Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors What Should I Offer

I've been waiting a month to see this gun. While fishing a tournament in NC, a friend of a friend, was filling in on our boat. Talk got around to hunting and guns. I mentioned that I had a little bit of a thing for 99 Savages. He said he had one that he had no use for. Said his grand dad bought it at an auction many years ago. Just from the way the story was going I got the impression it was a late 50's 308. Wrong!!! I guess many is relative, to me the 70's arent many. I was a bit dissapointed, but it's not a bad lookin rifle. The lever boss is stamped with an S and the serial # is 10901xx. I was guessing late 60's. This is a very good friend of a very good friend, so I don't want to low ball him. If you were buying this gun from a friend what would you offer? Or would you say "that's a pretty gun, but I only collect the old ones". Oh, from the list of options we were thinking this might be a DL, what do you think. The barell is 22", 21" from the front of the receiver. Thanks, Joe.

Joe, all I can tell you is I paid $590 shipped for a DL in .308 with a Nikon variable scope, bases and rings a year ago. The scope was like new. The rifle has 85% or better blue and some fading in the finish of the buttstock. Your rifle appears to be in a little better condition than mine. I hope that helps.

400$ would be fair. The scope and rings...well,you can't even count them.

I just reread it..."what would i offer?"....300$

Take the pre-mil fork in the road.

However, since you are also the friend of a friend, 400.00 would not be out of line.

To quote Lauren:

"Save your money for a pre-mil 308F".

DL's in any caliber ain't the handiest rifles Savage ever made

JoeMartin...

FYI... The "S" seems to be your rifle's Lever Boss Code... usually there is a number (the inspector's number) in front of the letter. A "S" LBC = a 1965 date of manufacture.

Your rifle's serial number also indicates 1965 as the year of manufacture.

Your rifle is what we call a "post-mil" rifle... I.E., it has a serial number greater than 1,000,000 (one million) and was made after Savage's 1960 move from Chicopee Falls, MA to Westfield, MA. and, as a result, it is considered of lesser quality than those Savage Model 99s made prior to 1960 (aka "pre-mil") Model 99 rifles so-called because their serial numbers are less than one million.

As far as it's "value" is concerned, a great deal depends on CONDITION... and to a lesser extent, the rifle's caliber. Model 99s in .250 Savage (aka ".250-3000"), .284 and .358 generally get premium prices compared to Model 99s in the other calibers in comparable rifles.

While it is a Model 99 and a decent rifle, it is not as highly regarded or valued as it would be if made prior to 1960 with a serial number lower than 1 million.

The extremely high scope rings/mounts seem to be "see-through" mounts so that one can use the rifle's iron sights or the high-mounted scope. Unfortunately, it causes the rifle to look "odd". If I owned it, I'd either remove the scope altogether and use the iron sights or I'd buy a set of lower scope mounts and get that scope down lower where it belongs.

If I wanted a Model 99 and was offered that rifle, I might start out offering $400 or so and try to get a counter-offer from the current owner. I wouldn't pay more than $450-$500 for it unless it was in one of the "special calibers". In truth, I'd prefer it was in either .300 Savage or .308 Winchester... both are very useful calibers and, ballistically, very much alike.

Ultimately, it's true "value" is whatever someone will pay for it.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Thanks Ron, that was a very detailed and helpful response. I have a 250 R with a B LBC so I counted the letters, leaving out Q and O and came up with the same date, 65. I figured the scope and mounts would look much better in my round file than on the gun, so I gave them no value. I was hoping this was a pre mill gun and when I saw it my hopes were dashed. I started to just pass on it, but it is in pretty good shape. The local gun shop put it a 90%. If it wasn't a friend I'd just low ball it at about $200. Others have said between $300 and $400. Like you said, ultimately I need to decide if I want this one. I'm thinking maybe $350 and I won't offend my friend and I'll have one post mill in pretty nice shape. thanks again, Joe.

Joe, are you sure of the barrel length? All the DLs I've seen were 24". You may be pleasantly surprised when you try the trigger on it. My DL has a really crisp trigger without over travel and I guess this contributes to it's nice accuracy.

Went to a 22" barrel in 1963.

Question: Why does the forearm have a standard checkering pattern while the grip has a skip line? As far as I know they should be the same.
If you feel you must have the rifle tell the owner your offer and tell him to keep the mounts and scope. You don't want a scope mounted that high. Even with the slight Monte Carlo you'd never get a good stock weld with your cheek. Additionally a scope mounted that high makes the rifle balance poorly.

the stocks are correct... they were just during Savage's ugly period...

Makes for a good carrying handle though.

Realizing it was not as desirable, 3 years ago I bought a similar dl in .308. 1962, with hand checkering, aluminum rotar, and the dreaded gold trigger... The gun looked new, so I paid $495, and didn't care that I overpaid, when it shot terrific!

Even on a good deal you will look at the stamped basket weave type checkering and wonder.

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Joe... a "B" Lever Boss Code would indicate a 1950 year of manufacture. However, within the OVAL, there should be the inspector's number in front of the letter "B". If the inspector was #24, the LBC would look like this: 24B

Savage begun the LBC in 1949 with the letter "A". In 1950, the LBC changed to the letter "B". In 1951, it changed to the letter "C", in 1952, it changed to the letter "D" and so on and so on to the letter "Y" in 1971.

And so, obviously, a Model 99 with a LBC using the letter "B" is a "pre-mil" rifle with a serial numbers in my records ranging from the 531xxx to the 584xxx.

Ron T.