Getting Savage with Rio Grand Turkeys
By T&TH Editor Gordy Krahn
I was feeling a tad nostalgic as I handled Savage’s new Model 212 bolt-action turkey slayer. In ways it felt like reconnecting with an old friend. I’d ordered my first shotgun back in the late ’60s, a bolt-action Western Field 20 gauge, from the worn pages of the sporting goods section of the family Montgomery Ward catalog, and paid for it with hard-earned paper route money. The Model 160A Western Field was actually a Mossberg Model 385 that was branded by “Monkey Ward,” and sold between 1960 and 1986. While it never made it to the turkey woods — we didn’t have a modern day turkey season in the Gopher State until 1978 — it saw a lot of action in the local woods where I hunted all sorts of small game and on the waters in pursuit of a variety of waterfowl. It was my “everything gun.” I even shot my first whitetail with it. I handed the gun down to my younger brother when I purchased a new Sears Roebuck “Ted Williams” pump gun, and he still occasionally hunts grouse with it. I guess he’s a bit nostalgic, too.
As a turkey gun, a bolt-action shotgun can make a lot of sense. Like bolt-action rifles and slug guns, they are durable, reliable and quick to recycle. After a couple of practice shots at the range I felt assured that I would ruin the day of any gobbler that crossed my path. In fact, Savage’s new turkey tamers — available in 12 and 20 gauge — are built on the company’s Model 212 and 220 Slug Gun platform, which takes full advantage of the accuracy that’s attainable from the newest sabot slugs. Turkey hunters are looking for that same level of accuracy as they send super tight swarms of shot downrange at that ever-moving tom turkey noggin. And for that you might want to add optics. Both models are drilled and tapped to accommodate a red-dot, reflex-style sight or riflescope.
Other features include:
• Maneuverable 22-inch fully free-floating barrel threaded to accept Savage/Winchester choke tubes and secured to the receiver using the 110-style locking nut system, which eliminates the accuracy-reducing shot-to-shot inconsistency found in shotguns with non-pinned barrels.
• Detachable, two-round-capacity magazine that enables quick and safe loading and unloading.
• User-adjustable AccuTrigger, for a personalized trigger pull and bilateral, three-position safety on the tang.
• One-piece synthetic stocks available in black or Mossy Oak Obsession camouflage. The bilateral, straight-comb stock has a pistol grip and is capped with a rubber recoil pad with sufficient tackiness to prevent slippage on dew-wetted clothing. To ease transport, the stock has sling swivel studs.
For more details about these firearms, visit www.SavageArms.com.