Stevens 325 /Savage 340 Bolt Act

Stevens 325: These bolt action, removable magazine fed, economical rifles were first marketed under the Stevens name being introduced in 1947. It was only produced in the 30-30 caliber. It was designed fit a nitch for an economical hunting rifle that would handle only cartridges in the 35,000 PSI range. The bolt handle was distinctive in that it somewhat copied the European Mannlicher butter-knife handle. The locking bolt head utilized one forward locking lug & a top guide rib. This bold head had a milled slot in the LH lower quarter to allow the ejector to clear the extractor & eject the case at full rearward movement of the bolt. The bolt was removed by opening the bolt, drawing it fully rearward & pulling the trigger. The receiver was slotted thru the rear bridge like a Mannlicher. the extractor was a stamped metal wrap around "C" type with the RH hook a dimple that was broached on the rear to form a sharp extraction surface, & the LH side a slight bearing pad to hold the rim.

The magazine was a single column, 3 shot, stamped out removable unit made from a single sheet of metal folded like a box & riveted together. The early magazines had not markings on them at all. There was a magazine release lever at the rear of the magazine well of the trigger guard. The trigger guard/floor plate was a stamped sheet metal unit that had a section at the center of the magazine radiused upward into the stock to form a finger notch for magazine removal.

Magazine Changes Needed if Using New Magazines in Early Model 325 & 325B : The early guns, model 325 & 325 B, apparently had a shallower recess in the receiver where the top front & rear corners of the magazine go into. When installing new later or current replacement magazines, (even though they are made on the factory tooling). These recesses act as a upper stop for the magazine. You may have to lightly file off the stop pads on the new magazines. These are the tabs that are protruding both front & rear corners of the magazine body. Not much is needed to be removed, about .020 on the front & .010 on the rear has been found to be sufficient. Otherwise the magazine will not go all the way up & it usually will get bound up by being twisted front to back & get bound against the front & rear guides.

There were 3 different rear sights. The 325 appears to have used one that was threaded into the top of the barrel like the early model 15, 22 single shots. Next came the Dockendorff which utilized a rotating wheel for elevation on the 325A & B. The 325 C appears to have used a regular stamped steel one which utilized the dovetail. Front early sights were a screwed on ramp & blade combination. Later the ramp was dovetailed & the front sight used on the model 99 was added. The make/model & caliber designation was marked on the LH side of the receiver. If someone drills & taps it for the later scope mounts, there will usually be no model or caliber designation showing as the scope base covers them up.

The barrel was threaded into a recoil lug that abutted against the receiver front. The front action screw was threaded into the recoil lug. The rear screw was simply there to hold the rear of the trigger guard & only screwed into the stock. The front barrel band screw screwed into a block that was attached to a thin sheet metal band around the barrel. This gun was made with many metal stampings & set the guide for the design for the later to come Savage model 110. the barrel was threaded & chambered, then threaded into the receiver rotating in until it headspaced. Then the barrel markings were rolled on, & the sight slot cut after the barrel was tightened down.

Originally there were no provisions for a telescope sight. The stock was a one piece non-checkered birch with a black bakelite buttplate. No provision for sling swivel bows.

The model 325 utilized a rather different ejector, a long sheet metal unit running from the front of the receiver back along side of the magazine well to the rear of the magazine area. The later model 325A, B & C used what later became standard, in a smaller short spring-loaded ejector, pivoting in the receiver at the rear of the magazine area.

The firing pin was unique in that the rear was threaded to adjust the protrusion & locked into place by a “C” clip that slid over the square rear section. This was captivated when the striker unit was assembled into the bolt body. The safety lever was a pivoting sheet metal stamping on the RH side & at the rear of the bolt handle area that locked the bolt when the safety was in the “SAFE” position.

There are many invocative ideas on this gun that Remington copied/improved on when they made their model 721 which then evolved into the well known model 700.

This gun was revised with models 325A, B & C before it was discontinued by Stevens in 1950.

The models 322 A, B, C & S were 22 Hornet only & produced from 1947 to 1950 running parallel with the model 325.

Savage 340: The mother company, Savage, picked up the design the same year, (1950) & produced it under the renamed model of 340 which remained in production until 1985. The Savage 340, was basically the same gun as the 325 but with modernizations & with caliber variations. The bolt handle was changed to the more common round knob type. The stock was changed to walnut & was modernized somewhat toward the latter production years. Pressed checkering was on some later models. Regular dovetailed type rear sights were used. As far as we can tell all the 340s were factory drilled & tapped for a side mount scope base Weaver #1). Savage also made a stamped out sheet-metal scope base/mount for this model.

Some of the Savage models utilized suffix letters to designate variations or calibers. The Savage guns were produced in 22 Hornet, 222 Remington, with the 223 Remington & 225 Winchester following their inception sometime after 1964. It is not sure of the exact date of the 222 being introduced, but very likely in 1950 or 51 as this cartridge was introduced in 1950. The 340V was made in 225 Winchester & was produced in the mid 1960s for a few years. The model 342 & 342S were 22 Hornets only & were the newer versions of the 322. The 342 was produced from 1950 to 1955.

In the photo below you can see the 4 scope mounting holes for a side mount & the appropriate stock cut out. Also the 2 rear holes are for mounting a receiver (peep) sight. These are all factory holes on the 340. The metal on top of the bolt is a bolt guide, as the top of the receiver is split for the bolt handle base to slide thru. This rib is also seen from the other side from the next photo down.

The 340C was a deluxe 340 with checkering, sling swivels & came with a peep rear sight. It was made during the mid 1960s.

The last of the series, the 340E series was also made under the Springfield name as an 840E. These models dropped the finger groove notch in the trigger guard/floor plate unit which now was flat with the bottom of the stock. There was a big C shaped wire spring inside the stock magazine well that straddled the magazine & was caught into the notches at the front of the magazine feed lips. To facilitate this these notches had to be made deeper to give the spring it’s end clearance. In operation, when you depressed the rear magazine latch, this spring ejected the magazine.

So if you happen to want to use an older magazine in the 840 series guns, you will have to deepen these notches to within .100 of the bottom of the embossed groove on the side of the magazine. This amounts to lowering them about .100.

Safety Lever Lock Changed on Later Model 340 & 840 : A factory letter dated 3-28-1976 states - “For convenience in use of our Models 340 and 840, a change in the bolt handle was made during 1976. The safety, in the ON position, no longer locks the bolt handle, enabling the shooter to remove a round from the chamber without changing the position of the safety.”

One word of information here, IF you have this E model & happen to find a magazine assembly for the older models that does not have this extra notch cut out, it will not function as designed.

The retail stores of Sears, Montgomery Wards, J.C. Penny & Coast to Coast also sold these guns but under their own model numbers.

Below are the magazines used on the respective calibers. The 30-30 & 225 magazines have a capacity of 4 rounds. Nowhere on any of these magazines is the makers name embossed. Note the serrations for the magazine removal at the finger gripping area. The 30-30 follower is beveled at the rear for the rim to feed over on the last round & to guarantee all the rounds are positioned the same as they come up for chambering. The rear imprinted grooves hold the rims back in the box & the forward grooves help position the round sideways with the more pronounced & deeper indent actually guides the case into the chamber.

Early 30-30 magazines had no markings at all on them. The magazines shown below lists both the 30-30 & the 225 calibers. It is not known when the liability marking was placed on them, but obviously the 225 markings were placed in the stamping dies after the 225 Winchester was introduced.

Savage 340, 30-30 bottom view	Savage 340, 30-30/ 225 Win side view	Savage 340, 30-30 top/follower view

The 222 & 223 magazines have a capacity of 5 rounds & use a detented shoulder groove. This groove is placed differently for each caliber. We once tried to make a combo where both calibers were stamped on a 223 case, but feeding for the 222 was erratic. The original factory magazines used a flat follower that again caused somewhat erratic feeding problems. Then we happened to contact an ex factory assistant service manager who informed us that he made a slight bend in the forward part of the follower on guns that came back for warranty. We have now made a special forming fixture to do just that as seen below.

You may encounter different stamping of calibers & patent dates on these 222 & 223 magazines. After we purchased the dies to make these in our own shop, we found that setup was critical in the stamping as the 2 calibers shared a master die, but with different inserts used to change the shoulder dimple. This then also required shimming of the insets to emboss the caliber stamping. In doing this it was trial & error & the 12" X 26", 300# die needed to be removed & disassembled for each trial. We soon had a new stamp made that utilized the bottom for that requirement.

Notice the different location of the shoulder dimple between the 222 & the 223. the 222 is farther to the rear.

This 22 Hornet magazine was first used in the Savage model 23D. Then when the 322/342s came along Savage utilized it on this model also. You may see some early magazines marked Savage 23D & the caliber. Later magazines used on the 342 ultimately had the 23D markings dropped off the bottom & just had the 22 Hornet caliber.

Savage 340, 223 bottom view	Savage 340, 223 side view	Savage 340, 223 top/follower view

Savage 340, 222 bottom view	Savage 340, 222 side view	Savage 340, 222 top/follower view

Savage 340, 22 Hornet bottom view	Savage 340, 22 Hornet side view	Savage 340, 22 Hornet top/follower view