Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors barrel band 300 savage & 250-3000

Hey folks this has probably been covered in great length but im finding it difficult to locate any past threads. My first question is does anyone have a count on any known 99 H barrel band guns in 300 savage ? also the same for the 250-3000 in the last variation with flat butt plate. please tune in if you own one. I am curious how rare these are down south. thanks.

North, South, East or West both are fairly difficult finds. Especially with any condition.

I don't think production data exists for these. However, one of the data guys/Rick99 may comment on ~200 99H's that have been observed/recorded.

I have a 300 that shows quite a bit of wear.

I agree with Rick. With a few exceptions, there's no production data available for any models on the number that were made - much less how many in specific cartridges.

Rick99/Keith/etc could toss out percentages of that model that they've recorded as seeing.. but there's no guarantees those percentages are even right when applied to production.

thanks for taking the time to tune in folks.
I am aware there are no known production numbers available. what I am after is known/surviving examples, so rick99 or keith would be great on this one. thanks.

I had a 300 some time ago that had been hunted hard but well cared for.

I believe the 300 to be rarer than the 250. The 300 was only manufactured one year. 1940 I believe.

I have one in .300 Savage DOM 1940. I also have one in 30-30 W & 250-3000

The 30-30 & 250-3000 have the carbine butt plates. The .300 Sav has a steel shotgun butt plate.

Rick's data shows that the 99H was only produced in variation V3-3 from 1939 to 1941, the end of production for this model. V3-3 had a shotgun buttplate, medium weight barrel, 10 3/16 forearm length, the buttplate was ribbed, it had checkpads, barrel band, and ramp front sight. A few 300's were probably produced in 1941. The 300 was the only 99H with a 22 inch barrel. Savage was probably using up excess 99T barrels. BUT "with Savage Never say Never."

Here is some data for you.

Of the 283 each 99-H's I have data on 40% are the early "no side pad" version so 60% have barrel bands,

Of the last version (V3-3) with the shotgun PB, I have 16 each or 5.65% of the 283 total.

Serials range from 375,4xx to 399,7xx (24,300 production range)

Calibers of the 16:
300 Sav = 11
250 Sav = 3
303 Sav = 1
30-30 = 1

Great data Rick, my 300 and 250 have moved on to a new home but I still have 30-30 376119 which is in about 95% shape with original varnish still on lever. It would be really interesting to know how many of the 24,300 99s in that range were 99H carbines. I have always thought the 99H first model without pads was underappreciated by most collectors so have kept my 30-30 and 303 in the cabinet. My collection has dropped from a high of 86 99s to about 35 but almost all have gone to good homes.

I have a 99h 250-3000. Pretty sure I forwarded Rick it’s serial number and assume it is one of the 3 he lists. Not pristine but good condition.

I guess I am confused. I have a 303H BB that has the side cheeks and the shotgun butt plate but the serial is 339, 2xx. It all loks original and the numbers match... am I missing something?? It was one of the first 99s that I bought and I actually hunted it a little and shot a bunch of hogs with it in TX back in 2010.

late version V2-1. See the chart on page 66 of the collector's guide

Drew, your rifle is the 1st version of the BB's and had a smooth SG plate. The last version produced had a standard ribbed SG plate as used on other models (EG,T, R, etc.) of that time.

I see. I haven't looked at the book for quite a while. Thanks

Outsider looking in, why did Savage decide on barrel bands for just a couple of their models?

Good question...wish I had an answer for you.

I don't think customers wanted barrel bands. There's no second tube making it useful to keep them tight, and the forearm was a lot slimmer without it.

And remember the 99H barrel band was the utility version of the 99 - the cheapest one while it was made. Kind of like the 99E's were after 1960. So if the barrel band had been very popular it would have shown up on nicer models, or they'd have created new models by adding features to the 99H.

I've never seen a bad review of the 1895F saddle ring from early magazines.. but really, how many people even owned one considering how rare they are? I think Savage got some bad feedback on those, because they got rid of the barrel band for the 1899F saddle ring.

Hard to say.
As previously stated, there is no tube magazine to secure so an accoutrement added by the marketing team at the time??

The 99H was in production for fairly lengthy amount of time and has quite a few variations.
Were these variations logic driven? Improved fit, form or function of the rifle? Improved production process? Other?
It's difficult to view several butt/plate styles, with or w/o side panels or adding a barrel band addressing any of that. Why? Change is expensive.

Which leads me back to some marketing guy's epiphany who thought they'd sell.

Agree completely on this. As someone who has spend pretty much my entire career in manufacturing, a lot of expensive, inefficient, and relatively pointless product changes are brought about by some marketing guy's random thought of the day that catches some higher up's ear.