Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 99RS versions

Looking at oldtimer303's nice RS got me thinking. Seems to me we have at least 4 versions of the RS as far as stock style and checkering goes. If you throw in the change from Lyman to Redfield I suppose you could call it five? And maybe even six, because I think there were some prewar R's/RS's with 3pt checkering on the buttstock but without the extra point on the forearm?

1) First is prewar, no fluted comb, has 3pt checkering and Lyman tang sight.



2) Second is prewar, fluted comb, 3pt checkering and Lyman tang sight. (Checkering on the side panel doesn't count).



3) Third is prewar, fluted comb, 3pt checkering on buttstock, Lyman tang sight, but forearm checkering without the extra point.

4) Fourth is prewar, fluted comb, has 2pt checkering on buttstock, Lyman tang sight, and forearm without extra point.

5) Fifth is prewar, fluted comb, has 2pt checkering, and Redfield tang sight.



6) Sixth is postwar, no fluted comb, triangular checkering on forearm, Redfield tang sight.




Am I missing anything? Or have too many?

I have #1 but mine has a rear flip down Marbles sight which somebody here told me was sometimes on 99s of this era. Doesnt know if that makes it a "different" version to you or not.

Oh boy.. if we get into rear sights and even sight different blanks that were used I think we'd hit the double digits.

Good point, tho. Maybe we should..

I have an R that according to Murrays serial number chart was manufactured in 1933. The stock and forearm are identical to #1. Is it me, or is the length of pull on the pre-war R/RS longer than other models?

What is the length of pull on yours? You show me yours and I'll show you mine. On a serious note, there may well be a difference as the post war "R" was quite a bit heavier than the pre war "R". Savage called the post war "R" "the rifleman's rifle" or some such. Advertising to make you believe that the "R" was more accurate than the "EG" or later the post war "F". Personally, I don't believe that's true. I'm thinking that it was just different wood and sights other than the boss on the post war "F" barrel. I well could be wrong. Its happened.

Some of the K's were fitted with that sight as well.

Let's see... stock dimensions and length of pull are described here, which I would think would apply to versions 1 to 5:

"This new rifle is known as the Savage Model 99-RS rifle. It has a solid frame, a modern design pistol grip stock, length 13 1/2 inches, drop at comb 1 5/8 inchese. dro at heel 2 7/8 inches. It is fitted with a new checked steel shotgun butt plate 5 1/16 inches long which is set on the stock with a 2 1/2-inch pitch. The stock fits the average rifleman perfectly and comes up in perfect line, making snap shooting very much faster than with the old stock, and enabling the shooter to hold with real steadiness in any position."

Full size Writeup




Seeing as to how I have #'s 1, 5 and 6 I'll see if I can't find time to pull them out and get a picture of them side by side this spring.

What you need to do is see how the serial number ranges varies with each of the patterns.

Could be the guy that made RS stocks was hungover one morning.

No, I think we have pretty consistent serial number ranges for each of the changes that I've listed. They seem to be in both the R's and RS's - not that we have a lot of RS's to review. I was mostly wondering if I'd missed anything or not included something such as RAS's suggestion for rear sights. I'll put up what I have for serial number ranges in the next day or two, then Drew and Rick can correct me.

I think the commonly found rear sights would be a good notation to have for each of the versions, don't think it should change the versions.

I considered listing the Winchester cartridge/900,000 serial number range RS's as another version since the receiver was changed.

Do any of you own a 99RS in .303 Savage?

Not I.. JA didn't even have one at the Fest now that I look through the pics, though he had a 30-30.

. In 1993, a guy at a gun show offered me a 99R/RS ? in .303, wanted $300. flat firm. I thought a bit much for another .303.
He went out of the show carrying it.

Boy,,,, I've thought about that many a time since.

Let's see, 20 years plus inflation....OMG!

I have seen one RS in .303. A couple of years ago I went into a
local gunshop and saw a couple of 99s on the rack and one was
an RS, it was busy and I didnt look at anything and left.
Came back a day or two later and one 99 was gone, asked the
clerk what caliber it was and I expected him to say .300 and
was kind of puzzled when he said .303 Savage. He said it was
only on the shelf for maybe half a day and a guy bought it
about a minute after he looked at it.

Rory,

to the best of my knowledge and records, your listed #3 does not exist... I have never seen a prewar R or RS that had a three point buttstock but a two point forearm.

Also, the RS was not offered in 303 or 30-30. The R was cataloged in the 303 and several here own them. The R was not cataloged in 30-30 but a group of them was built at the factory on order for Spiegel guns.

I know that RSs were cataloged in the post war eras but I have yet to ever see a box, hang tag, or letter stating that a post war RS ever actually existed. If it did, you wer just paying extra to get a reciever sight but were getting no rear sight... The prewar RS included added sling studs, sling swivels, and a sling as well as the tang sight and a fold down rear sight. The Post War RS does not seeem like a very good deal from that stand point.


Long story short, I only see three transitions in the RS and have pretty tight data on what serial ranges the changes happen... first is the not fluted to fluted change, second would be the three point to two point checkering change, and three would be the change from the tang sight (Lyman windage adjustable) and rear fold down sight to the receiver (redfield 70LH) and rear sight blank.

I agree the 30-30 RS is questionable, JA at the SavageFest had one labeled as a RS that was a NY police issue - presumed he had a letter, but looking at it and there's no sling studs and wrong sight so I'd have to call it an 99R.

Could have sworn I had a 99R/RS with mixed checkering in my notes, but don't see it. Know I saw one, but it might have just been a "transition" rifle or swapped stock. So happy to remove that from the list.

Going to dispute that you can remove the 1950's 99RS from the list.. there is NO way that Savage paid for advertising for something for 10 years and never sold one. I agree it was a poor deal to pay more to get a peep sight in the times of factory d&t and the arrival of affordable scopes. And maybe when they got an order for an RS they just grabbed an R and swapped rear sights and threw on a peep - but it was catalogued for a long time. 99R's in 243 are rare as hens teeth also and I've never seen a box for one, but that doesn't mean they don't exist or that somebody swapped an EG in 243 barrel onto an R and thus we can't say that 99R's in 243 don't really exist.

I'm going to argue for the switch from Lyman to Redfield peep as being revisions rather than versions. Advantage there is we will end up with the same number of versions of 99R's and 99RS's - and swapping a peep sight is not much of a version change.

So.. new proposed list of versions that should match up to both 99R's and 99RS's.

1) First is prewar, no fluted comb, has 3pt checkering and Lyman 30 1/2 tang sight, Lyman #6 rear sight. Serial number range of 342,5xx to 345,8xx.



2) Second is prewar, fluted comb, 3pt checkering, Lyman 30 1/2 tang sight, Lyman #6 rear sight. (Checkering on the side panel doesn't count). Serial number range from 345,8xx to 355,6xx.



3) Third is prewar, fluted comb, has 2pt checkering on buttstock, 1 less point on forearm checkering, and forearm without extra point. 357,8xx to 414,3xx. Revision 1 has a Lyman 30 1/2 tang sight with Lyman #6 rear. Revision 2 has a Redfield 70LH tang sight with rear sight blank.

Rev.1 with Lyman 30 1/2 from 357,8xx to 378,8xx.


Rev. 2 with Redfield 70LH from 386,xxx to 415,xxx'ish.


4) Fourth is postwar, no fluted comb, triangular checkering on forearm, d&t for scope bases, Redfield 70LH tang sight, sling eyes. 532,xxx to 775,xxx?

5) Fifth is postwar, no fluted comb, triangular checkering on forearm, d&t for scope bases, Redfield tang sight, sling eyes, receivers long enough to handle the 243/308/358 Winchester cartridges. 900,000 to 969,xxx?





Gaps in serial number ranges are because we have no samples inside of those ranges.

Rory, I think that it should be noted as a Lyman 30 1/2 tang sight with Lyman #6 rear; Redfield 70LH with rear sight blank.

The post war RS was not supplied with sling or hooks.

You might add that the post war R/RS's were D&T'ed.

How about the R-T's? Though they were not pictured in the catalog it is pretty much fact that it was what was shipped as the "R".

The later F had a fluted comb. I don't have data on the later EG, R or RS to them having a fluted comb or not. Anyone know?

Drew, looking at your list of R/RS's the 30-30 of JA's is listed with a 24" barrel. I think that needs to be checked because I would think that they were 22".

I've got a pre-war R in 303.

Rick, I was intentionally leaving the RT's out of the list of RS's, though I do agree that it should get a note or version # in the R list.

Don't recall ever seeing a late 1950's 99R with fluted comb, only the F's. Don't recall any late EG's with fluted comb either, but could be wrong on that.

JA's R in 30-30 definitely does NOT have a 24" barrel in my pics. 22".

I'll make the other updates, thx.

MD, you need to forward the details of your R-303 to Drew so he can add it and anyother pre-war R/RS's you have to his list.