Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors butt mark

Hello guys, I have a quick question on my odd post war r, the serial is 4294xx all matching with the two line forearm. the really odd thing to me is someone stamped may 16 194? on the butt under the plate with what looks like the old rubber stamp you would hit on the ink pad to use. they did not center the stamp so the last number ran off the side of the wood, have any of you guys seen a similiar mark on guns of this era? I assume from the books it is a 46 dom, it has the Utica barrel mark. thanks for any info or insight.

That serial number should be mid-1945, because it's very close to a rifle that I lettered which came back as mid-1945. We've had others in the same range, but any individual gun may have shipped late. May is probably correct.

That's a very late prewar 99R -- we actually call that style the "pre-war 99R" because there are so very, very few of that style made after 1945. They were catalogued for a couple years after WW2, but either people didn't want them or Savage only made a few. In 1949 the postwar style 99R shows up with the fat forearm, and you see a lot of those.

Don't think I can help you with the buttstock stamp. Nice that it has it, but don't remember seeing it on any of mine. Now I might have to pull off my buttplate again.

thanks Calhoun I was thinking about getting a letter, I assumed 46 based on what I read in Mr Royals book, would be cool since my M1 garand has a mid forty five barrel also.

I have seen that stamp on a 1946 rifle. Can't remember the exact date but the month was August.

That rifle lives in Maine now.

Edit: The gun I had with said stamp was an RT, so I'm thinking it's very possible this gentleman's gun may be an RT as well as he describes it as a post war R

I have a 1946 RT with an August 1946 date stamped on it. I'm not home so can't tell you serial no. Or exact date.
(Same rifle 99 Guy referred to.)

"... the serial is 4294xx all matching with the two line forearm. the serial is 4294xx all matching with the two line forearm."

But we have not verified the heavier early R butt stock.

I did not see his referal to the 2 line forearm, which means not an RT.

I went and checked on 6 rifles from s/n 404,xxx thru 444,xxx and there was no stamping on any buttstocks. 1 R, 1RT and 4 EG's. Don

I actually had a picture of the stamp I had on my phone and I just deleted it last weekend.

It's actually an ink stamp and not impressed in the wood. Only one I have ever seen like that. It also had the serial number press stamped into the wood.

thanks 99guy, you described exactly what I have so I guess it is not a totally unique mark, thanks for all the replies

Yes, I have an EG that is ink stamp dated early 1945. Not surprising since Savage was a defense contractor and everything made for the military by a contractor was to be date coded. I believe the practice spilled over into their commercial rifles possibly not on a consistent basis.