Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 1920/26 project

From data collected earlier on this subject:

Sales records for 1920 shows 4426 (or serial 5426 if produced in numerical order. Don't know how many were actually shipped).

I have the following production dates from lettered rifles:
178x - 5/13/1920
188x - 3/24/1920
428x - 5/25/1920
5575, 5742 and 5747 were shipped to RC Andrews late 1920. Note that 5648 in .300 was not shipped till 1/19/1922. (wonder if it was sent back and rebarreled?)
690x - 7/16/1920
905x - 4/3/1924
1058x - 5/28/1925

Lowest serialed .300 394x seen (per 260Rimguy) Also the lowest serialed .300 I have in my data.

This is the sales info projected as a serial:
year sales serial
1000
1920 4426 5426
1921 462 5888
1922 1203 7091
1923 1182 8273
1924 941 9214
1925 687 9901
1926 ? ?
1927 ? ?
1928 ? ? not in the 1928 catalog
1929 ? 13016

The big question... was production in serial number order? (need more letters or a couple log sheets)
How many serialed receivers were produced in 1920? (I'm guessing around 6000 receivers or serial 7000).

1920 was a depression year, a very nasty one from January to July of 1920. In fact in many ways it's the worst depression year we've had (including any single year during the Great Depression). Depending on which unemployment rate you use, unemployment either increased 300% from 1920 to 1921, or increased 1000%. So I find it curious they managed to sell 4 times as many that year as by 1923 and later after the depression was over.

But the ship dates from the ledgers aren't going to be wrong.

So I guess either folks were buying despite layoffs across the country, or Savage made a bunch and shipped them out of order.

I'd get my 1276X lettered if I knew how long it takes. Haven't heard or seen anyone talk about letters since JC retired.

Savage has an employee doing it. Probably takes a couple months, cost is now.. $45?

Savage Arms employee numbers jumped from ~700 to 3800 in a short time early during WWI, more thereafter.
Post WWI employee numbers dropped, as did the rest of American manufacturing because war was over. Depression? Post WWI adjustment? I'd say adjustment. Post war, generally U.S. economies boomed, WWII they did. Anyway,... in ~1920 the "new" Model 99 line began, got traction and succeeded. The Model 1920 may have as well. JMO.

What was the "big east end plant"?

Not sure, someone (Rick?) took the price out of the post in Misc good stuff. I think Effie is doing it now so I'll get ahold of Jim B. and see if he'll gimme her cell number. I could have sworn I had it here somewhere but can't find it now. If I talk to her I'll pm Rick and get a for sure price and wait time on it for the thread.

I don't think Effie is doing it now. Someone (LBK?) was at the plant and met the new guy doing it. If we get all the details I will update the info.

It’s not Effie. Can’t find the link on their site right now, I sent a request for the current info.

99 models were in 1921 along with 300 Savage. 1920 recession is blamed by many on Fed Reserve jacking up interest rates too much.

To see how bad it was, Savage made 19,000 1899’s in 1919. 22,000 1899’s in 1920. But only 3,500 in 1921.

Here are the sales info for 1919, 1920 & 1921. Note that there are other products in the system. Plus they produced almost 3 million rounds of ammo.

I thought we established those sheets weren't really that accurate?

According to the serial number ranges versus the sales sheets, they'd have had 17,000 1899's in stock at the end of 1920.

Now, they DID admit to being massively overstocked, and that's why they were selling all inventory at cost. But 17,000 1899's? When did they sell them? Because 1922 production by serial number went back up to 7,000. Can't believe they'd build 7,000 if they still had 15,000 in the warehouse.

I think the Sales info is correct. I think we just don't know how to use it with the other data we have. The Sales number doesn't indicate inventory or production numbers. I have no log sheets for 1917 through 1922 so I can't tell if receivers were being used in serial order or how long they were setting on the shelf after completion.

The project is done (I hope!), delivered last weekend, really though I did have fun doing it and learned a lot. I did do a little more 'tweaking' and finished some small details since the last post, added here to the original thread to keep it all together. Might be some helpful information.

Here is the rifle as delivered -


After reworking the butt plate three times I was still not happy with it, so I added more contour and relieved the center underneath so now it just contacts about 1/4" around the perimeter, fits a little better - good enough to use and protect the wood until an original that fits can be found (a lot better than what it started as...)


The sling eyes were both missing, found one for the rear but finding a front proved to be a problem, ended up making one, also had to make the knurled insert it threads into.




Due to the Lyman 54 having a damaged screw it had to be improperly removed, that required taking off the retaining disk for the elevation screw which was missing, so I made one on a lathe. It's only about 0.036" thick but needed to screw on tight so it would not turn and allow the elevation nut to be turned off, or to work loose and fall off on it's own. Started the threads with a standard tap but did not turn it in far enough to fully cut the threads, I then took a bottom tape and cut the staring thread deeper, this still left the last threads only partially cut even though it's very thin - this did not seem tight enough so I sat a ball bearing on the hole and rapped it with a hammer to flatten the end of the last thread, this made it fit really firm.

I also thought the front sight might be to low, brazed material back on the bottom & raised it a little.

...you just can't always trust 'blue prints', had one with a bad dimension and had to make the part twice.... damn engineers & draftsmen, anyway...

Gene, Great job !!!! i know that took a bunch of patience and skill ! Don

Very nice work Gene.Great job

I also have a 20/26 with a dovetailed rear sight. I was so curious about it that I bought a 20/26 barrel in part to see if it had the same dimensions as the barrel on my 20/26 but also thought it might do for a rebarrel some day, or even for a 99 (an idea I've discarded). The two are identical in profile from breech to muzzle and have the exact same front sight base, similar to a Krag and about 1/2" long. My serial number is 128XX, so again a very late date, within the last 300 or so made. It has the typical 20/26 stock, without a grip cap, with checkering fore and aft, sling eyes and the cocking piece is drilled for the Lyman 54 but no sign that there was ever one on it. The rear sight is a typical dovetailed Marbles elevator like you see on every early Model 20 and many 99s from that era until the 1960s.

I'm curious to ask anyone with experience; I notice significant bolt movement when I pull the trigger. Isnt that a distraction at least or even deleterious to accuracy when using the Lyman 54? Col. TW's remarks suggest that he might have thought so too.

Ok looking for guidance. I saw one other person had to remake a 20-2047. I have some guys that'll make one at work in the shop. How's the easiest way to get to 20-2047? I'd also like to check 20-2048 while I'm in there.

Thanks for your help

Trying to upload pics. I've got the safety button pin out, and the pin that goes through the bar, and thought I could just slide it out. But the angles are tight