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The 1899H came standard with a thinner hard rubber buttplate, but could have a shotgun steel style buttplate as special order.

The 1899A SR came standard with a steel shotgun style buttplate, but could be special ordered with a crescent or a thick hard rubber buttplate.

The thick hard rubber buttplates are very uncommon, available only as special order. Can show up on 1899[ABC], any of the special grade guns, probably on 1899H also... (?)

12 3/4” from middle of trigger to end of buttstock, 13 1/2” from middle of trigger to middle of buttplate.

No help on that question. My data is not detailed enough unless it was engraved. Most of the thick plates I've seen usually had some other special with it. Not a standard on any model.

Arthur was detailed in the Perris letters as how costly it was to install a hard rubber plate vs metal. I think at that time they were only using the leftover "SRAC 303"
plates which were thin. I'm thinking that when later the 1899-H became standard with the thin hard rubber plate that something had changed in the plate material or the installation process.

I think the thick plates were most common in the 1905-1910 period but this is only a guess. Usually with some other special. It was not a standard on any model. I only have one rifle with the thick version, 1899-C, .32-40, PG that shows sold to I.W.King their stock carver.

If I remember correctly the metal shotgun butt plate for a rifle was a no cost option. I don't know that the thick HR plate was even listed.

Old thread with lots of pictures of thick hard rubber buttplates below. Most rifles with this style fall into the 1906 to 1912 range.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5919284/

And in case you wanted to see clear pics of what a brand new one looks like:

One in the middle in this picture that I took this summer up north, and another on the gun taken apart underneath them..

I have a half octagon rifle with the thick plastic buttplate. The buttplate doesn't have the serial number but the buttstock does. Serial #149xxx. The back of the buttstock has to be unmolested or the number wouldn't be visible so it could not have come from the factory with a crescent or shotgun steel BP. The rifle doesn't have any other special features. The BP shows a lot of wear which matches the rest of the rifle.

Sweet rifles right there 😄

I have a .22HP SN 144171 with the thin buttplate. I believe it’s an 1899H manufactured 1913.


I don’t know if it is stock or not. The buttstock is numbered several times under the plate and the SN is scratched into the buttplate but the SN on the buttplate is 145171 not 144171 and the buttstock has been drilled out to kind of make a pocket under the buttplate. I can post pics if anyone interested.

Well used, honest 99’s are out there. Nothing like finding one....

Hello David,

If it’s used like you described, then that is an honest rifle for the amount of times it went to the field for duty. Perhaps hard duty like in the back country of Montana or Wyoming. The people who owned that rifle probably have a lifetime of adventurous stories to come with it. It might not be pristine, but it’s an honest gun for what it is. It deserves more respect than to be called vermin IMO.

Happy New Year,
RAS

Thanks Jeff, you are right. I have several well worn Savages that I sure would like know the history. I'm fortunate that I have a lot of history on my Donald MacMillan cased set.
I've added pics here of my 1899 half octagon with the thick rubber buttplate.
overall of the rifle.

closeup of the stock and BP

BP off the rifle and showing serial numbers on the buttstock and forearm

bottom of BP on stock

I think I have at least one of each of the early buttplates. Maybe I should do a separate post of all the pre-WWII buttplates. Any interest in that?
David

Absolutely!

Here is what I've got so far.
1895 plastic buttplate, very rare on an 1895. We've seen one or two on early 1899's. Left overs being used up.

Standard crescent used on 1895's, 1899's and 99's until about 1936.

unmarked very early steel shotgun type BP. this is on a 1901 production 1899

very early Indian logo stamped shotgun type bp. used about 1902-1904

Screaming Indian shotgun type BP used from about 1905 to 1926

Savage produced a few Schutzen type 1899's about 1914-1915. This one is documented. I don't own this one.

Gotta stop and get ready for New Year's dinner. More later.
David

I nominate "Squirrel Rat".

Still a "rat", but easier to look at....

Maybe just a “Calhoun rat”. Everybody would understand.

Before we get too far along here, remember that they weren't "plastic" as in our modern vernacular. They were a hard rubber composition back then, as plastic, per se, wasn't invented yet.

I think savage might have been looking at different composition hard rubber buttplates also,i have one on a early 1899H that appears to be a reddish brown color???

I think it was all the same composition, have been told that if black hard rubber comes into contact with hot water or other heat it can turn brown, this is sometimes seen on Savage pistols, sometimes with one side brown and the other still black. The hardness of rubber is controlled by the percentage of sulfur added for vulcanization, the more sulfur the harder the rubber (30% to 40%). Warming hard rubber grips should produce a strong sulfur smell - a way to tell originals from some modern repo's. Hard Rubbe/Ebonite

From the above link, it appears ultrviolet light can also cause the discoloration, which would explain pistols with only one brown grip.

Quote from above link -
"Under the influence of the ultraviolet portion in daylight hard rubber oxidizes and exposure to moisture bonds water with free sulfur on the surface creating sulfates and sulfuric acid at the surface that are very hygroscopic. The sulfates condense water from the air, forming a hydrophilic film with favorable wettability characteristics on the surface.[5] These aging processes will gradually discolor the surface grayish green to brown and cause rapid deterioration of electric surface resistivity."