Howdy Folks


How can one see difference from a Savage 1895 and the 1899 models?

Someone here in denmark is selling a nice 303 Savage rifle with 26" round barrel with knifeblade frontsight .
Nice plain rifle with original finish for $800.
I`LL post picture later..

You might try asking this question in the Savage collectors forum on 24hourcampfire.com. Look in the forums section.

quote:

Originally posted by jens poulsen:
Howdy Folks


How can one see difference from a Savage 1895 and the 1899 models?

Someone here in denmark is selling a nice 303 Savage rifle with 26" round barrel with knifeblade frontsight .
Nice plain rifle with original finish for $800.
I`LL post picture later..

Look at the top of the action where the bolt locks up. If it is square, it's an 1895. If it is rounded, it's the 1899. The squared breech bolt had a tendency to crack the receiver so Savage change it to a more rounded one.
Paul B.

Thanks paul!

I would love to find(buy) one of these ol`99s with oct barrel in 32-40 or 38-55...

quote:

Originally posted by jens poulsen:
Thanks paul!

I would love to find(buy) one of these ol`99s with oct barrel in 32-40 or 38-55...

I agree with your caliber choice.......

I have an 1899 with oct barrel in 303 Sav. Sure is rough looking, but it still kills deer. It was my grandfather's go to hunting rifle. Lou

Dr. Lou: That's how!

Bill, You're probably right. Next trip to CA I will bring it back with me. Lou

Here is my Great Grandfathers 1907 1899B in .303 Savage. I have since put fiber optic Williams Firesites on it and will be dialing in a load for it this fall. I really like the heavy octagan barrel it sports. Very proud of this family heirloom!!

quote:

Originally posted

How can one see difference from a Savage 1895 and the 1899 models?

quote:

Look at the top of the action where the bolt locks up. If it is square, it's an 1895. If it is rounded, it's the 1899. The squared breech bolt had a tendency to crack the receiver so Savage change it to a more rounded one.
Paul B.

Paul, if you will check some standard Savage reference books such as "The Ninety-Nine", I think you will find that the change from the square locking surface to the curved one (with similar changes in the back of the breech bolt) did not occur until 1908. I have a Sav M '99 in .303 Sav in my vault right now which was made in 1906 and it still has the square lock up.

If I get the time between football games tomorrow, I'll try to post a list of the differences between the 1895s and the 1899s.

Best wishes,

AC

P.S. Here is a site to get some good books on Savage 99s:

http://www.savage99.com/


And, if you go there, scroll down the left side of the page until you get to the Stith "Install It Yourself" mounts, also known as the Stith "Streamline" mount. Click on the Weaver K-2.5 button, and you'll see probably the neatest, strongest no-extra-drilling, no tapping scope mount ever made. I've owned them on M99s in both the K-2.5 and K-4 versions, and they were STUPENDOUS! (The installation instructions and the mount schematics are there too.)

P.P.S. - How many these days realize the early M-95 Savages were not made by Savage, but by Marlin?

Okay, guys, here's the one easiest way to tell the difference between the 1895, 1899, and the 1908 and later M99s.

The 1895 did not have a mechanical "cocked" indicator on either the bolt or the upper tang. Instead, the top surface of the bolt, at the rear, had a hole (about a 1/4" hole, IIRC) through it. By looking through the hole, one could see the striker and see if it was back in the "cocked" position.

On the 1899-1907 models, the cocking indicator was a flat piece of metal inset into the top rear of the bolt. When the gun was loaded &/or cocked , the tail end of the flat piece of metal was shoved up above the surface of the bolt where it could be both seen and felt.

On the 1908 and later versions of all models, the flat piece in the bolt was done away with, and a round pin in a hole in the upper tang of the action became the indicator. When the gun was cocked, the pin stuck up above the surface of the upper tang where again it could both be seen and felt.

That change occured at approximately serial number 90,000 of the Model 1899 Savages.

At the same time, 1908, the locking face of the action and the back of the breech bolt were both changed from "flat" or "square" to "rounded" or "curved".


BTW, a little trivia...the 1895 was NOT the first of the series. The 1891 was. And the very first (patent toolroom model) was a smaller action too...with an 8-shot magazine, chambered for .32 WCF (.32-20)!

The next major change after that of 1908 didn't occur until 1954 when a longer rotary magazine spindle was used to accomodate the .243, .308, .358, etc.

In 1961 the sliding tang safety first appeared, on the '99 DL.

Thanks for sharing very useful information

You're more than welcome, Jens. BTW, I've corrected the major typo at the start of the third paragraph. It said "1999 to 1907", when of course it should have said "1899 to 1907".

I've aways been a poor typist. Hopefully, you read it the right way anyhow.

Best wishes,

AC