Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 ID

I picked up a new one back in November and initially I thought it was a 1899A or possibly a transition era gun. It was drilled and tapped and a base was covering the front receiver ring but last night I took the bases off and "Savage Model 99" on the front ring. 26" Barrel - straight butt stock. (No Perch belly) - ramp front sight (that should have been my first clue) - chamber indicater stud - jeweled bolt - 99 lever safety - rifle Cresent butt plate - solid frame, not take down - .300Savage.
After doing a bunch of research I'm thinking it is a 99B now. Can anyone concur? I have seen a post that refers to the 99B as being only made as a takedown but i have also read in several places that the takedown was only in 24" Barrel and the 26 was a solid frame 99B.
Serial Number 2831XX
Dating tools say 1926

Sounds like a late A to me....

99Guy, you are probably right but Savage never made a 26" barrel with a ramp sight as regular production. The front sights were dovetailed to the barrel on the 26" barrel. The early medium weight barrels had a pinched front sight base integral to the barrel and a blade sight held by a screw. Then by 1928 they had the integral ramp with dovetail and a front sight that slide into the dovetail. The barrel addresses changed every few years during that era. A photo of the barrel address would be really helpful.

I believed this is what the OP is describing in his original post. That was the premise for the answer I gave.

To give some legs to the conversation. These are all 30-30 but show the features being discussed

Barrel Address?
My gun has sights like the bottom one in the picture.
I'm trying to post pictures but my phone is incapable of take pictures smaller than 1MB in size.

Based on the info on this post so far, my question would be: Are you 100% certain that the front sight ramp is a Savage forged integral ramp as opposed to a ramp that was added to a 99A with a 26 inch barrel

No I am not. It has a Williams peep so it might have a Williams front ramp. I can see the cut dovetail under the ramp.

I am sending pictures but none of them are posting in the replys

Bingo! If you can see a dovetail cut under the ramp that means it was added to a 26 inch barrel.

So maybe I can answer my own question. Its a 1926, marked 99A with a 26" Barrel? Not a 99B?

This is the front sight.

Address

B would have an octagon barrel and much lower serial number. Definitely not a B.

Now I'm very confused. Are we saying that 99B had an Octagon barrel or the 1899B? Or both?

The early version (1899) which was discontinued in the mid teen was an octagon barrel.

I know there is a later B Model 99 listed in Murray's, but I can't say that I have ever seen or heard of one or discussed one here.

Maybe somebody else could comment on that.

You have a model 99A made in 1926. It was continued from the 1899A which was made from 1899 through 1920. The 1899A was a 26" round barrel sporting rifle and was available as solid frame or with the takedown option - which is easily seen as the forearm is held on with a latch on a takedown rather than a screw. Both the model 99A and 99B were renamed versions of the 1899A, the 99A was always a solid frame and the 99B was always a takedown.

So if your forearm is attached with a screw, it's a model 99A. If it has a latch, it's a 99B.

Interesting that they put the ramp on. Not sure why they would do that.. front sights were always available to fit the dovetails on the barrels. But it's part of it's history..

Thanks for the info. The ramp front sight could very well be a Williams replacement to match the Williams peep sight that is installed. This rifle is definitely a solid frame. So im going with 99A.

The barrel address shown was used from 1919 to 1926

Yeah I'm confident that the rifle is 1926. The 26" barrel is what was throwing me off. It is obviously a little special in that regard. It is the first straight stock i have owned and i really like the way it handles. I will be attempting to harvest a buck with it up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this fall. I shot it a few times last fall and it was very accurate at 50 yards. With my eyes i think 100 yards might be the most I will be able to shoot it. I might have to try one of Lightfoots scope setups since i am already missing the rear sight.