Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Redux: Gene's 1920/26 Project Thread

Originally posted by Rick on "Gene's 1920/26 Project Thread" :

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13508332/4

Definitely a rich resource! Thanks again Gene and other contributors.

" 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 re-barreled?)
690x - 7/16/1920

802X – 09/22/1923

905x - 4/3/1924
1058x - 5/28/1925

Lowest serial # .300 394x seen (per 260Remguy) Also the lowest serial # .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 catalogue
1929 ? 13016"

I added 802X another 250-3000 to the list. My latest is the very well used 103XX action with a matching stock and butt plate numbered 1100X.

If anyone could add other lettered 1920 / 26 rifles to the list our collective data would continue to grow.

Thanks in advance.

We saw with the 250-3000 that Savage gave a few early test guns to gunwriters/etc for testing before they released it publicly.

So that serial number 5648 rifle might very well have been in 300 Savage, and given to RC Andrews in order to get a big name to use for advertising when they released it publicly. I don't recall seeing Andrews give a big endorsement to the 300 Savage cartridge, so that's just a theory...

Somewhere in my mess of stuff i have a autographed photo of Stewart Edward White the author and big game hunter with a savage model 1920.

I'd be happy to send you an autographed photo of me holding my Savage Model 1920.

Have we confirmed 13006 as the last serial number of a M1926?

The Cody Museum has listed what they have available for Savage and Stevens and show the 1920 numbers from 1-13549

SerialNumberRanges_SavMarIthFoxSmi

Are you interested in non lettered 1920's?

Sure, if you have anything to offer to the conversation. The seller of my latest acquisition is trying to get me the background on the beater I bought.

I'm on a Model 20 fixation right now! (thinking of offering a 32-40 and an 1895 in trade for good ones up here in Canada)

I have a few, I'll get them out and get you the s/n's.

These are the ones I have.

1920. s/n 964x 250-3000
1920 s/n 600x. 250-3000
1920. s/n 300x. 250-3000

Marked M 20 s/n 1099x. 300 Sav/ bolt peep sight

I have 1058X with letter. Rick has it in his info in this thread. I also have 1269X (Genes project rifle as seen elsewhere in this thread.) No letter.
And lastly, 11907. No letter.

Mine is 4551 but no letter.

Joe

Why not take all the “non lettered” serial numbers and sending them off as a batch to Savage to have their dates of manufacture determined? That should be a reasonable task for a company historian to accomplish.

That could be fun! The real holes currently in the data are post #1058X. But it would be nice to fill the other gaps.

You starting the "Go -Fund-Me" page to pay Cody because I don't think Savage has the actual records anymore.

So did Savage dump their records? I have no idea. And does Cody charge an arm and a leg for their services? If so then that's ridiculous as checking a list of numbers is pretty much a sophomoric exercise.

#11495 here, .250-3000, Lyman 54, schnabel fore arm, swept back bolt handle. No letter.

Is there a feel for when they switched to the 20/26 "body style", serial # and date?

11320 for me, .300, Lyman 54 and schnabel forearm too - and with a swept back bolt handle. Don't know date of manufature but I'm pretty certain its a 20/26

Answer: Yes (to Cody) and Yes (arm and a leg, or one "short arm").

Hopefully not to drive us off the road into the weeds, but I felt those Savage records could've been handled much the same way Springfield Research Service handles M1903 Springfield production records. A researcher(s) dug (and continues to dig) through the National Archives gleaning serial numbers from the extinct Springfield and Rock Island arsenals, what the guns were (in terms of sub-models), date of production, and initial recipient (civilian or military). An astonishing compilation has been created and the info is available to subscribers to The Service, or, as in my case, via thumb drive with all the info on it- which wasn't cheap but was less than $100.

To bring this full circle, why couldn't Cody task a couple interns or the like to transfer the basic info from the old ledgers onto a digital format, and sell the info to collectors via thumb drives (or whatever newer technology is taking their place- I don't know, I'm a Luddite), to pay for the effort. Do it in stages so the kids don't burn out- 1st year's thumb drive= M1895's and 1899's up to #90,000. Second "edition" the following year, M1899 from #90,000 to 1920 year. And on and on in a like manner until all the numbers extant are on thumb drives. I bet if they charged between $50-100 for each thumb drive, they would sell a heckuva lot of them right here.

Last question: Are the M1920's to be found in the ledgers?