Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Sav .30

I've seen this here before, but my memory has failed, what caliber is Sav .30?
Thanks, Rick

If you are refering to a barrel marking, I believe that early .30-30 Winchester barrels were marked Sav. .30. -Tom T

Friend of mine had a 99 in .30-30 when we were kids. IIRC it had an octagon barrel. Don't remember the barrel marking though. We were talking about it the other day, out at the range. (I was trying some loads in my 99 .303.

Rick,

The first .30-30 barrels were marked "SAV 30" on top of the barrel just in front of the receiver. It was soon changed to "30-30". Barrels were not marked in this location until the second caliber was added to the production list.

Rick99, As I understand it, and I'll have to dig up my sources again, the SAV .30 was the caliber designation for the early 1895 Savage rifles. Then in 1897 the bullets were increased in diameter to .311" although the barrel's bore diameter remained at .308" and the cartridge was re-designated as the .303 Savage. The .30-30 was not issued in the Model 1895 rifles and didn't appear until 1900 in the Model 1899 rifles. 1897 was also the year when the original Savage Repeating Arms Co. was reorganized as the Savage Arms Company with Arthur Savage as the general manager. That was a time of change. It is said that Savage renamed their cartridge to ".303" so it would sound like it was more than the .30 Winchester. Promotion, you know. Now, I'll try going back through my library to find those notes. I do have a lot to look through, including several letters from Roe Clark, one of the "old school" Savage employees. When I find my references, I'll get back to you. Shoot sharp, 303Mike

Nope, SAV 30 is 30-30 running in SN range approx. 16000-18000 give or take.

Ryan

See here.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1485660/page/0/fpart/1

Ryan

Okay, Ryan, I'll quit looking for my references. A rifle marked with Sav. .30 is something I've never handled. Shoot sharp, 303mike

Let's talk about the .30 Savage cartridge again, even if it is just for a little while. I found my reference. In the U.M.C. ammunition catalog of 1896 the .30 Savage is shown for four loads, the soft point with a 195 grain bullet, the full patch with a 182 grain bullet, the miniature with a 103 grain pill, and a black powder load with a 187 "cupro covered" bullet. The .303 Savage is not mentioned. They also show the .30 Winchester, listed with both 160 and 170 grain bullets. My point in mentioning this is simply that ".30 Savage" was the first designation for the .303 Savage cartridge and the name change took place in 1897. Perhaps those rifles marked "Sav .30" with the later serial numbers were assembled with older and already marked barrels rechambered to .30/30. That is just a guess but the option for the .30/30 chambering was never called the .30 Savage in the catalogs. Shoot sharp, 303mike

Might be confusing 2 different things. UMC might have just called it 30 Savage in their marketing material in reference to the fact that it was a 30 caliber offering for Savage rifles. 303 Savage was, after all, the only caliber Savages were available in before 1901. So as long as ammo was for Savage rifles you knew it would fit.

That could be very different from Savage stamping the receivers "30 Sav" on the early 1899's. I don't think anybody has ever seen an 1895 with "30 Sav" stamped on it.. anybody?

Combine this with the fact that Winchester named the 30-30 as "30 WCF", which stood for 30 Winchester Center Fire. Savage and at least Marlin didn't want to put a reference to Winchester on their rifles, so Marlin went with 30-30 and Savage initially went with 30 Sav.

Now, I don't have references to this.. it's just what I've picked up so it'd be great to get some proof. But I'm really sure a catalog from UMC shouldn't be enough for somebody to fire a 303 Savage round from a rifle marked "30 Sav".


Who's got an early rifle marked 30 Sav they'll get a chamber cast made from? Or lettered?

Rory, I have a 1899C rifle in 30 Sav s/n 18.922 ,its a 30-30 caliber and the barrel is savage arms co. i have 4 1895 savages and the barrel markings are savage repeating arms co. on the 1895's the caliber markings are in the barrel address the 1895's were only chambered in 303 savage, on the 1899B the caliber marking is over the chamber area. Don

For what it is worth, the .30-30 is listed as the ".30-30 Winchester and Marlin" in the U.M.C. catalog, along with many other cartridges from the .32-40 on up to the .45-90. And the .30 Savage is listed on more than one page. I'll keep digging with hopes to find a .30 Savage cartridge.

I had a 1899 A?, stamped SAV.30-30 on barrel, #19,1XX. Some man asking for directions to someplace at my house, saw it in the corner, looked at it and bought it. ... 99 LL ...

99LL, Was the stamping in the chamber area? or in the barrel address? Don

on top, ahead of the receiver in large letters (that I have ever seen) SAV. 30-30. ...99 LL ...



Deer Just Laugh...... When They Hear My Name !!!

The Savage 1895 catalog lists the round as the ".303".

The first Savage .303 ammo was produced by UMC and was headstamped "S.R.A.Co.", ".303".

UMC also sold under their own label and was headstamped "U.M.C", ".303 S.R.A.Co."

I would say that if it is listed as ".30" in the 1896 UMC catalog, it is an error in printing.

And the trail gets more interesting. I will keep digging.

Mike,

You never know what will turn up when you go to kicking these question around. Keep digging.

If you have correspondence from Roe on any Savage subject I would be very interesed in what it said.

Rick, I have quite a few notes from Roe and I think they are all from 1986 or earlier. While I have kept his notes, and his handwritten notes are more informative than his typed "official" letters, I kick myself for note keeping any copies of my notes to him. And, none of Roe's notes pertain to ammunition. Anyway, I might share some of that info.