Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors First-year Deluxe model for sale

I would be willing to bet that this wood has been carefully and professionally re-finished and the checkering pointed up- maybe 60 or more years ago, halfway through its life so by now has taken on a patina that mimics something a lot older than it is. Subsequent "freshening" with oil over the ensuing decades would account for the finish in the notches and in the bottom of the checkering. The metal coulda/woulda/shoulda been worn gray well before WWII and left that way despite subsequent wood re-finishing.

I too am enchanted with it, and like the rest of you, would be on it like a duck on a June Bug were it not for my flat wallet.

Gnoahhh, nice to hear from somebody that clearly knows more on the subject than I do, that I am not alone in my observation, and that is all it was. That said, I really think this gun is just beautiful.

The checkering is the early B grade (or "$8 checkering") that was changed in 1905. Add the pistol grip and up grade wood and you have doubled the original retail price.

Also has one of the uncataloged barrel address, Style 1-A-1 [top line is Style 1 but with dots (there is another version without the dots), bottom line is Style A]

Not the CD grade?

Wrong checkering for a "CD" and the "CD" was not cataloged till 1905. I think the Leader was the first special package that was named in 1904. Before that it was sold with individual special options...no package deals.

Thanks for the clarity. I had thought the early 1899s from the get go could be the c d cd grade with the pistol grip and/or fine wood checkering.

That's a grand old rifle and the wood is far from perfect. It looks like it's aged from use like the metal. Wish it was in my safe.

FINALLY............I've held that rifle in my cold clammy hands and it's the real deal..............

No argument, it's beautiful. Still been refinished, which is not necessarily a crime. Just a matter of perception, and if someone knows otherwise, I will withdraw my comment immediately.

I seriously doubt it's been refinished. Has it been hit with something? Sure. Even Old West Snake Oil will darken checkering and scratches or kill notches, almost anything else used to protect the wood would have done the same.

But a refinish? I don't think so.

I'd be much more concerned with the extra holes in the barrel than a possible stock freshening/refinish....

This reflects my take as well. Let me add, there are a few members here who have held it in their hands, and a multitude of members who have not. I'll defer to those that have actually held it.

I gotta say if that showed up at a local show for that price, it's in my safe! I just don't see 99's like that at my local show's. There's one fella "super nice guy" with a K in .303 but it's never for sale, just on the table to help flog some of his clenzoil! And his tactics work because I have a can of the stuff.

I don't think the holes in the barrel hurt it a bit. To me it looks like some scope attachment of the proper era. Nobody has any more than a guess as to what the holes are for, which surprises me. I expected someone here to throw a photo up on this site to show exactly what those tapped holes on the barrel were meant for, like some long brass scope or something similar.

What defines "real deal?" Does that mean its not been refinished or sanded or an "messed with" in any way??

No one here knows for certain what's been done to it, and maybe it has been "dicked with" a little. But it's still a nice gun and given age and grade, it's probably worth the asking price. Hard to find that gun in perfect condition I imagine.