Hi,
New member here. I have a chance to buy a Model 81A in .300 Savage but it is missing the magazine spring and follower. I have been looking at online sources and in my search found this great site. Any help with finding the magazine spring and follower would be appreciated, I would like to add that 81 to my collection.
I have a Model 141 in .35 Remington and look forward to looking at all the information available here. Thanks.
Magazine parts for 81A
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Welcome. Wouldn`t let the lack of the parts you mentioned keep you from acquiring the 81 if it is otherwise a nice one at a good price. Those parts do come up for sale .Keep a look out on Fleabay and GunBroker and of course the guys here will let you know if they see one. Good luck.
Joe
Joe
".......ain't many troubles that a man cain't fix
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Welcome to the sickness. Indeed looking for parts is part of the fun... part patience and search, you'll have what you need. 
Though defensive violence will always be “a sad necessity” in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men. - St. Augustine
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Thanks for the feedback. I made on offer and we'll see what happens. Thanks.
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Well here's the update, I was able to purchase the 81A. The overall condition appeared pretty good, bluing was excellent and the integrity of the wood looks great but the stock finish is flaking and cracked and looks like a candidate for refinishing.
I did get hold of the magazine parts. I got the magazine spring from gunparts@hsnp.com and the magazine follower from ebay. I was told the follower may need some fitting since it was generic for the different calibers of Savage 81's.
So I reviewed the disassembly video and set about to remove the magazine to see if the follower would need fitting and/or install the spring/follower. When I got the stock off I found the action spring to be covered in some rust but otherwise everything looked OK. I won't go into all the details of the fumbling around that then took place but the short story is after removing the trigger plate screw I could not get the trigger pin punched out. Put a mark on the pin and decided to quit before doing anymore damage. Put it back together and tried installing the spring and follower from the top with the bolt locked back but couldn't get that to work either.
The internals look like they need a good soaking/cleaning, not sure that it had ever been disassembled. Any suggestions on the trigger pin removal would be appreciated. Thanks.
I did get hold of the magazine parts. I got the magazine spring from gunparts@hsnp.com and the magazine follower from ebay. I was told the follower may need some fitting since it was generic for the different calibers of Savage 81's.
So I reviewed the disassembly video and set about to remove the magazine to see if the follower would need fitting and/or install the spring/follower. When I got the stock off I found the action spring to be covered in some rust but otherwise everything looked OK. I won't go into all the details of the fumbling around that then took place but the short story is after removing the trigger plate screw I could not get the trigger pin punched out. Put a mark on the pin and decided to quit before doing anymore damage. Put it back together and tried installing the spring and follower from the top with the bolt locked back but couldn't get that to work either.
The internals look like they need a good soaking/cleaning, not sure that it had ever been disassembled. Any suggestions on the trigger pin removal would be appreciated. Thanks.
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
From your description it does sound like a good soaking is in order. The pins are not supposed to be difficult to remove so with what you said about finding rust etc. the soaking would be my first step. Best and cheapest I`ve found is a 50/50 mix of ATF fluid and acetone. Way cheaper than the commercial products..Kroil,PB Blaster and others. Immerse the receiver and action and let it work for a few days and you should be able to drive the pins out with ease.
Joe
Joe
".......ain't many troubles that a man cain't fix
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
With seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Not too unusual to find a stock that needs refinishing. I've had three in which the metal finish was quite good, but with a badly cracked/peeled/scratched-up and generally abused wood finish. Wipe it down with acetone on paper towels to remove it all. Unless the wood is really badly dented or deeply scratched, do not sand or fill it, just go over it with 0000 steel wool to get a nice smooth surface. USE NO WATER! I prefer one of the Tung oil finishes, such as Minwax has. It will take several applications with steel wool between them.
Re: Magazine parts for 81A
Thanks for the suggestions. I will give them a try.