Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Tale of Two EGs

All:

I was doing a little regular maintenance tonight. I had two EGs out at the same time. Both in 300. One was pre war (lighter colored one) and the other a post war 50s model. Anyways, I noticed some differences between the two.

One, was the thickness of the forearms. The pre war gun was much thinner.



Second, the shape of the shell indicator hole. The pre war gun was more circular than the post war.

Post war



Pre war

Wood differences. Condition of both rifles is excellent.

There's another difference that absolutely nobody ever seems to talk about. It's the transition of the front receiver bridge to the left side of the action. The transition on pre war 99s terminates in a nice little radius. The transition on post war 99s terminates in a V shaped configuration. The post war transition always looked a little sloppy to me. I've also noticed that the early slimmer forerms tend to split and crack. I think that's why Savage made the forearm more robust on later rifles. Nice 99s!

That's a very thin schnabel on the prewar EG. Don't think that's standard. But I like it.

I take it back, looked at a couple of my 1941's and the schnabel does look thinner. Gonna have to take some measurements.

What is the scope on the post war 99?

Yes whats the scope on the post war 99???????

Is than an L serries stith??????

Stuttering on the questions marks, sorry LOL

Johno

The scope is a Leupold Mountaineer. I have one on this gun and another on another EG in 250 not pictured. Also in Stiths.

Interesting info. I'll have to compare to my 1937 vintage 99EG, also in 300 Savage. I have a Lyman peep sight on mine. Unfortunately, someone had it drilled and tapped for scope mounts, spoiling an otherwise pristine rifle.

The Pioneer makes for a nice looking rig. I have a factory drilled EG with a fixed 4x Pioneer in Adjusto mounts. I might be handicapping myself a bit but it makes for a clean and interesting set up. Thanks for putting up pictures of your 99s.

PS - by fixed I really meant to say the the scope has no turret adjustment.

For factory drilled guns, I like the Leupold Westerner 8x. I have 3-4 of those as well. I am going to try to snag another off of EBay that is sitting on there right now. Another favorite is the Lyman Challenger or Wolverine. Though, getting 26mm vintage rings can be a challenge sometimes.

Jeff, great pics, thanks for posting. David

Here's a couple others, a 1935 99EG in 300 and an early 1950's 99EG in 300 (1950? 1952?).

Totally agree on significant differences on the cartridge counter and schnabel tip. My forearm thicknesses aren't significantly different though.

1945 99EG also has the more circular cartridge counter hole and thinner Schnabel. So maybe prewar and postwar may not be as correct as saying Utica and Chicopee Falls?

1940?? checkered 303EG [img:center][/img]

The pre war I have pictured is 388,xxx and is of course Utica. That is 1940.

Huge difference in wood color as well. But that happens with 15 +\- years difference between the two.

Interesting observation on the wood. I have read that WWII put a big stress on the availability of good walnut for making gun stocks. That might account for differences in wood color and density. I too prefer the Lyman Challanger and Wolverine scopes and think that their optics were a cut above Weaver. Not that I'm trashing Weaver or anything.

It does seem like most Chicopee Falls rifles were darker colored, but I've seen 99T's and 99R's from the 30's that are also darker. So I think individual lots of walnut and probably different batches of finish would come out different.

Heck, I've got a very clean late 1950's 99EG in 358 where the forearm is light like the Utica EG above, and the buttstock is dark like the Chicopee Falls. Just the wood came out different shades after finishing. (heavier schnabel like all the Chicopee Falls EG's

Assembly numbers on all the pieces?

I'll bet there are a lot more color mis-matched 99's kicking around than we're aware of. I seriously doubt that production planners at Savage took care to ensure all the butt stocks and fore ends stayed together out of the same tree.

P.S. Digging on those spiffy see-through mounts!

It was matching assembly codes when I checked.. 99% sure.

I personally couldn't abide by that, and would have to match the color up. BUT, wow, a 358 EG, how nice.