Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Oddball sale - 1949 99RT?

Photo 7 of 16 on GB looks EG to me. Side view of butt stock doesn't look R. Just my opinion from the photos.

Checkering has been modified aftermarket. I doubt it started off as T checkering. Seller told me it was 2 triangles that came together on the bottom, which isn't what T checkering does.

Hadn't looked at all the pics, just the one in the post. After looking it does look like an EG butt plate but from the side the curve in the butt stock is less than normal.

I give up.

Here is something that may be some interest on this rifle, along with the other RT’s. Jack O’Connor wrote a piece in the August 1949 issue of Outdoor Life. In that article he wrote highly of the Model 99T, as a woods gun. He makes a special mention of the sights. Stating that the Red front, and white lined rear are the finest iron sights for woods shooting. He also mentions the rifles light wieght, and accuraccy. The picture of the rifle if you look close is a 99T with the R type checkering. Now the interesting thing is that Mr. O'Connor states that the Model 99T is discontinued, but will be available again soon. Of course Savage did not produce the 99T again. But, it looks like it was considered. Some very well could of been make up At this late date.

Good for Jack! I’ve always considered the T to be the immediate predecessor to the post-war F. So maybe Savage considered the T and decided to go the route of the F. Or maybe Jack was just speculating on hearsay.

Interesting. Though all of the 99RT's are 99T's with EG checkering (the 1950's 99R hadn't been created yet).

It's odd Jack gives a glowing review of the red front sight, that seems to have been pretty universally detested in the 30's if you look at the number of 99T's with front sights switched or the red bead simply removed. And it does suck in low light situations - like sunrise and sunset when so many deer are taken. I'd have expected Jack to prefer a peep and a white/gold front sight.

Timeframe is about right. But we only have a sample of 2 in the Chicopee Falls timeframe, one with a 1948 serial (Chicopee Falls barrel) and the other with a 1949 (Utica barrel), and no good details on what's stamped on any of the parts to verify they are correct.

if you look a the pic of the bottom of receiver, you should be able to see some part if the last serial number,,,not there!!!!

Yes, in the article Jack did in fact state that he prefered a peep sight. The Redfield 70 was mentioned. He did state that the 99T sights were the next best option. A interesting article for O'Connor fans, as well the 99 collector. Jack liked the Model 99T alot as stated in this article.

can any one say that EVERY T that left the factory had the red bead, I don't think so, who can say that any day the guy installing sights didn't have the red bead.

Well, they were always adertised as having a special red front , and white lined rear. Lyman made the front sight. In the book Old Gun Sights there is a Lyman add from 1951, and that red front sight was available then. I would think that the Model 99T would have the above sights. Maybe, it is possible that a different sight was used. When I look at a 99T the first thing I look at is the sights. I believe that 99T is more disirable if these sights are on the rifle. Other collectors may feel differently.

I thought I read that they ran out of red beads and installed a white, and as they became available would send a red? Or was that the RS? Or was it the Wellers 12 Year Special Reserve?

If a 99RT doesn’t have a Special Red Bead front sight it seems like one would always have to be making excuses for the gun.

Yes, that came up in a discussion years ago. I'm not sure what color was substituted though. I believe a lot of them were shipped without the red. I also imagine few people went through the pain of driving out the original sight to replace it.

The way they were catalogued doesn't "necessarily" mean that is the way they were shipped. I pay attention to the condition of the rifle, not the sights, as a rule.

The non-T sights on my 99T look like they have always been there

Well we all say "never say never" when it comes to Savage. With that in mind I see no reason to expect red bead sights to have made up 100% of T production.

I was told some came with white beads and 2 of mine has white beads. Correct?? Who knows!

I don't recall the RTs ever being catalogued let alone being shown as having the T red bead front sight.

Correct. They weren't