Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Inspector Marks on 99 Receivers

In a different thread the question arose as to when Savage started putting inspector marks on the left front of Model 99 receivers. I currently have seven Chicopee Falls EGs. Here's what I found.

Ser. No. LBC Inspector Mark

5042XX * None
5977XX 23C None
7318XX 3F J
7383XX 20E J
7482XX 3F &
7576XX 28F X (This mark was on the flat, almost under the forearm. All the other marks are higher on the curved part of the receiver.)
9078XX 16H A mark, but nothing found on a computer keyboard. (Looks sort of like a bow tie.)

From this limited sample I would say that the change did not occur immediately upon the move to Chicopee Falls. Maybe some of you guys can help fill in the gaps and we can narrow it down.

1953 99R with a A stamp

Yep, knew that it didn't happen right away in Chicopee Falls. My guess is that it will be at some point in 1954, which matches up with your data.

**That 20E stamp on 7383XX doesn't fit at all with recognized serial numbers/years. I think some inspector was using the wrong year stamp.. should be an F.

Great start on data! May not have time for a while to dig through the safes, but at hand I've got 637XXX which doesn't have one, and 761XXX which has an &

"**That 20E stamp on 7383XX doesn't fit at all with recognized serial numbers/years. I think some inspector was using the wrong year stamp.. should be an F."

I agree that the 20E LBC on 7383XX doesn't seem to fit the serial number sequence so I double checked it with a magnifying glass. It is definitely 20E. Another Savage mystery I guess.

Actually several of us think there was a lot of date stamps used into the next year, and done frequently. While it's normal for 99's to not be finished or shipped in serial number order and for individual guns to ship much later than you would expect from it's serial number, it's really tough to have a firearm go out 6-9 months before anybody was creating guns in that serial number range.

We are currently at 637XXX not marked and 7318XX 3F "J" marked.

I can narrow it down a little more to 65224x not marked and 69228x with a "Y" marking.

Anyone with a 99 having a serial between 65224x and 69228x we would like to hear from you.

Thanks Rick.

If anybody has more that are near those, toss them in.. would like to confirm that it was a pretty distinct switch to using them.

300R s/n 657024 26D no stamp by barrel 2 screw grip cap

300EG s/n 668515 27D no stamp by barrel

300R s/n 683516 24B no stamp by barrel

300EG s/n 686854 20E K stamped on receiver next to barrel

I have owned a few guns with the famous Chevrolet ribbon. Nobody has ever figured out what it meant.

I think they were often found on 1950s Fs

A number of years back,when i was talking to JTC,about inspectors marks he said this was the one he used,



When i got home and checked i had a 99E that John had inspected!!

Yes Don, I have one with JTC inspector mark too.., they're collectible!!

I had one.. but I think I let it get away. I'll have to check my 284's, think those are the only two I've got left from the right time period for JTC.

There was an inspector that used that stamp before JTC. I know JTC assembled some of the 75th Annv. rifles but I don't know his start and stop years. I didn't think John was old enough to have been assembling in the 50's.

Do we have any pictures of those? That's a kind of bold inspector stamp, with copyright infringement written all over it.

EG 300 #673779 LBC -0E. The LBC was poorly stamped and the first digit is completely missing. No stamp by barrel.

"300R s/n 683516 24B no stamp by barrel

300EG s/n 686854 20E K stamped on receiver next to barrel"

That is only a 3338 serial spread and in 1953 that was less than one months production. That is good enough for me. Thanks Don!

One of the 1960 vintage 99E's that I got from Fireball has the JTC stamp, it's serial #9688xx

These stamps are on some 29-A's & 29-B's and I think show some of the same symbols that are mentioned above that are on 99's, one looks like it might be JTC's stamp, these guns have dates codes ranging from 1949 to 1967 and I have one 29-A without a serial number or a date code, so 1948??? -


They are not in order by date.

=>> ADDED: Looking at the next post by David I want add that all those guns except one also have the inspector/date code stamps on the barrels in front of the receiver, the same stamps as lever boss codes which I have always though was done at final inpection. The pictured stamps have me confused as to why some only have a couple and others have several, I have found that all the same stamps will be found on the stock under the buttplate, so they may have had something to do with assembly and/or inspection during manufacturing - the guns do not have serial numbers.

Did more than one person inspect a gun? Not only do Gene's photos show what appears to multiple inspectors' marks but these markings started during the time of the LBC's which included an inspector mark.