-06-2013, 01:49 AM

very good))) what ammo you shoot? I myself want to buy a gun. I wait until they are available in Russia. Can you take a picture of more sights?

**mdauben** · 03-06-2013, 04:03 AM

Thanks for the review. I liked the old Model 24 but was on the fence regarding the new Model 42. It is an ugly gun but your camo paint job definitely improves the looks. Nice job!

**tennecedar** · 03-06-2013, 04:52 AM

I really like the way that looks with the camo.

**atfan** · 03-06-2013, 06:43 AM

I bought one also. I'm hoping it becomes sufficiently popular for Skinner sights to come up with a peep sight - my gunsmith is going to give me an estimate on fabbing a replacement for the front barrel bracket with a 3/8 dovetail so standard fiber optic blades could be used on the front sight , out of aluminum which will be anodized black...

**atfan** · 03-06-2013, 06:47 AM

Did you disassemble the gun to paint or just mask off? It looks great! I can't stand the red(kinda pink on mine) "o" rings - I tried a black sharpie but it looked bad so I'm back to pink o rings....

**Blaker55** · 03-06-2013, 09:27 AM

While waiting for govt approval process when purchasing my 10-22 Takedown I fondled the model 42. I really liked it. I agree with you that I also would probably treat it as a knock around gun. Seems like such a handy piece of equipment.
Shoots 22, 410 and I assume you could put 410 slugs through it. Darned versatile!
Arguably falls in the category of, "If you could only have one gun..."

Great job on the paint job!

Might have to consider one in the future.

**Alpine Jo** · 03-06-2013, 10:41 AM

The camo makes it look 10 times better. I have a model 24 22/410 but i wish it was lighter and had sling mounts. Might have to pick up a 42 now that i know camo makes it look decent.

**antiacus** · 03-06-2013, 10:56 AM

So far i've only put .22 lead 42gr and no6 birdshot through it, .22 ammo is still way behind in production and i was lucky to get 500 rds of what i got.

i'll post some better pics later today since there is interest.

For the camo job i followed the method this guy did on his m1a. I reversed his color pattern and started with green, then brown, then tan since i live in a really green area. (also an Oregon flat instead of canuckistanian

).