Thread: Resurgence of interest in the old "Three Oh"?

Originally Posted by hamish9701

No clue how many were made but from what I have read it was faster and easier to produce and apparently had minimal effects on accuracy (they still had to pass the same tests). But it must have made some difference because they went back to 6 groove eventually. Someone else will probably have real experience and advice on this

Large quantities. Most of the savage no4s we’re 2 groovers. I have found that there is very little difference in accuracy out to about 500yds. There was a reasonable number of savage mk1*s which ended up in NZ service. The first ones delivered (3-4000)are easy to spot as they have the round cocking piece like an smle and are all Nz marked. It’s suggested that these arrived with US forces in around 42/43.
They were not in common issue until the very end of the war and even then the smle remained the predominant rifle. Large shipments were received in 1946 & 1948 from commonwealth reserves.
The early NZ marked 2 groovers regularly come up at auction and are very collectable.
Of course many have been rebarrelled over the years.
There are a couple of nice 2 groovers for sale at shooter ready in cambridge at the moment.