Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 serial numbers

You can load the .300 Sav down to 30-30ish or so and save her a bit of trauma. Kills deer just as dead and as she gets older you can up grade the load as time goes by until you're back to .300 Sav. The hurt from the kick is one of the big reasons a lot of kids get turned off from hunting. Getting hurt ain't fun no matter what else you do to make it fun. Reduce the load and she'll thank you for it.

What he said.

I have a 99M with SN#10143XX. It is a 300 Savage with Monte Carlo stock. Rotary magazine. Tang mounted safety.
Can you tell me when it was made?

Brandon, your rifle will date to late 1960 or early 1961, and sounds like a model 99DL to me because of the monte carlo stock. Take a look at the front of the lever and see if you can find an oval stamp with 1 or 2 numbers followed by a letter inside of it. The letter L would be 1960, M would be 1961.

I have a 99E which has checkering and the Monte Carlo stock. The serial number is E0180XX with the rotary magazine. I can find nothing on the front of the lever. Safety is on the lever. what can you tell me about it?

The caliber is 300 savage and the lever is case harden.

Seabeesbob, your rifle was made in the fall of 1982. The date stamped ended around 1970, so you won't find that oval stamp. And the 99C and 99E both got monte carlo stocks around 1981.

Hi guys, I need help. I inherited a mod. 99 ser.#9421xx I can not figure out a letter designation for this rifle. it is in .308 has checkering on pistol grip and fore end and a heavy schnable and a steel shotgun style butt plate. any help would be greatly appreciated.

EG.

I thought I'd dredge this up and add my 99f info.

1960 99f (LBC "L")
Serial number 1010xxx
.308

Sweet trigger pull per usual.

Tang safety, brass rotary mag, jeweled bolt, gold trigger, folding rear sight ahead of receiver.


Chicopee, Mass


Some thoughts on the safety:
I've read some think the tang safety to be poorly made, but I found it to be otherwise-well made/designed and works great. I don't think its inferior in any way to the lever safety.

On post-mil serial #'s:
I am glad I went back for a second look on this rifle which I almost disregarded because of the tang safety and post mil serial#.
I know collectors use 1 mil as a convenient benchmark. However, clearly there are some post-mil 99's that were made that were hand fitted and carry the same quality as the pre-mils. Maybe not a lot of them and how long that went on I have no idea. But this 1960 99f, anyway, is clearly an example of a hand fitted gun.

However, the fore stock did not match the rest of the rifles inspection stamps, which are also found on the hidden area on the receivers left side, and the butt stock and butt plate. These stamps should all be the same.

For example my 99f has these matching stamps: B, O, S, 5 and F, in sequence, though somewhat crammed and jumbled into the space available.

Anyway, hope it helps.

Jimmy

Old thread, but why not ? My serial # is A0472XX and the LBC ( a small circle at the lever pivot point) is M9.
Any Idea what year ? Thanks

Early A series serial number, most likely 1969.

Ok, Thanks a lot.

Bought a used, checkered 99 300 with my paper route money in 1971. S/N 6872XX. Got my first blacktail that same year. Can anyone tell me more info?

Probably made in either 1953 or 1954... depending on the Lever Boss Code ("LBCS")... here's an excerpt from my reocrds:


E= 1953: 6664XX (19E), 694,7XX(19E) 699XXX(19E), 709xxx(?3E)-my rifle, 7237xx(20E) 724xxx(20E), 8351xx(?0E),

F= 1954: 686489(19F), 695xxx(19F), 704960(13F), 7184xx, 727303(13F), 747330(14F), 751488(?3F),7567xx(5F), 835192-lettered by John T.

Savage began using what we call the Lever Boss Code ("LBC") in 1949. The LBC begins with a number (the inspector's number) followed by a letter which indicated the year of manufacture. In 1949, the letter used was "A". In 1950, they went to "B", in 1951 to "C", in 1952 to "D" and so on to the letter "Y" in 1971. The letters "O" and "Q" were skipped due to their similarity.

Apparently... and for unknown reasons, some rifles were pulled off the assembly line and set aside. Then, later, they were put back on the line and the manufacturing process was finished. This created a situation wherein the rifle's serial number may not accurately ascertain the year of manufacture for SURE. Thus, we can fall back on the Lever Boss Code to determine the year of manufacture if the rifle has one.

All the Model 99s (to the best of my knowledge) manufactured from 1949 through 1971 (inclusive) had Lever Boss Codes inside a small, lightly embossed OVAL located on the lower front side of the receiver opposite and just above where the lever rotates. Often, the OVAL in which the LBC is stamped and the LBC itself are so lightly impressed that it requires a magnifying glass to see them... and then, some of the OVAL and/or the LBC may be too lightly stamped to be fully determined.

So if your rifle's LBC is an "E", it was made in 1953. If it's a "F", then it was made in 1954.

These were some of the finest Model 99's ever made... a real "winner"!


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

It will be either a 99EG with a thin forearm and schnabel tip, or a model 99R with a fat and wide forearm with a rounded end. Those were the only 2 models made at that time.

Thank you, gentlemen. Given the faintness of the LBC and my present ocular capacities, I had to use a loop to cypher what it says. "19F" is what it appears to be. Based on what Calhoun indicated, mine's a 99EG with the thin/schnabel forearm.

What year of manufacture? SN is A2344**. 99M tang safety. Impressed checkering. Factory D&T. 22" barrel, gold trigger. Aluminum butt plate.
Thanks for the help.

Hello, I am new to the forum. I just received a Savage 99A .308 from my father. It looks in good condition. It has a straight butt stock, no pistol grip. It also has a tang safety. It does not have any LBC code that I can see. The serial number is D1719XX.

Any help or advice in finding the year of manufacture would be appreciated!

Welcome to the campfire, timber! Your rifle was mfr'd in late summer, 1979. The date codes stopped about 9 years earlier.