Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors letter from JTC

I'll check one of each tomorrow.

thanks

plab

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No problemo, Amigo...

I wasn't "knocking" John Callahan's letters or his methods, Joe... I was just making a verbal "observation" to keep in my "pee-sized" brain... but maybe I shoulda kept it to myself, eh?


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Have we seen other M1895's with lightweight or rapid-taper barrels? I'm not recalling that I have.

Not me.

Once had a rapid taper 28" octagon. very skinny at the muzzle. I bet that rifle still is among members of the fire? I never did letter it memory says it also had the sn on the barrel.

Chris - was it a M1895?

Yep 1895
Went through a bunch of pictures hoping to find one of that rifles muzzle but no luck.

CTW.

Was that the one with the checkered grip?

Doug

Yep was that one, did you by chance measure across the flats at the muzzle?

Was the rifle ever lettered?

By the way, I'm not doubting the authenticity, I'm just wondering how the ledger referred to the barrel. The round barrel rifle under discussion certainly had a very interesting ledger entry

I neither lettered nor measured it. Sold it to finance another 1895. The butt plate did not match although the day AFTER I sold it, a member here alerted me that he knew where the correct one was. Still kicking myself for that one. Anyhow, I alerted the new owner about the correct butt plate and have not heard from him since. February '06 I think...

Doug

1895 SRC was .965 at receiver and .665 at muzzle.

1895 A was same .965 at receiver and .675 at the muzzle so they really didn't take a lot off.

MD is your A 26" ? what's it measure @ 22"
interesting.
thanks

plab

I found another 95 that letter's the same as mine and the rifles are the same. Leroy Merz had it, it's on it's way to Maine.


plab

You are sure making it hard to not be a believer! "Light" = 22"

Nice find and was out there for all to see.

I'm rapidly becoming a believer as well. To have a pair of these, "lightweight 99's" is surely a unique opportunity

Shouldn't that be "lightest 95's"?

Yes.

Gentlemen, I am sticking to what I say about the number of model 1895,s manufactured. First of all because they recorded the information, because they had something physical that was produced and worthy to have it's information placed in the ledger. Second I feel that the existing Savage ledger may not completely reflect all 1895's built. The regular sequential recordings start at 3156 and run through 8200. A handful of these guns in the 50xx range shows dates from October, 1895. Just about all the rest show 1896, 1897 and 1898 dates. Why that is so out of order , I do not have an answer for. There exists in the first ledger random recordings for much lower serial numbers that go as low as S/N 354. Looking at these, the information shows them as returns to the factory for work on job #'s. The company thought enough of this to record the info. There are also a handful of random recordings for 1895,s as high as S/N 9821. Guess you guys have not found any of these ...yet. I have also had requests for two 1895's with s/n's above 8200 that were not recorded at all. Do I have an answer for all this..... no. But the evidence is there that there are 1895,s with lower S/N,s. Maybe when Marlin was building these guns they initially kept the records for Savage. Maybe there was an earlier ledger that got tossed somewhere. Several years ago I called the historian at Marlin to inquire if he knew of anything about Marlin making 1895's for Savage or of anything related in their archives. Regrettably he did not have or know of anything. So, I seem to recall something I read out there from time to time re. Savage...."never say never". JTC