Savage Arms Springfield 188J

[Bill2887]

I just picked up a used Savage Arms Springfield 188J .22 semiautomatic rifle. I haven’t been able to find any reference to it in my Blue Book or online. No serial #. Barrel code indicates 1964 as the year of manufacture. Nice wood & metal. Curious to know what it’s worth and any historical data.

I know they made variations for retail chains with different model #’s specific to their version.

[10x25mm]

Your Savage Arms Springfield Model 188J is the short barreled (20 inch) version of the much more common Savage Arms Springfield Model 187J (24 inch barrel). They are the final evolution of the Savage Model 6A, which was introduced in 1938. Due to the gas relief cuts in their receivers, these rifles are commonly called the "Gill Guns". The most common versions of these rifles were made under the Savage, Springfield, Stevens, and Ranger brand names.

The 187/188 versions of these rifles were introduced after American Hardware Corporation bought Savage around 1960. Savage stopped making this series of rifles after the Gun Control Act of 1968 went into effect and the last guns were shipped in early 1969. Savage continued to make the detachable magazine Model [19]64 rifle at their Canadian Cooey / Lakefield facility. Savage bought Lakefield around 1966 and acquired excellent bolt action and semiautomatic .22 rifle designs.

The Model 6A series rifles were quite inexpensive and worked well when new, but have developed a reputation for chronic feeding and firing problems over the years due to spring weakening, shmutz in the magazine & cartridge lifter mechanism, and incompetent past disassembly/reassembly. Fully stripping and cleaning one of these rifles requires a very skilled gunsmith. And no, there should be no parts left over when reassembling them!

No idea what they are worth today. Condition and functioning are probably key factors. You do see a lot of them offered at gun "buy backs".

[Bill2887]

Thanks for your help. Very informative!