Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Pot steel rotors on early 1899s

In another thread Lightfoot indicated his grandfather's 1899 Savage number 154XX had a "pot steel" rotor. (caliber??)
A couple of years ago I bought 1899 18022 SAV 30 (30-30) which had a steel rotor of some type. I assumed it had been some type of replacement so went to the trouble of ordering a brass rotor and installing it in 18022. This made the gun look much more authentic at the time but now I am wondering if it was in fact originally manufactured with this steel rotor. Do any of you have an early 1899 within this serial range that also has a steel rotor? Maybe the steel rotor should be put back in the rifle as found?
I have #20588 30-30 which has a brass rotor.

You sure it's steel? (There's no such thing as "pot steel". There is such a thing as pot metal though. It is a catch phrase for low melting point metals such as zinc and tin that are used to more easily and cheaply cast objects.) Have you touched a magnet to it to determine if it's in fact steel or not?

Spelter.

Pretty sure I called it pot metal, but neither here nor there. The steel rotors I know of are all post WW2.

Here's a pic of a 'pot metal' one I snagged on ebay just because I recognized it.

The case hardened ones would have been steel as well

The rotor itself is not magnetic but the spindle is magnetic. Looking at Lightfoot's picture of rotor, the right hand tip of rotor is a different metal as it is magnetic too. Comparing mine to the photo above and both are identical. Any chance Lightfoot's was also an early SAV 30 marked rifle?

No, mine is in a .303 from 1901. No detail on the ebay find.

My 13.5xx 1899B appears to be steel on one of my pictures. I'll have to pull it out and look closer when I get a chance.

10,2xx and 18,7xx (SAV 30) both are brass.

Interesting little piece of Savage history which can only bring up more questions such as why and when did Savage use these bright metal rotors. Not being a machinist I have no idea if there would have been significant cost savings.

Even insignificant cost savings add up over the production life of a product.

That's why we have those shitty little caps on water bottles and beer cans so thin you have to take care not to crush them when opening.

Limited data but it appears very early and sporadic use and I'd guess driven by a temporary brass rotor shortage.

Like most companies, Savage had other projects/experiments/parts/process running in the background some of which became reality and some that didn't.
It's possible the pot metal rotor was a second source part used in rare shortage situations.
Just a theory.

We experimented with pot metal (zinc) injection molded parts in some non-structural applications in the industry I worked in back in another lifetime, in place of traditional brass/bronze bits. It was a cost saving venture. We force aged them too determine their integrity by setting a pile of them back in the nasty environment of the plating department. (S99VG knows of that place- told him some horror stories.) It didn't take long for them to develop surface pitting so we figured that there were better solutions for long term use in more "normal" environs. Eventually we settled on a tough molded plastic and had a win-win.

I wonder if Savage ever experimented with molded plastic rotors? I bet there are polymers out there now that would fill the bill. Maybe the stuff they make Glocks out of?

1) There were copper colored rotors, also. When were they used? The picture I have show "303" stamped on it.

2)"I wonder if Savage ever experimented with molded plastic rotors? I bet there are polymers out there now that would fill the bill. Maybe the stuff they make Glocks out of?"

Interesting idea... but only in brass color!

3) When were rotors stamped with the caliber?

1. Have never seen or heard of the copper colored variation. Any idea what the base metal is? Can you post the pic?

2. Might be good for the new strain of 99s...

3. The only rotors I've seen stamped in numbers are the .303 and 22HP. I'm guessing it was done when the HP went into production so they wouldn't be interchanged. Don't see enough of them though to think they continued the practice very long.
I believe there are a few other cartridge stampings but I don't have any on hand any more to validate that.

I would wager that copper colored rotors are in actuality made of bronze, or perhaps a brass alloy with a bit higher copper content than "normal" brass.

Here is a photo I have saved. I think there is more info in the history files.


Here is an old posting with more rotor info.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ue/re-99-case-color-rotators#Post5266508

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9517647/1

Here's the pics I have of my 13.5xx 1899B; looks like non-brass rotor, but I'll have to pull it out be sure.

If marking a caliber (303) on the rotor started with the addition of the .22HP (?) then is it correct that the .303, 30-30, 25-35, 32-40 and .38-55 all use the same rotor?