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Posted: 2/5/2026 1:06:28 AM EDT
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I inherited an a Savage 220 hammerless break action that is in pretty decent shape. Problem is it still has what appears to be the original (or really old) grease in the receiver. It’s since dried out and made the barrel release difficult to actuate. I’m not too keen on dissembling the receiver because how to’s for this model are none existent, and parts if something goes wrong, rarer. I’m curious if I can soak the receiver in something that will loosen up or dissolve the grease without HURTING the blueing. Mineral spirits are something I keep seeing. Is soaking it in gasoline a thing? Lol always did the job on small engine problems. I’ll post pics if I can but I think my post count is too low |
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Try mineral spirits first, then brake cleaner, then acetone, then lacquer thinner. Kroil, aerosol gun solvents, a soak in gun solvent from a can, and WD-40 are more options. Acetone will strip the oil and grease so don't screw around, re-oil afterwards to head off rust. Brushes and picks will probably be needed to get into every corner. |
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Even kerosene. Funny, your post made me google for instructions and found an old post from a guy that wrote a Savage firearms disassembly and reassembly book. He said he would rather pay a gunsmith than do it himself on that particular firearm and he only tackled the job to update his book with a better procedure. http://www.savagesingleshots.com/smf/index.php?topic=154.0 |
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Good find there! I’ll have to look for that book! I’ll let it soak in mineral oil for 24hrs, blow it out, clean it, and lube. Hopefully that’s enough to give it the loving it needs. Usually I like digging into things but not when the process and spare parts are non-existent. |
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Originally Posted By asuaviator: I inherited an a Savage 220 hammerless break action that is in pretty decent shape. Problem is it still has what appears to be the original (or really old) grease in the receiver. It’s since dried out and made the barrel release difficult to actuate. I’m not too keen on dissembling the receiver because how to’s for this model are none existent, and parts if something goes wrong, rarer. I’m curious if I can soak the receiver in something that will loosen up or dissolve the grease without HURTING the blueing. Mineral spirits are something I keep seeing. Is soaking it in gasoline a thing? Lol always did the job on small engine problems. I’ll post pics if I can but I think my post count is too low I took a very old shotgun where the action wouldn't even move, and just sprayed the receiver down with either CLP or Rem-Oil, I don't recall which. I let it sit for a few hours, then just started gently trying to work the action, and within about 5 minutes, the action was cycling remarkably smoothly. Then I set about cleaning up all the oil. You might want to take a similar approach. Give the "gentle" gun oils time to soak and work before going to more aggressive chemicals. Mineral spirits should be "gentle" as well. |
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If you can take the stock off, dunk it in boiling water. I pour boiling water down the barrels of rifles after corrosive ammo. It dissolve salt an oil and dries almost instantly. On a side not if left awhile it while convert any rust. You need to oil afterwards for sure. There's nothing left of any type of oil |
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Personally, I would not try and disassemble the receiver unless I truly HAD to (as in something is broken, gun does not function). I’m not familiar with that particular model but a lot of those old single-shot breakopens, used tapered AND splined pins and went together like a Chinese puzzle box. Also, if you remove the stock, you may or may not ever get back on with a solid fit. I’d try mineral sprits first. It’s safe for the bluing and pretty gentle on wood if you don’t soak it too long. Be prepared to apply BLO to the wood after mineral spirits dries off. Have fun. I like bringing old, forgotten guns back to life. |
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asuaviator, How did you make out with your Savage 220? I inherited a Savage 220A 20 Gauge & it had wouldn't recock when I opened the action. I pulled the wood stock off thinking something might have been broken or missing parts, which was not the case. There was no rust, but everything was caked up. I sprayed the action down with Gunscrubber, then lubed everything up. I reworked the action dozens of times & everything works like it should. My observation is the Savage 220 is a very nice single shot! |
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Thanks all for the input and replies! For the record and future research this is how it played out for me. Took off the forearm and cleaned the retention spring, lever and housing. Then lightly re-lubed. Removed the barrel and dissembled the ejector mechanism. Old grease was caked in there and it was worth pulling apart to fully clean and re-grease. Removed the butt plate to remove the stock from the receiver. Initially I bathed it rem oil in and worked the release to try and loosen it all up. That didn’t make much of a difference so after researching deeper and realizing the difficulty of receiver disassembly I posted here. That led to a 24 hour soak in mineral spirits. It didn’t dissolve the old grease but loosened it up so that hoppes, a toothbrush and other cleaning tools could remove it. Once it looked good I blew it out with compressed air. After that I used Remington shotgun cleaning to make sure nothing was left behind it hard to reach places. I felt it was pretty damn clean after that. I re-lubed the receiver with a mix of grease and oil where appropriate. After reassembly the barrel release was much better than before! I feel the tolerance on these old shotguns was incredibly acute and would be stubborn to operate with old dirty grease. This gun was bought new by my FIL’s dads in the 50’s/60’s and had mild use in its early days. Knowing my FIL it probably didn’t leave the safe much once it was passed on to him. Now that it’s in mine it won’t be leaving them til that day comes. It’s an heirloom I’ll hold onto forever. |
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