Could have been made in either a 1956 or a 1957... the Lever Boss Code would tell us which year.
The Lever Boss Code (LBC) is located inside a lightly-struck oval on the lower, front side of the lever boss. The lever boss is the lower extension of the receiver into which the lever rotates.
Inside that light-struck OVAL (not a circle), you'll see numbers followed by a letter. The number(s) is the inspector's number and the letter represents the year the rifle was manufactured.
Beginning in 1949, Savage began putting a LBC on their Model 99 rifles. To represent the year of manufacture, Savage used the letters of the alphabet beginning with the letter "A" which represented rifles made in 1949.
In 1950, the letter was changed to "B". In 1951, the letter was changed to "C" and so on and so on through the letter "Y", the last of the LBC letters which was used in 1971.
The letters O and Q were skipped due to their similarity.
And so, if your rifle was made in 1956 and inspector #16 inspected your rifle, the LBC, stamped inside the oval, would be
16H. If your rifle was made in 1957 and inspected by inspector #17, your LBC would be
17I.
There was a considerable amount of the mixing of serial numbers through the 1950s making it difficult or almost impossible to absolutely determine exactly what year a given Model 99 was made stictly by considering the rifle's serial number.
It appears that, from time-to-time without any obvious reason, rifles were pulled off the assembly line and set aside for a year or more (often more), then put back onto the assembly line and finished thus making it's serial number consideably out-of-sequence with the then current production's serial numbers.
It is likely you'll need good light and a magnifying glass to read the LBC since so many of them were struck so lightly. In fact, it is rare to be able to even see the whole oval... and some folks have mistaken the front half of the lightly-struck oval for a large letter "C"... but there is a considerable difference in size between the front of the oval and the letters used plus the fact that the year of manufacture's LETTER
follows the inspector's number.
I hope this explanation helps you to better understand the LBCs... and why we could more accurate answer your questions if we knew the LBCs on your rifles.
To further complicate this serial number/LBC situation, some Members have questioned the accuracy of the LBCs as well... making it even less "sure" of a Model 99s date of manufacture.
To be sure of the date of your rifle's probable manufacture, you should have it "lettered". Look up in the "locked" subjects at the top of this page to see how to get your rifle(s) "lettered" if getting the exact date of the rifle's shipping date from the factory is that important to you.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
