Need info on Savage Model "6A"

[Mylhouse]

Greetings.
My buddy has an old 22lr. rifle with the above model #. I think it is the neatest designed .22 semiauto I've ever fired. It has the tubular magazine under the barrel (ala Marlin 60). Here's the neat part. You can use the rifle as a semiauto OR a bolt action. You leave the bolt handle out for semiauto, and push it in to lock the bolt. When on semiauto, the bolt stays back after firing and doesn't close until you release/reset the trigger. The receiver also has some funky "vent" cuts in it. The barrel was long-probably 22-24".

Does Savage or anyone for that matter still make such a beast? I have no idea how old this rifle was, but I'd guess 50 years old. Anyone know where I can get my hands on one?

Thanks!

 

[James K]

That rifle was made under a number of model names and with both a tubular and a box magazine. When they worked, they were OK, but when they didn't they were a gunsmith's nightmare. The ability to use the gun as a repeater was more an advertising idea than any real advantage, though it might have been useful in training or with .22 Long or Short ammo. All versions had been discontinued by about 1968.

Due to both the problems and the fact that there are far better semi-auto .22's today, those guns bring only about $100 in average condition. They turn up at gun shows and on the used gun racks at gun shops and pawn shops from time to time. There is no collector interest. Parts are available from Gun Parts Corp. (www.gunpartscorp.com).

Jim