Sales records for 1920 shows 4426 (or serial 5426 if produced in numerical order. Don't know how many were actually shipped).
I have the following production dates from lettered rifles: 178x - 5/13/1920 188x - 3/24/1920 428x - 5/25/1920 5575, 5742 and 5747 were shipped to RC Andrews late 1920. Note that 5648 in .300 was not shipped till 1/19/1922. (wonder if it was sent back and rebarreled?) 690x - 7/16/1920 905x - 4/3/1924 1058x - 5/28/1925
Lowest serialed .300 394x seen (per 260Rimguy) Also the lowest serialed .300 I have in my data.
This is the sales info projected as a serial: year sales serial 1000 1920 4426 5426 1921 462 5888 1922 1203 7091 1923 1182 8273 1924 941 9214 1925 687 9901 1926 ? ? 1927 ? ? 1928 ? ? not in the 1928 catalog 1929 ? 13016
The big question... was production in serial number order? (need more letters or a couple log sheets) How many serialed receivers were produced in 1920? (I'm guessing around 6000 receivers or serial 7000).
Last edited by Rick99; 01/30/19.
Savage...never say "never". Rick...
Join the NRA...together we stand, divided we fall!
1920 was a depression year, a very nasty one from January to July of 1920. In fact in many ways it's the worst depression year we've had (including any single year during the Great Depression). Depending on which unemployment rate you use, unemployment either increased 300% from 1920 to 1921, or increased 1000%. So I find it curious they managed to sell 4 times as many that year as by 1923 and later after the depression was over.
But the ship dates from the ledgers aren't going to be wrong.
So I guess either folks were buying despite layoffs across the country, or Savage made a bunch and shipped them out of order.
“The Savage 99 Pocket Reference”. All models and variations of 1895’s, 1899’s and 99’s covered. Also dates, checkering, engraving.. Find at www.savagelevers.com
Savage has an employee doing it. Probably takes a couple months, cost is now.. $45?
“The Savage 99 Pocket Reference”. All models and variations of 1895’s, 1899’s and 99’s covered. Also dates, checkering, engraving.. Find at www.savagelevers.com
1920 was a depression year, a very nasty one from January to July of 1920. In fact in many ways it's the worst depression year we've had (including any single year during the Great Depression). Depending on which unemployment rate you use, unemployment either increased 300% from 1920 to 1921, or increased 1000%. So I find it curious they managed to sell 4 times as many that year as by 1923 and later after the depression was over.
But the ship dates from the ledgers aren't going to be wrong.
So I guess either folks were buying despite layoffs across the country, or Savage made a bunch and shipped them out of order.
Savage Arms employee numbers jumped from ~700 to 3800 in a short time early during WWI, more thereafter. Post WWI employee numbers dropped, as did the rest of American manufacturing because war was over. Depression? Post WWI adjustment? I'd say adjustment. Post war, generally U.S. economies boomed, WWII they did. Anyway,... in ~1920 the "new" Model 99 line began, got traction and succeeded. The Model 1920 may have as well. JMO.
Savage has an employee doing it. Probably takes a couple months, cost is now.. $45?
Not sure, someone (Rick?) took the price out of the post in Misc good stuff. I think Effie is doing it now so I'll get ahold of Jim B. and see if he'll gimme her cell number. I could have sworn I had it here somewhere but can't find it now. If I talk to her I'll pm Rick and get a for sure price and wait time on it for the thread.
It’s not Effie. Can’t find the link on their site right now, I sent a request for the current info.
“The Savage 99 Pocket Reference”. All models and variations of 1895’s, 1899’s and 99’s covered. Also dates, checkering, engraving.. Find at www.savagelevers.com
Savage Arms employee numbers jumped from ~700 to 3800 in a short time early during WWI, more thereafter. Post WWI employee numbers dropped, as did the rest of American manufacturing because war was over. Depression? Post WWI adjustment? I'd say adjustment. Post war, generally U.S. economies boomed, WWII they did. Anyway,... in ~1920 the "new" Model 99 line began, got traction and succeeded. The Model 1920 may have as well. JMO
99 models were in 1921 along with 300 Savage. 1920 recession is blamed by many on Fed Reserve jacking up interest rates too much.
To see how bad it was, Savage made 19,000 1899’s in 1919. 22,000 1899’s in 1920. But only 3,500 in 1921.
“The Savage 99 Pocket Reference”. All models and variations of 1895’s, 1899’s and 99’s covered. Also dates, checkering, engraving.. Find at www.savagelevers.com
According to the serial number ranges versus the sales sheets, they'd have had 17,000 1899's in stock at the end of 1920.
Now, they DID admit to being massively overstocked, and that's why they were selling all inventory at cost. But 17,000 1899's? When did they sell them? Because 1922 production by serial number went back up to 7,000. Can't believe they'd build 7,000 if they still had 15,000 in the warehouse.
“The Savage 99 Pocket Reference”. All models and variations of 1895’s, 1899’s and 99’s covered. Also dates, checkering, engraving.. Find at www.savagelevers.com
I think the Sales info is correct. I think we just don't know how to use it with the other data we have. The Sales number doesn't indicate inventory or production numbers. I have no log sheets for 1917 through 1922 so I can't tell if receivers were being used in serial order or how long they were setting on the shelf after completion.
Savage...never say "never". Rick...
Join the NRA...together we stand, divided we fall!
The project is done (I hope!), delivered last weekend, really though I did have fun doing it and learned a lot. I did do a little more 'tweaking' and finished some small details since the last post, added here to the original thread to keep it all together. Might be some helpful information.
Here is the rifle as delivered -
After reworking the butt plate three times I was still not happy with it, so I added more contour and relieved the center underneath so now it just contacts about 1/4" around the perimeter, fits a little better - good enough to use and protect the wood until an original that fits can be found (a lot better than what it started as...)
The sling eyes were both missing, found one for the rear but finding a front proved to be a problem, ended up making one, also had to make the knurled insert it threads into.
Due to the Lyman 54 having a damaged screw it had to be improperly removed, that required taking off the retaining disk for the elevation screw which was missing, so I made one on a lathe. It's only about 0.036" thick but needed to screw on tight so it would not turn and allow the elevation nut to be turned off, or to work loose and fall off on it's own. Started the threads with a standard tap but did not turn it in far enough to fully cut the threads, I then took a bottom tape and cut the staring thread deeper, this still left the last threads only partially cut even though it's very thin - this did not seem tight enough so I sat a ball bearing on the hole and rapped it with a hammer to flatten the end of the last thread, this made it fit really firm.
I also thought the front sight might be to low, brazed material back on the bottom & raised it a little.
...you just can't always trust 'blue prints', had one with a bad dimension and had to make the part twice.... damn engineers & draftsmen, anyway...
I’m glad to see the pistol grip cap in the factory drawings. My 20/26 has a pistol grip cap that looks very much like a factory installed item. That is it looks just like the stock work Savage did on the 99s for pistol grip caps. I’ve had some feedback in the past on this forum questioning the originality of this feature on my rifle and now I’m fairly convinced it came that way from the factory. Thanks much for the time and effort you put into this thread.
As cataloged, 20/26s didn't have pistol grip caps.
In total, I've owned around 100 1920s and 20/26s and have yet to see a 20/26 stock with a factory installed pistol grip cap. Close to the end of production, it appears to me that Savage may have put together some 20/26 rifles with a mix of 1920 and 20/26 parts that resulted in non-catalog configurations. I have a late 20/26, #125xx, that is in a non-cataloged configuration. It has a a 24" 20/26 style barrel with an open rear sight mounted to the barrel via a dovetail and the tail block isn't d&t with the hole necessary to install a Lyman #54 peep sight. I "think" that this rifle was made that way in Utica, but Mr. Clark couldn't find anything in the records that would confirm that it was or wasn't.
I have only had a few 20/26s without the stripper clip slot in the receiver bridge, all were higher than SN !2,500, among the last 500 or so produced.
I also have a 20/26 with a dovetailed rear sight. I was so curious about it that I bought a 20/26 barrel in part to see if it had the same dimensions as the barrel on my 20/26 but also thought it might do for a rebarrel some day, or even for a 99 (an idea I've discarded). The two are identical in profile from breech to muzzle and have the exact same front sight base, similar to a Krag and about 1/2" long. My serial number is 128XX, so again a very late date, within the last 300 or so made. It has the typical 20/26 stock, without a grip cap, with checkering fore and aft, sling eyes and the cocking piece is drilled for the Lyman 54 but no sign that there was ever one on it. The rear sight is a typical dovetailed Marbles elevator like you see on every early Model 20 and many 99s from that era until the 1960s.
I'm curious to ask anyone with experience; I notice significant bolt movement when I pull the trigger. Isnt that a distraction at least or even deleterious to accuracy when using the Lyman 54? Col. TW's remarks suggest that he might have thought so too.
Ok looking for guidance. I saw one other person had to remake a 20-2047. I have some guys that'll make one at work in the shop. How's the easiest way to get to 20-2047? I'd also like to check 20-2048 while I'm in there.
Thanks for your help
Trying to upload pics. I've got the safety button pin out, and the pin that goes through the bar, and thought I could just slide it out. But the angles are tight