Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors How do I find genuine pre-mil .243 99

How do I find a genuine a pre-mil .243 99?

Are you really asking if someone has one they'd sell? Not a bad plan if you are.

Not looking for offers at this time.

But a pre-mil .243 is on my bucket list and I've read that newer barrels have been rumored to be able to screw themselves onto pre-mil receivers.

Well, if you what you mean by "newer barrels" would be the post-mil barrels then you've read wrong. Pre-mill barrels have a square thread and post-mil barrels have a V thread. Others may say otherwise. They're wrong. They may want to argue about it but bottom line is they're wrong.

You open your wallet,,,,,,,,,,,"wide" and you buy one.

Bingo.

Really "Wide"!!

Steve

Bushmaster...

Welcome to the Forum...

You can be assured that each of the Members who posted an answer to you (above) is telling you like-it-is.

A pre-mil Model 99 in .243 Win. is a fairly rare item since Savage didn't add the .243 caliber until 1956 according to Doug Murray's "The Ninety-Nine" book. And Doug Murray is considered "THE" authority on the Savage Model 99 along with our own Rick99 and several of our Forum Members.

In general, most Model 99 collectors put a much greater value on "pre-mil" Model 99s than they put on "post-mil" Model 99s since it is felt the quality of the pre-mil Model 99 is considerably better than the post-mil Model 99s... and since the pre-mil Model 99s were only made for a few short years prior to the Model 99's serial numbers passing 1 million (1,000,000... i.e., "post-mil") there were much fewer "pre-mil" Model 99s made than post-mil Model 99s.

Doug mentions, in his book, that Savage moved their manufacturing facilities from Chicopee Falls, Mass. to Westfield, Mass. in 1960 at which time the first "post-mil" serial numbered Model 99s were first manufactured. Thus one of the reasons for the rarity of a Model 99 in .243 caliber.

Note the excerpt from my 1960 Lever Boss Code's records below. In 1960, Savage used the letter" L" to indicate the year of the Model 99s manufacture which was 1960:

L= 1960: 9681xx (11L), 968338(LBC=?), 9689xx(?), 969002(?), 969,390(11L), 10003xx(L), 1004XXX(11L),10060XX(9L), 10086XX(11L), 1009869(11L), 1009XXX(11L),10121XX(11L),

In the LBCs shown above, the number in brackets following the rifle's serial number is the rifle's LBC [example: 9681xx (11L) ] which consists of the inspector's number ("11") and the letter "(L") indicates the year of manufacture.

Like LongBeardKing wrote (and Gnoahhh agreed), you'll need to open your wallet WIDE to buy a pristine Model 99 in .243 Winchester caliber.

Good luck on your quest for the finest lever-action rifle ever made...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

See, if someone asks what time it is Ron will tell them how a watch is made.

To give a "newbie" a COMPLETE explanation is better than letting them wonder "why" without knowing, Steely.

I'm confident you agree...

Ron

Watch the auction sites and local auctions, they pop up. It'll almost always be a 99F in 243, the EG and R are rare. Just have to have the money to buy it when they come up.

If you have worries about the barrel on a premil 243, just make sure it says Chicopee Falls on it.

Looking for unmolested not pristine

Would a pre mil 243 have a drilled receiver?

Swivel studs?

Thank you

Yes to the D/T.

If, some how, a post-mil barrel wound up on a pre-mil receiver it would have a Westfield, Ma. barrel address.

Premil 243 would have sling eyes if it was a 99R, wouldn't have anything for slings if it was a 99F or 99EG. As gnoaah said, all receivers chambered for 243/308/358/later cartridges are d&t for scope bases.

99F in 243:

The above responses are very informative and appreciated.

I will be checking the online auctions for later pre mil 243 99Fs with no swivels, drilled receivers, Chicopee barrels and enough wear that enjoying it will not detract from its condition.

PM'd you with some info.

Sounds like you have your eyes wide open. Good luck with your quest.

Perhaps one could use the Monty Python technique, as in their quest for the Holy Grail? You know, skip across the landscape whilst banging two coconuts together while wearing funny costumes and speaking Elizabethan English. (Hint: avoid black knights, witch judging, and Frenchmen who fart in your general direction. Do not avoid castles full of virgins who need spanking.)

That will probably scare up as many pre-mil .243s as staring at endless auction pages will.

Everyone here poo poos them, but I've got a post mil 99F in 243. It sure shoots tiny little groups!

A postmil?! May the Lord have mercy on your soul.