Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 RS

Jeebus squeeler could you send up a flare and warn a guy?

Rat is our term for a modified gun. Holy rat is one with extra holes in the metal, wood rat has refinished wood, gray rat has lost its bluing, etc.

Unmodified gun’s are the collector’s favorites, obviously.

Rug rat is a Savage laying in the living room. Pack rat is is a collector of gray Savages.

Thanks, that is helpful. So do you think that it has non original parts to it? Everything is numbered. I am going to sell it, and I would like to know if it is not correct, other than the holes. I am curious about what part you think is modified?

I think you need to revisit the original thread on that.

For a collector:

The biggest downer on your rifle is the non-factory holes on top of the receiver. (Holes on top of barrel and both sides of the indicator are factory but sometimes a hard sell to those not in the know.)

Missing rear sight but the tang sight would more than cover for that.

Looks like a small hairline crack at back of tang area. Maybe some touch-up in that area but can't tell for sure.

Has had sling studs added but they are located well.

Big plus for being a 250-3000.

Hard to tell if the T-7 holes on the side are factory or added. We have not yet determined where the factory holes should be. You and Calhoun need to match hole locations and see if they are the same.

Could I ask what the forearm length is on your pre-war R from the receiver. I'm trying to recreate one, and I have 9" written down from Fireball, but it seems short (Post-war F = 9-1/2")

If you are going to sell it I wouldn’t bother with the expense of getting a factory letter. If you are going to keep it then you might bother getting one pretty much to see if the Weaver mount was installed by Savage. Beyond that, I think factory letters rarely do much to enhance the value of a rifle, though they do add to the historical knowledge of a piece and that in itself is of some worth.

JeffG: My 1937 99R forearm is 9". The double rings start at 7 3/8" from the front of the receiver, the two rings are 1/16" apart.

And here's some pics of the spacing of the Weaver T-7 holes on mine. Went with metric for better precision.

For those who don't do metric, the center of the rear hole is about 1" in from the rear of the receiver, the center of the front hole about 7/8" back from the front, center of both holes about 1/2" down from the top of the flat.

My barrel has a 7 stamped on the bottom. So just an inspector's stamp, I'm sure.

Thanks for all the info. The forearm on mine is roughly the same, 8 7/8" from the receiver, with the center of the 2 lines 7 1/4" from the receiver. Here are some pictures to go along with Calhoun's. I would think the measurements would be close as they are for the same mount, but I could imagine quite a difference in them for the eye relief of a scope, if not put there from the factory.

Between where and how we are holding the measuring tool, they seem awful close.

The crack seems to be very minute, I would say surface only, the camera really brings it out. And I would bet the discoloration is from dried blood under the tang when it was on it. But, I am not a gunsmith. I will take it to a gunsmith before selling it to get an answer. Thanks for pointing out the crack, I had not noticed it. I would feel pretty bad selling it without noting the flaws first.

Looks as though we are within a couple millimeters of each other as far as horizontal (yours being slightly more forward than mine), looks like almost an exact match for vertical. Is that close enough to believe it was done with a jig at the Savage factory? I dunno. Most aren't this close. Good data for the next one we run into.

Thank you very much for all the help! I have really enjoyed this forum.

would you guys have any suggestions for cleaning the rifle? As you can see in the pictures it has not been touched in awhile. As it is not in collector shape, would it be better to clean it up?

I wouldn't really do anything to the wood. Only thing I'd do to the metal is use some fine bronze wool and gun oil to see if you can't clean some of the gunk off. Fine bronze wool won't hurt the bluing. I can never find it locally, but it's on amazon. Steel wool is okay if you get the 0000 Super Fine, and don't put too much elbow grease into it. Any steel wool but the 0000 can scratch the bluing.

It you are into it, putting the old Weaver mount and a nice 330 back on the rifle might be cool. There are even modern replicas to be had of the 330 that could (what am I saying) WILL give you better optics.

Thanks again!