Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 1895 Savage Gunsmithing help

Hi all - I am new to the forum. I have joined at David Royal's suggestion that I might be able to find some gunsmithing help here with an issue on my 1895 Savage.

I have disassembly information for 99's from David Chicoine's book about disassembly of antique firearms, but realized there are some differences in the action on 1895's from 99's while looking into an issue on my 1895. My 1895 is complete and all original, with number matching stock in very good unsanded condition with no tang cracks, number matched buttplate, crisp shiny bore, etc. but unfortunately it has been reblued. The good news is they maintained all the markings including the JM under the barrel. I think it was one of these situations where some uninformed person decided the minor bluing wear on grandpa's gun required a reblue, as nothing else indicates it was worn out in any way.

Anyhow they did an ok job although I wish the lever was case colored rather than blue to look more original. I was thinking about sending it off to be colored, but I have another issue which I would like to address first, which is that the lever hangs down about 3/16" when the breech is closed. I was looking at the pivot point on the end of the lever and the groove it engages in the breech, and I see no substantial wear but nice crisp milled surfaces. Is this common in 1895's as a design issue, perhaps later addressed in the 1899's, or is there a common fix for this issue? I have moderate to intermediate smithing skills, but no specialty equipment. I would also appreciate any suggestions on where to send the lever for case coloring.

I was also unable to remove the firing pin from the breech bolt after removing the set screw and the spring latch and screw - it almost looks like to me that the firing pin sleeve is pressed into the breech block rather than being somewhat loose and easily removed like the 99's.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

It sounds like you are describing what typically is called "lever droop." While not all that common it does happen with a number of rifles. There are basically two schools of thought on the fix and neither should require disassembly of the bolt. There are others on this forum who can explain the fix better than I so I will defer to their expertise. Best of luck and as they say in the Navy, "welcome aboard."

Case coloring of the lever is doable and with a little research you'll find some sources.
Lever droop is an easy fix. Look under misc. good info and scroll to the topic.
Sounds like fire pin is sticking or froze up. If no obvious defects, start with some penetrating oil and go from there.

I was loathe to recommend the 99 lever droop fix for fear that the 95's were configured slightly differently. Am I to assume that is not the case?

Definitely different, I just took pics of my spare 1895, pre-mill 99 and post mil 99 levers, and a pic of my 1895 bolt and 99 bolt.

Does your firing pin assembly slide easily out of the 1895 bolt like the 99 does?

Thank you all for the information so far. I have been trying to find the post on the 99 lever droop repair unsuccessfully - can anyone point the newbie in the right direction? thanks!

Nope, I think that screw on the side, right beside the firing pin is some sort of retaining screw.

Click on this and go down about 3 or 4 posts.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/535525/Misc._Good_Info#Post535525

Yes the retaining screw has to be removed. You have to turn it just right to clear the cocked indicator. The old bolts can be tricky to disassemble.

Joe, looks like your 1895 bolt is missing the hammer retractor?

Probably got it here somewhere Mike, I have a bag full of tiny 1895 parts.

Thank you all, I think the loose lever fix in the misc. info is just what I need.

On the firing pin, I did remove the screw before trying to remove the assembly. Lightfoot indicates that it has to be turned just right to clear the cocked indicator - I am assuming that means the firing pin assembly alignment. I will try that and see if I can find the sweet spot.

I will let you all know how it goes. Many thanks

MD, anyone... how does the 1895 lever compare to the pre-90,000 1899 lever?

I've worked on 2 1895s. The lever didn't strike me as being much different from the early 1899s if at all.

Like Mike said, the front of the lever has a sharper notch on the bottom but thats about it, haven't really tried to swap them out.

NorthwestHunter, you said your gun was all original but in the top stickied thread you said it had a 24" barrel. Are you sure it's 24" and not 26"? It may have been shortened.

It is definitely 24" - I have never got a factory letter on it, so I am not sure if it was shortened or possibly special ordered. It is crowned, but since it has been reblued it is hard to tell if it was done after shortening or original.

So yes it has been messed with some, so saying it is original was not correct on my part. What I meant by that was that it is complete: the stock, buttplate, etc are numbers matching, all of the markings correct as they should be, etc. The wood to metal fit, condition of the wood, and condition of the metal all around indicates to me that it was not reblued to salvage a junker, but an unnecessary "upgrade" to a lightly used rifle.

Shortening the 26" barrels must have been pretty common - I have an otherwise pristine 1899 C that is also 24", but the barrel is just flush cut with no crown. The bluing on the C is original, at least 85%, with great case colors, great wood, etc - nearly perfect in all other ways except the shortened barrel. I assume it was to make them faster handling in the woods, function first.

I guess the modified nature of these guns also puts them in my price range...

The lever safety area is the same on the 1895 and early 1899. Thought the lever might be the same design.

I'm pretty sure I put an early 1899 lever in the 1895 I reassembled for Powdr a few years back.

A flush or square crown is correct for early rifle and the crown was left in the white. Might be a chance your C is right as rain. Pictures would help

I found a note from Blair saying that you couldn't replace with an 1899 lever because of the trigger sear. Had to replace lever, bolt, etc. But, he didn't say if the levers he tried were pre or post 90,000.