Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99CE 1996

Hello, I am inquiring about the 1996 99CE, What paperwork came with them originally? Was the engraving done by hand or machine, or a combination of both? Were there variances in the engraving depth/pattern during the Serial number run like the prior 99PE models through their run? thanks,

Believe it shipped in 2 boxes. One with the gun, and one with the hardwood case that went with it.. I think. I think standard 99 paperwork in the box with it.

Not sure if it's hand engraved, but I've never seen any variation in the engravings on the ones I've looked at.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/933180964/Savage-99CE-Centennial-Edition-300Savage-NIB.htm

Was the hardwood case extra or bundled in the purchase price?

That's gorgeous!

LHS

The catalog doesn't mention the hardwood case at all. I don't have a 1996 pricelist.. but I think practically every 99CE that we've seen has had a case with it. So I think it was bundled in.

Savage did have some leftover 99CE cases that they sold to Numrich's back around 2009 or so? Not sure why they'd have had leftover cases if they knew they were selling exactly 1000 sets and it was bundled in, but they did.


Except the one above doesn't have a case in the listing for the rifle. It's said to have been from a Sales Rep's collection.. ??

the case was included , when I ordered mine

That's good. I put in my book that they came with a hardwood case.

Thanks for the info thus far...I'd still like to know if the engraving is by hand or machine or combination of the two. thanks

I definitely am not an engraver, nor do I know much about engraving....

But I find it hard to believe that Savage found and employed engravers who could hand engrave 1000 receivers in a year. All identical as far as anybody know.

I was just reading a letter from Savage Arms in 1965 saying their german engravers were backed up into 1966 doing PE's/DE's.

But I also don't know the state of machine engraving in 1996. Was that even a thing to the level of engraving that's on a 99CE?

Anybody spot any significant differences here?

I didnt look at any CE’s on my trip to Maine but the DE’s and PE’s have a lot of differences to them.

I do not see any variation in those 2 CE examples. Every detail is identical.
I'd guess some kind of mechanical process? Laser engraved? Not sure how the gold would be accomplished.
Wouldn't Ron Coburn have some insight?

I think all of them came with walnut boxes. I also think it's machine engraving. The hand engraving on the DE's and PE's vary quite a bit. All the CE's I've seen look identical. Ron Colburn told me they produced an extra 800 CE's for a total of 1800 because of high demand. We've discussed this before (quite a few years ago) and we haven't seen any serial numbers that exceed 1000.
"With Savage Never say Never"

My guess would be the engraving is 'acid etched', this is the best example I could find - .cowanauctions/lot/177574

Here is an overview of engraving methods from Browning. Sounds like acid or laser would produce nearly identical results for each piece.

Browning Engraving

Thanks, Very interesting on the Browning site...given the look and near identical pattern, I'd assume not hand engraved at this point, for my own opinion. thanks, again for the info. It would be interesting to know if there were someone with insider knowledge in 1996 from Savage (maybe a factory worker that did the work) exactly which technique was used, and if the same technique was used for the entire run. I heard rumor the 1st 100 or so were done with different technique than the remainder, but have no proof other than conversation.

I was going to ask David if he could get the info from Ron Colburn?

I am pretty sure the wooden case was an option and could be purchased for an additional $199. That would also explain why Numrich ended up with the extra cases.

Probably so.
Sounds like the receiver is masked and dipped to get the desired effect. Mask and a gold flash at the end. ??

No the wood display case was included with the 99CE no additional charge. I had 2 of them but sold them some time ago, probably still have pictures somewhere of them. They did come with a brochure or catalog that had information on them. I will try to find and post pictures of the guns and brochure if there is interest, LET ME KNOW. I had extra brochures I got when I bought them from Rob Shirk Shooting Supplies. Actually ordered them from him at a shot show in NJ

I'll try to reach Ron. He didn't answer my last email.