I have to agree with George. My first shotgun was a Fox Model B 20-ga built in the early- to mid-70s (beavertail forend, pressed checkering, very heavy). As I said earlier, this 1960 311 is no "wand," but it still seems like a higher-quality gun than that Model B was. I figure that rising production costs and corner-cutting over the 15 years between the manufacture of those two guns is the main cause of this difference. I will also speculate that American demand for side-by-sides was at its lowest point ever right around 1975, and that Savage saw no reason to build a nicer gun if the market didn't want it anyway. My two cents. TT
