Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Post War Model R Question

All,

The seen my first post war R in 243 at this year’s Fest in WI. It got to me thinking about my post war R in 308. My 308 R is the only one I have seen in that configuration. Never seen a R in 358 in person.

My question is this.

Does anyone have a guesstimate of the breakdown of the post war Rs in Win calibers? 243, 308 and 358? There can’t be that many at all.

Side note: I have seen all the EGs.

Thank you
RAS

Not sure what configuration you are talking about but all the post-war Rs I've seen have been very consistent. They have a wide "beavertail" forearm (different from the pre-wars) and and an EG looking butt. Some may have sling swivels and some not but I'll leave the R vs RS debate to others. And all are factory drilled and tapped. Those are my observations.

I think RAS is referring to caliber breakdown. I would think that with the intro of the model F also chambered in the Winc chamberings, the R model languished. Just speculation on my part. You don't see many Winc chambered post war R's or EG's for that matter. F's are a little easier.

It's always been my huntch that the F and EGs outsold the Rs in the 50s. For one the R was the most spendy as well as the heaviest and the F most likely ended up being what guys were more looking for back then. The EG probably held on because it was the standard model - or you might say that it was the Winchester 94 of the 99 family. To address Jeff's question, if I got it right, I've seen far more Fs and EGs in 308 than Rs. I've never seen a post-war R in 243. They obviously are out there but they must weigh a ton. I've only seen one post-war 250 and it did weigh a ton.

I think once the F's came out, the sales of the 99R's flatlined.

All Winchester cartridges are extremely rare in 99R's. I would guess the order of most common to least common is:
308
358
243

I ran some numbers on the 900,000 serial group from my data, sometime back.

Around 10% of the ~68,000 are R's

Of those R's:
10% .243
40% .358
50% .308

How good that data is I don't know. It is a very small sampling so it could be way off.

I think even harder to find are the .250 and 300 R's in the 900,000 serial range.

I have a 243 R, weighs like a bench gun

I dont think my 250R is really that heavy.

My 1950 R in 250 is my go to gun. I never thought it was heavy until I carried my 1912 H in 22HP around for a day. The H has the Malcolm scope on it and it still feels like a feather in the hand. The R is first one on the left and the H is next to it.

I didn't care for the weight.

I thought the Rs were pretty scarce in Win calibers.

I have seen a good number of EGs in 308. None in 243 and the only 358 EG I found is the one I own and hunt with. Both my 99R in 308 and 99EG in 358 are in the 900K serial range.

Thanks all.

I found one in 308. It went to a good home.

243 is hardest to find in post war R version.

The only difference in weight is the additional wood. A bit heavier in the wrist and stock and of course the forearm. I have several and when compared to the EG's they are 7 OZ heavier and that is consistant.

I found my 308 R when Drew was selling some off. Came with the paperwork and weren't cheap but is mint! Never seen a .243 R, and only one .358 R and not in person. Winchester caliber EG's I'm all up but the .243 so they're a little easier.

I'd say there might be twice as many EG's as R's in about the same ratio of calibers.

So of the ~68,000, R=10%, EG = 20%, F = 70%.

I once posted a question asking why post-war Rs were so heavy. That was right after I came across the R in 250 I mentioned above. I see no reason for the extra weight as the barrel, as far as I know, is the same contour and length as the EG. Frankly the stocks are the only thing I know of that distinguishes an R from an EG, and that's pretty much limited to the forearm. So Savage must have selected the most dense chunks of lumber for making R stocks. Other than that I have no idea why any R should weigh any more than an EG in a corresponding caliber - but yet somehow they do.

I own a 1936 or 37 vintage 99 EG, and my buddy has a 1950 vintage 99 RS. His fore end fits my rifle and vice versa. The barrels are the same, the front wood is different. Both rifles are chambered in 300 Savage.