Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Flame checkering?

Can't get much earlier than that!

pics of my 1901 vintage flame checkered 1899A, serial #244xx.
overall

forearm

receiver

grip checkering

David

That is beautiful workmanship.

Thanks for posting that David, but that's actually the earlier Fleur-de-lis B checkering. Both the 1899-1904 B checkering and the 1905 new B had flames on the forearm, but only the newer B style had the flames on the buttstock.

My bad, i should have specified flames on the buttstock.

Beautiful rifle though, thanks for posting it up. Gives us a beautiful example of the earlier B checkering.

I may have missed it, but are checking variations documented somewhere? The pics in my repro catalogs are no good and leafing thru books yielded not much either.

Just a simple chart with the style type & a pic(s) would be helpful.
Better yet a matrix that shows style type(s) over approximate time vs. straight/pistol grips, panels, fores. (Mention of Rival, Victor, etc. just makes it more confusing)

I sorta follow the comments above, it's a little confusing and I doubt my visuals are correct.
Is?
"A" & "A3" = 3 point checking
"B" = early fleur de lis pattern
"C" = later fleur de lis pattern
"AA" & "A2" = 2 point checking
"A5" = one of the above plus panels??
Carved = self explanatory
"Flame" = ???

I realize there may be variations of variations so keep it simple.

Be a good subject for a brief explanatory thread.. pic of each checkering style and names/costs.

Be a good thread to throw in the Misc. Good Info thread

Rick and Rory, this needs to go in my next book. I plan to use the trip to Savage Fest to gather info and photograph engraving and special feature rifles on my way there and then go to Ohio, Kentucky and New England afterwards. anyone with rifles in these categories contact me if you want your rifle included in the book. See my info below.
Thanks for clarifying that my rifle's checkering is fler-de-lis checkering. I thought that anything with flames was a variation of flame checkering. David

They are, but they are catalogued differences so worth knowing.

"Then the "$8" which became the "B" in the fleur-de-lis pattern which later changed to the "B" (added for clarification) flame pattern"

This took place around 1904 when the Leader grade was added. The catalog shows the B pattern changing at that time.

Fler-de-lis and flame are names we have given the B pattern (or early and late B) checkering to distinguish which we are taking about.

Was the flame offered before 1904? Was the fler-de-lis used after 1904? What were they called? My answer, so far, is: maybe, yes and I don't know...in that order. The only way to know is if the rifle is lettered and is clearly logged so you can match the pattern on the rifle to the logged info and the production date. Even then you can't be sure all the info is there.

I think the C has always been C checkering and mostly used on the higher grade engraved rifles. The C started (1903 catalog) as a $15 option and in 1905 and later when the other named specials were added it was standard on the Rival and then the Crescent grade.

The only way to acquire the engraving and checkering info is to pull it from each catalog. Even then you have to watch for catalog errors and it was not listed in all catalogs.

I have a 1899 model G serial #2483xx. I posted pictures in the gallery but I wasn’t able to attach them.
John

Beautiful gun! Thanks, it's good seeing some late guns with special options - it's odd they are so rare, though maybe folks would just buy the 99G since it has checkering/pistol grip and they didn't have to wait.

Wow!

Last catalog listing for all the specials was 1927 but you seldom see a rifle with specials after WWI. Your flame (B) checkering in 1923 was $11.50.

Thanks for the information. I had forgotten about it until I saw the pictures in this thread,it hasn’t been out of the safe since 1970.

I am trying to understand the transition from 1899 special orders to the 99K. Murray states there was no preceding model to the 99K. Are there examples of flame checkering after the introduction of the K? Do the 1899 special order guns compare in value to the K, or is the K just a factory upgrade to the G, and the special order in a category of it's own? Sorry for so many questions, just wondering about investment in a K. Mike

In 1927 they introduced the 99K, and they also still listed all the 1899 engraving from A to F and checkering styles. So there could be grade B (flame checkered) or even grade C checkered rifles that date to the same time that 99Ks were made. The 99K is closest to the A style of engraving, and maybe that was what they were doing for A engraving in the mid-20's, not sure I've seen a non-99K engraved rifle with standalone A engraving from that time to compare it to.

Later on, they offered 99K style checkering and engraving, but the 1899 engraving went away.

Also, with the intro of the K all of the options went away. Tue, the original Savage engraver transitioned to Gough. The engraving, as stated above, is a lesser version of the original A (there were slight changes in the pattern over the years) and checkering is the A5. The K came with a Lyman 29 1/2 tang sight which was the first time a tang sight was sold as a standard feature on an 1895/1899/99. Current pricing of a K verses an earlier Special Orders is easier as the biggest variation is the caliber and condition.

LBK has a solid frame "K" at least that is what memory says.

CTW, I looked back at past postings and found a K that several member have owned. The letter did not state that it shipped as a solid frame K but that it had been returned for some type of additional work. But as all things Savage...never say "never".