Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Interesting letter...

Got in a letter for one of my 1899's.

There's an accepted from factory date for the expected date.
There's a second accepted from factory date for two years later.

But no ship dates, or buyer on the ledger entry.

And the gun has a feature that wasn't available when it was made, but was available two years later.

What would you think that means? It's definitely not a standard entry.


PS: The later feature on the gun is one the factory said they wouldn't do for this model.

Another Savage miracle??

With Savage you never know what may turn up.

Well.. it raises damned good questions I didn't expect to ever entertain.

I'd like to introduce you to my 1899A SR, accepted first from the factory in June, 1920.

Accepted a second time in November, 1922.

Is it an 1899 with a factory case fitted for an employee?

I'm happy to entertain other thoughts.

So what was the feature?

The case?

The cases weren't available in 1920.

That's the style of case available in late 1922.

Nothing else on the rifle is unusual, unless it went in for a stock repair or some such.

Until 1927 Savage said they wouldn't sell the cases separate from the Combination Kit.

No ship date and no buyer listed is odd. Not unheard of.. but unusual.

Hardly proof they originated together.

Just a theory.

I fully expected the rifle to have shipped in 1920 to some normal company.

Got another letter on a different gun saying it was shipped to Elmira Arms Company. Going to have to look that one up..

Somebody knew a "guy"...and got a case.

Happens...

That seems likely, to me.

"Bring the gun in, we'll find a case that kinda fits it next week, and you can pay for the case and take 'em home."

Is there space for .410 barrel (looks like it)?

Nope. The lower brace was moved up agains the wall of the case to allow for setting the thicker barrel on an SR in properly.

I always wondered how they'd gotten matching felt to patch the place they moved the brace from.

This one's kind of cool too!

A high condition early 250-3000, perchbelly and all.

Elmira Arms Company was the product of one John North Willys, dealing in bicycles, sporting goods, guns, etc. Out of Elmira, NY.

Name might ring a bell?

After starting up Elmira Arms, John went on to take over the national sales/distribution of the Overland car made by Parry Mfg. He thought cars were going to be a big thing.
He bought patents from Parry Mfg, and opened Overland Company.
He'd go on to make these rather popular cars called Willys.

Shame the gun didn't belong to him! But learned a bit of history.. never heard of Elmira Arms Company before.

A 1926 Willys


And, of course, the WW2 Willys jeeps.

Cased sets drive me crazy. Legitimacy is always the issue.
Obviously the parts before you are real, but are they factory direct is usually 90% uncertain.
Maybe is doesn't really matter. ?? Cool rifle and case is a bonus.

What we can see of that case looks too good for 100 years old. You can be the judge.
The letter(s) are tantalizing as usual.
Beauty in the eye of the beholder...

A dealer based in Elmira, NY who goes under the name ‘Elmira Arms’ is always at the major NY and PA shows
Pretty sure that LBK bought one of his guns a couple years ago

Yes I did.

I appears special cases could be ordered, even long after the rifle was made. I've been trying to buy a case for a Savage Model 1903 for quite a few years, the owner will not part with it. He did not acquire it with the gun but it's made to fit a Model 1903 with the second style stock which would have been before 1907~1908, but the case has to be from the 1920's or later. It still has most of a shipping label on it from 'SAVAGE ARMS CORP.' with the Savage screaming Indian logo, the detail picture of the label is from the outside of the case and pasted there to combine them. Note that the 1903 has a 24" barrel and with the receiver half that measures 27½" and the inside of the case has extra length, so, it's a longer case than used for 99's. Rory, would the case you show take a 26" barrel?

cool post

I'd forgotten about that one, Gene. I personally think that even these early cases were made by Winship in Utica, just without a Winship logo on them, so getting a special order done wouldn't have been hard. You'd just have had to be willing to pay, and have a contact at Savage to help you.

They WOULD sell the cases separately by 1927/1928.. might have done it earlier and just didn't advertise it.

And, no.. the case on mine is a standard 1922 case and made for a 24" barrel. The 1899A SR obviously has a 22" barrel, and a cutout was made in the barrel channel for the blade front sight to rest.

It is in good shape, as is the rifle. Rifle has lost some gray on the bottom from being carried.

And the modifications to the case look like they were done a long time ago, and the case hasn't been relined. I always figured somebody put the rifle and case together sometime in the 30's to 50's.