Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 question from a newb.

Hey guys! I have a question for the 99 experts concerning the date of manufacture of a particular 99. A friend of mine refered me to this sight for advice.

I am looking at purchasing my first 99 and I am wondering what model it is exactly. I have not had a chance to examine it yet, but he has sent me pictures via e-mail. He has it listed as a 99E. The serial number that I can see is as follows. C872538. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

dirt1

1978

A 1978 99E would have pressed checkering, a lever safety, and no cartridge counter window on the left side of the receiver.

No collector interest in them, but they can be great hunting rifles.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the help! What would be a reasonable price to give for one in good to very good condition? In the pictures that he sent it looks like little or no bluing wear and the wood looks very good also. No cracks or gouges. Forgot to mention it's chambered in .250 Savage. Thanks again.

dirt1

Hey guys. Thought some pictures might help. This is what he sent me. I'm confused now! Looks like pressed checkering, but no lever safety? Hope these help. Thanks

dirt1

Grab it ASAP.it is a 99c=clip in 250

It looks to be in very good condition... check the bore. If the bore is in excellent condition, then I'd give $350-$400 IF I wanted a post-mil M-99, but I really dislike impressed checkering, so my value estimate might be low.

The "E" in "99E" stands for the "Economy" model which means it doesn't have the cartridge counter, but that's no "biggie", in my opinion.

Like Rory (Calhoun) sez, it would make a good "hunter" type rifle. The .250 Savage caliber (aka "250-3000") is a "plus" and makes the rifle a little more valuable.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Yep, as Hubert said that's not a 99E, it's a 99C - actually, it's probably a 99CD with the monte carlo buttstock. It being a 250 helps the value, it'd probably sell for $500+ pretty easy on an auction site.

If it isn't a model 99E then why does it clearly have "Model 99E" stamped on the top of the barrel?

And- What does "Series A" mean?

Greg S

It has a 99E on the barrel probably because:

1) the barrel was swapped
2) or they just grabbed the wrong barrel during assembly
3) or they just stamped the barrel wrong

But there was never a 99E made that had a clip.

Savage never wasted anything. Since the E barrel would screw to the C receiver and if it was handy then it would have gotten used.

Does it being an odd ball add anything to the collector value?

Not really any collector value on 99C's or 99E's right now, unless they happen to be a 22-250, 7mm08, or NIB.

Now.. in 50 years? Yeah, if you can document that it's factory and not a gunsmith swap job then it might make a difference.

Well I ended up getting it. Whats the best way to figure out if it is factory and not a gunsmith swap?

I wouldn't sweat it. Savage put out some weird stuff. I had one with no roll markings on the barrel at all. Rebarreling a 99 is a lot of trouble and not often done.

I had a 99C in 243 with a swapped barrel.. no sights, no address. So some folks do it.

If you really want to try to prove it, your best bet would be to spend $25 and see what Callahan can tell you with a factory letter. I'd say there's very little chance he can validate it, but he'd be the only one.

Check the Misc. Good Info thread at the top of the forum and search for Callahan. It'll tell you how to order a factory letter.

I wouldn't bother.. I'd just hunt it.

On a side note... John Allen had that 7mm-08 rotory magazine gun... he had a letter from someone other than Callahan (Or clark) ... shop foremen or something like that... manager of production... anyone know who that is/was and how you would go about contacting that person?

sell it, get a pre-mil, imho