Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors "FP" and digits on buttstock and buttplate instead of ser. #?

Question for you guys--

I've looked at about 6 or 7 99's over the last wk. When I've checked to see if the ser. #'s all match (receiver, stock and buttplate), I've come across 3 that have "FP" and usually 3 digits after the FP on the stock and buttplate (both the same #) but that doesn't match the six digit serial # on the receiver. They didn't have the usual tang cracks either---kind of unusual on a well used gun.(Most of them were well used but not quite rats--a few were guns that came in from Canada too.
Anyone know where the "FPXXX" came from? Could it mean "Factory Part" if someone replaced the stock with a new factory Savage stock back in the day and the stock came with a matching buttplate?
The stocks certainly looked original other than the FP business--they were all of EG's from the early 40's to mid-fifties, cut checkering and all.
Any thoughts on this?

sometime in the early 50s tehy stopped putting the serial number on the forearm, butt plate, and butt stock... the marks you are seeing are assembly marks...interesting that they were all marked FP... the marks are all over the place with a mix of letters and numbers... does not appear to be any set pattern to them.

The mark is also on the lower tang on the left side, if you take the stock off the gun.

Cheers

Weird--I had a 1953 that had the serial # on the butt plate and stock and not the FP business.

I'll check a few more out, but not sure I'll be buying any of them--looking for something a little better that the "almost rats"

Can anyone else chime in?

SteveS, Ya ,your going to wear out every buttplate screw on every savage 99 in the southern part of the state!! If your looking for a shooter i wouldn't bother checking, and if your looking for collector guns your going to have to pay more then $400 or $500. I don't know what the obsession with matching parts on a shooter is. Don

Loggah--wellll--you're right I suppose--still, just kinda getting back in to this as haven't bought a 99 in almost 2 years. Guess I should say I'm more inclined to go with as nice a gun as I can get, and still shoot it. Just don't get much enjoyment out of closet queens--always have the urge to pull the trigger on them.
Hard to tell you exactly what I want or will settle for without writing a book, but will break the piggy bank for the right gun. Short and simple, I don't need everything to be perfect and LNIB, but don't want to have "whatsit" either. Just depends on what turns up
PS--thanks for the heads up--I promise I won't wear out the good ones on you!

Amen, haven't heard much wiser than this in a while! (other than maybe the freight train and gravel road)

Blair

OK, OK, I get the message

Guess the OCD kicked in a little bit!