Going through some old saved articles... throwing out miscellaneous stuff in no special order.
New York specified a 30 caliber gun, 28" barrel, 1 in 9" twist, metal jacketed bullet of 220gr weight, max 36gr powder.
Tests could be done with other calibers and cartridges, but the final sale would be for "present standard service smokeless powder ammunition of the United States government" - which would have been the 30-40 Krag.
One newspaper article says "United States Government cartridges were used in the test." by the Savage rifle.. so it was chambered in 30-40 Krag according to this.
Wow.. just found this: "Heretofore Its sporting pieces have been manufactured under contract by the Marlin Fire Arms Company of New Haven, Conn., while the military pieoe tested yesterday was made at the works of Pratt & Whitney, in Hartford, Conn."
Wetterau (?) powder from Belgium was used by the Savage.
One test was to fire the rifles with an overcharge of powder, 40gr instead of the normal 36gr. When measured out on the scale at the testing ground, the powder overflowed the case. Arthur Savage thought the charge much more than 40gr, and upon taking it to a druggist found it to be 75gr. If it had fit in the cartridge, Mr. Savage thought it possibly would have burst the gun.
The contract would be for up to $300,000 and 15,000 rifles over 3 years.
No field tests done with issuing weapons to troops, just various tests in front of the committee at the Thirteenth Regiment Armory in Brooklyn. Accuracy, endurance, pierced primer, sand in receiver were some.
Winchester rifle submitted was the 1895 sporting pattern with military forestock.
The Savage rifle performed best in the endurance test whereby they fired 400 continuous rounds. The Savage finished in 26 minutes, 15 seconds (32 minutes, 5 seconds for the Winchester).
The Savage rifle excelled at tests for single loaders, with an expert firing 35 shots in one minute. However, it did break down during the single load test but was easily repaired.
Winchester did better in the accuracy contests overall, but their gun was fired by a military shooter while the Savage was fired by Arthur Savage. Long range tests were 500, 800 and 1000 yards.
The Savage rifle is said to have fired through a 2' oak tree during the trials.
One Savage carbine was presented to the committee for review, it was not used in any tests.
Trials started on or about April 20th, 1896.
Trials ended on June 28th, 1896.
The commission reported the unanimous selection of the Savage rifle as it's choice on or about July 14th, 1896. Muskets for infantry, carbines for cavalry.
October 23rd, 1896 is when Governor Morton turned down the Savage rifle purchase in favor of getting Springfield rifles from the federal gov't.
