Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors .22 HP Take down rescue

Good evening,

Found this in a thrift store several years ago as a bundle of rust and dirt. I've had it apart, changed the main spring and done some hand cleanup.

Thinking about shining it up some more, browning it and putting on some wood. I need the forearm metal and or a dimensioned drawing for the latch and the join cap. I have seen a couple of the caps for sale various places but no latch assemblies. I'm guessing they are hard to come by.

Serial number is 129049, reported variously as 1912 or '13 manufacture

We've seen a ledger page close to that, so by serial number it would date to October 1912. However, rifles weren't finished in order and so it might have been accepted from the factory in October or any time in the next few months.

How's the bore?

That's going to be a job. Looking forward to seeing you progress.

The bore isn't bad to the eye. Planning to glue up 15/16" walnut boards I have on hand in a two piece laminate for the stock. Buy or build the fore end metal and put on a modern repro tang sight.

Keep an eye on ebay and you can probably find a vintage tang sight for about the cost of a modern one.

On topic, but off kilter, maybe?

We've all seen new posters looking for parts end up here, no doubt the result of "Savage" internet searches. I ended up here from an internet search of Savages in general. There are also occasional opportunistic posters that come here only for a specific need, not to be seen until their next need arises.

As it relates to this post, he is right, the latch mechanisms are hard to come by, and when you do they aren't cheap. Same with vintage wood stocks either for the 1899, 99, or early 110's. To consistently find and procure these scarce pieces a person usually spends countless hours scouring shops and web sites, investing money for that one rainy day years down the road when the need may arise for a specific part. it takes a tremendous amount of dedication and time to amass a collection of parts.

I'll concede the hunt is part of the sport of it all, but ultimately it isn't easy. The same time invested in something more constructive would no doubt yield much more tangible results. Imagine if we all spent as much time weeding the garden or waxing our trucks as we do talking Savages?!! Perish the thought!

The point of all this?

In the past I have sold parts to new posters with the hope that they would stick around and add something to the forum. I know, I shouldn't have had that expectation, but I admit I had hoped they would want to learn more or contribute some of their own experiences. Most haven't.

It's nobodies problem but my own I realize, just an observation made out loud I guess. My conclusion is that for all the time and effort it takes to collect vintage parts, that effort goes largely unappreciated when all that is required to procure a missing piece is to post a WTB ad and viola, it pops out of the innerwebs at you. Nobody could fault a new poster for taking an active approach to solving their problem. They haven't done a thing wrong. But for me, I may limit my help with needed parts to regular contributers here, people that invest as heavily as the rest, rather than offering up hard-to-get parts to fly-bys.

No offense intended to the OP. That's just my particular quirky take on it. I'd rather the part go where it is most seriously appreciated by someone that understands the toil of collecting and keeping their Savages working.

Flame away.

Besides that, I can't really see why anyone would rescue a bastard size .228 bore Savage anyhow.

And while I'm yacking, I'll add that some Savages are worth more as parts than as complete rifles. Or put another way, to buy the missing pieces at the prices they command today, a guy might be better off to sell of his rifle as parts and use the money towards a good original.

I.E. I just bought a crescent buttplate buttstock for a 1899 at over $200. That's just one piece. Add to that the forearm and forearm metal the OP is missing and that HP is looking more like a real dog all the time.

AND, my opinions are probably worth less than you paid for them.

So there's that.

Not a totally hollow argument. The takedown forearm hardware alone is in the $150 range these days.

Fireball2, your opinions sound a lot like my 401k.

Parting out idea is interesting but I've got nothing to do but avoid virus reception so I'll muddle along. Since it's a worthless bastard child I've got nowhere to go but up.

Would you have any photos of the latch inside and out so I can make a copy?

I had a few 99's in .308 when I was in my twenties and cash poorer, Sold last one to go on a month long ski tour in the Sierras in '74.

Now Ive got a few 10's and 110's that I play with, worthless oddballs too, it must be my thing.

Like I said, no offense to the OP. I relish a good project myself, and have done a few, much to the chagrin of the white glove collectors here. But financially, it does not pencil out. Now if you put high grade custom wood, fine checkering, and a fine rust blue on them you have entered into another realm, but you understand that.

BTW, I have no idea what your 401K sounds like, and I don't even want to know.

I'm missing the small screw that holds the latch in on one end but the rest are there, I think.

It’s easy to get discouraged on a project like this. It will take a lot of time and money. There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum on everything 99. Fireball2 is a softy, he will help anybody, he even helped me.
All the old timers on here have some great collections, just going over the old posts Is an education in itself.
Make sure your really vested in this project, it will take A lot of effort.

Were it me, I would buy the junkiest crappiest takedown 1899 that came down the pike for a couple hundred bucks, rob the forend parts I needed to resurrect my project, then peddle the leftovers part-by-part in hopes of recouping my investment in the parts gun, or hang onto it to help with the next project that came along. Time spent locating a junker takedown rifle= a lot less than time spent looking for a lone TD latch for which you'll probably spend nearly as much for as what the junker would cost.

Thanks Fireball! The latch picture helps. I have a lead on rear metal that seems reasonable, just a few more than the $20 I have in it now. The stock laminates come out of the clamps today. I may go hardwood buttstock. I have some wenge that would polish up nicely. another option is a blackpowder repro casting. Some of the steel they call Hawken might work. Thanks again for the photos and encouragement.
My .401 sounds pretty good with about 70 grains of FF.

Monetarily these type of restores may not make sense - especially when you figure in the cost per hour of your work.

But every old Savage saved from the junk pile is a worthwhile project in my mind.

Thanks Fireball! The latch picture helps. I have a lead on rear metal that seems reasonable, just a few more than the $20 I have in it now. The stock laminates come out of the clamps today. I may go hardwood buttstock. I have some wenge that would polish up nicely. another option is a blackpowder repro casting. Some of the steel they call Hawken might work. Thanks again for the photos and encouragement.
My .401 sounds pretty good with about 70 grains of FF.

I use wenge for a lot of projects. I like how it pops under varnish. But, it's very dense/heavy wood and might make the gun objectionably butt heavy?