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Does any one own an 1899 factory smoothbore ??

Yours is the only one I have heard of.

When James Wayne sold off all the 1899 and 99's their was one or more in that group

interesting.. first I've heard of a "smooth bore" were these special order ?

plab

Have they all been the same caliber?

What are the markings?

Why would anyone make a smoothbore, once mankind learned the benefits of rifling?

For the same reason people want a .410 barrel on a rifle. Everyone is different. It was a hard crowd to convince in those days. I've heard they loaded them with bird shot. My belief is that they loaded them with something similar to a round ball just like in the days of the muzzle loader. People then were just as hard to convince as they are today.

I think the .38-55 came in a shot load. Smooth bore rifles were used in trick shooting, also. I don't know the history on any of the Savage smooth bores.

You aren't alone. Neither does anyone else. Just another topic open to speculation.

Any examples of 38-55 shot load?

Never heard of a 1899 smoothbore, but Ithaca and some other smaller companies made quite a few .22 rimfires in smooth bore for rat shot. I think the boy scouts used to train kids with them.

Trick shooting is the most plausible guess I've heard so far. Annie Oakley fired more shot loads at those aerial targets than she did bullets.

The following Model 99 was sold at the James Julia auction, March 11, 2013. It sold for $4600.

"SN 136950. Cal 38-55. Factory Savage records indicate this gun was originally ordered as a smoothbore shotgun in 38-55 with a 28" full rnd bbl with silver blade front sight and standard Savage rear sight. Original straight-grain walnut stock with a composition shotgun style buttplate. Guaranteed all-original complete with factory letter indicating all of the above features."

I think the one I saw was in 32-40

Shot cartridges were once quite popular but to special order a rifle just for that would probably not been by someone of well above average means, most guns you find in smooth-bore are cheaper single shots and most in a rim-fire cartridge. The main use of shot cartridges was probably for pest control or small game by someone who didn't have several guns, but that would have been limited use in a standard rifled barrel, long term use of shot in a rifled barrel is supposed cause leading and the shot is not supposed to perform that well with rifling.

Here are the shot shell offerings by Rem-UMC 1913-1914 -


Here is Peter's offerings in 1935, I find the one for the Thompson machine gun quite surprising, It made me think back to when we had large flocks of starlings show up on the farm... (they also have a very interesting telegraph code for that one) -


Most manufacturers offered smooth-bore options on various models in the past, Remington still makes special runs of their Model 572 22 pump in smoothbore - model-572-bdl-smooth-bore.aspx

Thanks,Gene! I have examples of UMC shot shells with the wooden tips in .38-56, .40-65, 45-70 and .50 Express but have not been able to verify that one was made in .38-55. The ones in your advertising don't indicate that they have a wooden tip...maybe just a crimped wad. UMC changed to Remington-UMC in 1911, if I remember correctly.

Ive got a bunch of 30-40 krag,30 government ammo,paper wrapped birdshot,i believe it was for military foraging. 38-55 is the perfect round to make birdshot loads.

Don, are you sure the Krag ammo is bird shot? All of the .30-40 gov't-made ammo that I ever had in my collection with paper cartridges were blank rounds (the paper "bullet" in place to facilitate magazine feeding, disintegrating upon discharge). If indeed they are bird shot cartidges, loaded in a gov't arsenal, I would love to know more. In original packaging? Pics by any chance? Just when I thought I knew it all... ha ha!

Hmmm, 7 1/2 shot in 45 Auto for the Thompson Sub Machine gun. THAT sounds like my kinda grouse gun

Brings to mind the closing scene in "Duck Soup" when Groucho is (mistakenly) spraying his own troops with a Thompson, gleefully saying "Look at them run, look at them run!"