Blued lever's? post mill "C"

Thought I remembered there being blued levers during certain years (1970's), and looked at a blue lever cut checkered 99C in 308W once before. Could not find in Murry's or at other sources that there were blued lever 99's on late model "C"'s
Would like to confirm whether or not there blued levers sometime during the 99C run (Post Mill)?

Yep, definitely had blued levers on very late rifles. Not sure of the exact change, but in 1981 it was still case colored. By 1996 they were blued.

the Llama guns had blued levers.

My 1979 C has case lever, so I'll go out on a limb and say they were case at least into the 80s.

Late 74 / 75 the saddle guns were listed with blued levers.

Wonder if the 99C lever change was the production gap over the bankruptcy years? I've heard constantly that Ron Coburn shut down all Savage production except the 110 in the late 80's when he took over and reformed Savage. I've also presumed the Spanish Llama rifles in the early 90's was the restart attempt for the 99's. After that failure, they made them in house again through the 90's.

Anybody got corrections to my many assumptions above? Anybody know when the serial number range for when 99 production paused in the late 80's?

Rory, I don't know for sure but i have one made in 2001. Don

Got a serial # Savorino?

Somebody here can surely give you a date of manufacture based on that and would be another clue.

Rory,

I though that the Spain rifles were around 1992. The `92, `93, `94 catalogs list "limited availablity" on 99's. Available Nov in the `95 catalog.

The current Savage will only warrent 99's back to Nov 1995, F498821. I would think that is when Coburn took over.The current Savage will only warrent 99's back to Nov 1995, F498821. I would think that is when Coburn took over.

They are listed in the `96 and `97 then gone in the `98. Probably rifles were pieced together to clean up parts in small quanitiies. I think the F826xxx that you had is the highest serial I have in my data which is about 2001.

My info is fuzzy on these later years.

Murray page 3-75 down on bottom shows blued lever.

Rick, you and I are both right. Ron Coburn became president in 1987 or 1988 and reformed the company. Which involved shutting down everything but 110 production, according to his own quotes. He bought the company in 1994.

http://www.savagearms.com/history/

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Between the early 1960's and late 1980's, numerous public and private corporations owned and sold Savage Arms, culminating in a reorganization of the business and a filing for bankruptcy protection in early 1988. Ronald Coburn was named president/CEO and redefined the future of the business. The company downsized and produced only the model 110 bolt-action rifle until mid 1989.

By early 1990, the company was once again on a secure footing, having developed a strategy to build superior products at a reasonable price, something the competition could not match. Savage continued to redefine value during the 1990's, developing new products, improving materials and adding features that were only available in much higher-priced rifles.

Savage became a "consumer sensitive" company, adopting many of the ideas and suggestions offered by firearm users. Management spent time in the field, listening to hunters, talking with guides and comparing notes with industry writers, many of which have since become good friends and confidants over the years. And, since there is no substitute for hands-on experience, management took all new products into the field themselves to learn and appreciate the features and benefits of any new offerings, and fine-tune as needed.

In 1992, Savage designed and patented the SNAIL, an environmentally friendly shooting range system that has since been adopted by all major firearms manufacturers, police, military and private shooting clubs in America and 14 other countries. The NRA, FBI and numerous special forces currently use the SNAIL Savage system.

By 1995, Savage was now financially strong enough to attract potential buyers and the owners showed interest in selling. In order to keep the company focused and under the control of local management, Ronald Coburn raised the money to purchase the company and took it private.

Something for folks to keep an eye out is the highest 99C number in the E serial number range to see if we can't narrow down when production stopped.

Originally Posted by 300jimmy

Murray page 3-75 down on bottom shows blued lever.

That's the 99A's, which very well may be different than the 99C's. I pay no attention to 99A's, I probably should start looking closer to see if they have blued levers but don't look reblued. What a pain that will be.

Jan 1988 would be in the E900,000 range.

Originally Posted by Rick99

Rory,

I though that the Spain rifles were around 1992. The `92, `93, `94 catalogs list "limited availablity" on 99's. Available Nov in the `95 catalog.

The current Savage will only warrent 99's back to Nov 1995, F498821. I would think that is when Coburn took over.The current Savage will only warrent 99's back to Nov 1995, F498821. I would think that is when Coburn took over.

They are listed in the `96 and `97 then gone in the `98. Probably rifles were pieced together to clean up parts in small quanitiies. I think the F826xxx that you had is the highest serial I have in my data which is about 2001.

My info is fuzzy on these later years.

I seem to remember Mike-RGR223 had onein 300 Savage? That Dated to 98-99, and if i'm correct, i think it was mentioned that Steve-Savparts was putting them together or had some and sold them off!
Steve

The late ones with .300 barrels are a small group assembled using the leftover CE barrels.

Rick, are you sure on that? The 96/97 brochures that were in with my NIB rifles showed available chamberings were 243, 308, and 300 Savage. Had one of each from 1996/1997. Wouldn't think they would catalog something that was dependent on leftover barrels?

I could be wrong. That was what I was told by another collector. My data is pretty slim on the later rifles.

Your .300 was a 1999 rifle. I don't think there were any large quantity of 99's being sold after the CE's. Am I not correct that the last were all sold through Jerry's and they had them for sometime before all were sold.

This is bad that we are not sure of what happened at the end. I think Jerry's was still trying to sell off the 99's while we were here on the Forum.

Anyone else have input?

Not that great an input but IIRC my Jerry's catalogs listed 99s in .308 and later only in .243 until '05 or so. I may well have trashed the catalogs but I'll look to see what I can find. Don't hold your breath as I'm a lot slower than a procrastinator. I never put off 'til tomorrow what I can put off 'til next week.

Got a serial # Savorino?
No, Was a gun I was looking at online
From photos it appears to say E7549XX

Thinking it is a 1980 becuase it has cut checkered full fore-end and not the finger grooved '81-up.

I had a 81-84, not sure of exact year, and lever was a pristine case hardened.
Also, the Spaniard I had was a pristine case hardened.

Thanks all for the responses!

I have an A saddle fun in .250 (D6243xx) w/case hardened lever, but this is a fairly early one.

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From photos it appears to say E7549XX

That would be an early 1987 prodution.

Thanks Rick!!!!!!!!!