Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Chamber Cast of My 1895

I suppose you could re-chamber it to .303 and make her correct anywayz.

Seriously, is there anything else you "know" about this rifle? Where it's been? Where'd you get it? Did you knowingly buy a Model 1895 30-30?

Thanks for the post and the comments. Learned a thing 'er two.

My guess is; Since Savage didn't put caliber markings in front of the receiver,and since it had to have the only barrel address (.303) available at that time to be a legitimate Savage , and since anyone would soon find out and wonder why a .303 Savage would not chamber in a .303 marked gun and would soon say - it must be - - let's try a 30-30, (the only other popular modern cartridge of the day). They either made one up in secret, not telling the boss, who was only interested in the barrel address anyway, and never checked the chamber; Or it was made up as a test rifle , to see how it would handle the 30-30 in case they decided to make a new 1895 in that caliber. Called an 189_.

It could be an R&D 1895 to compare the 30-30 function with the 303Sav!!

Wouldn't that be just as cool as a creek on a hot summer day!

What does Marlin have for records of their work for Savage, anything?

"What does Marlin have for records of their work for Savage, anything?"

Nothing. The only records are the Savage logs of what was received from Marlin and when shipped.

Thanks to mad dog and Rick, I'm learning some things on the 1895. Since RAS's serial # is just over 7000, does anyone know what year it was manufactured ?

I will get to hold this rifle in my hands in about a month !! I can hardly wait.

Would need a letter to have a firm date, there are oddballs. But in general I'd stick with Joe's ballpark dates.

Then there is the story recounted by Mike Nesbitt in the May 1985 issue of Handloader Magazine (reprinted in the Jay Kimmel Book, Savage and Stevens Arms) where "Cougar Pete", a government hunter in the Northwest, liked the .303 Savage cartridge so well he had a Winchester Model 94 in
.30-30 rechambered for the .303 Savage. As he did not have the barrel set back, the rifle was "dual chambered", but fired cases would come out with a double shoulder. Imagine picking that '94 up in an auction on GB...

Oldgunsmith, it was probably produced in 1896. My 1895's were all produced that year. Their serial numbers are: 47xx, 51xx, 62XX and 78xx. But you need a letter. We know the serial numbers weren't produced in order. For example, there was a recent post that stated Marlin started at 5000, went into the 7 or 8000's and then started producing lower numbers. My SRC serial # 47xx was received at Savage's N.Y. offices Dec 26, 1896, The others were received as follows: #51xx Feb 22, 1896; #62xx Apr 25, 1896 #78xx Aug 7, 1896. But you need a letter because with Savage "never say never". David

Thanks David for the additional info. I'm also interested in how this gun letters.

Winchester brought out the 30-30 cartridge in their 1894,but the barrels wouldn't hold up to it. So, they improved their steel and in 1895 started producing the 1894 in the 30-30 round.

With Winchester being successful with many different models chambered in many different rounds. Wouldn't it have been likely that Savage would have chambered a few in 30-30 to be used to compare to the 303, since the 303 was his first cartridge design.

Why wouldn't they just buy a Winchester in 30-30 to compare it to? $15 for an 1895 rifle (or less) was probably cheaper than what Marlin would have charged them.

I'm doubting that Arthur was very eager to use or even consider Winchester cartridges after Winchester and others charged him with corruption in the 1896 New York military trials and he almost came to blows with a Winchester rep - and then lost the contract. But, just my opinion and worth what ya paid me for it.

Come on really, thats 5 days away from 1897, were just picking flysheet out of pepper now. I own 4786 1895B accepted April 27th 1897.

Like Rory said my numbers are ballpark, there are exceptions, lots of them. For example 4389 1895 military Dec 11, 1896, 4405 Apr 15 1897.

The discussion is concerning a rifle in 6000 to 7000 range. I was throwing out some figures to suggest there is a good chance the rifle was produced in 1896 since we're not sure we can get letters at this point. My SRC's serial number is 11 lower than your 1895 octagon barrel rifle and the acceptance dates are four months apart further confirming that they were not shipped entirely consecutively. Unfortunately we have to work with the limited data we have. David

All:

Sorry not to close the loop on this. Here are the details that I have on this rifle. Well most of it.

Accepted in July 1896 and eventually shipped out in March 1898. Yes, almost two years after it was accepted at factory. (The person or place that the rifle went to will remain anonymous)

The documentation specifically states the oddness that there is no caliber designation for this rifle, and that it is the only 1895 rifle in the ledger that doesn't have a 303 designation. There is also an odd "WP" in the ledger. Again, no other rifle has that feature in the documentation. No reference at all to what WP stands for.

This info came from Savage and/or a Savage historian. Others here have seen all of this info.

**Break**

The rifle is in 30-30 Win, and shoots good with my mild loads.

In my opinion, there are two things that are true.

1. I own the first Savage rifle factory chambered in a Win caliber. It is a one of a kind.

2. This rifle will hopefully be taking a deer this coming season, and preferably in Texas.

Another piece of info to add to the pile.

Cheers....

"WP" = Winchester Prototype??

Hope you make it down here for deer season. One of these Texas deer should be proud to be shot by your one-of-a-kind rifle. How does it feel to have the only 1895 chambered in 30-30 ??

you know with all the mystery about that rifle you must be loosing sleep .. so why don't you sell it to me and be done with it


Plab

I sure hope the "Others" take the time to chime in 'cause if true, goes against all conventional wisdom regarding 1895's.

Howdy John. Yes, we can look at a hunt this fall. I will email you the paperwork on this gun today, and bring the gun with me. Maybe sooner, and I can help eradicate some of those big boars running around your place. Bill will be shooting it on 11 May. He comes into town on the 9th. He is a big Winchester guy so it is only fitting. Will call you when he gets here.

To answer your question, pretty ok with me. I figure I can stop collecting Winchesters and Savages at this point.

I will be framing my copy of the letter for your 30-30, it will hang on the wall in my reloading room. As for Bill shooting the rifle, you two will have a blast, and make some new memories. Wanted to send some photos of the hogs, but photobucket won't co-operate tonight. I killed 29 last month, and haven't made a dent in them. Don't think we are gonna run out before you can get here. BTW, things seem kinda dead here on the forum since you scored on that rifle. Still shakin' my head that you go to a gun show, and just happen upon the only 30-30 to leave the Savage factory in 1896. Damn, it don't get no better .......... good for you !!! Ya'll score a turkey today ??