Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors postmil?

What does premil/postmil refer to?

Mil = 1,000,000 serial number...1960.

What happened then? Similar to '64 for Winchester?

Yep, change of manufacturing methods and components.

"Pre-mil" refers to a Savage Model 99 rifle made PRIOR to serial number 1 million (1,000,000) and PRIOR to Savage Arms Corporation's move (during 1960) from Chicopee Falls, MA. to Westfield, MA.

"Post-mil" refers to Model 99 Savage rifles made AFTER the 1 millionth serial number and AFTER Savage Arms Corporation's move to Westfield, MA.

The "post-mil" Model 99s are not considered to be as high a quality as the "pre-mil" Model 99s. But, of course, even the "post-mil" Model 99s are very fine rifles.

I hope this clears up the reason for the terms and helps you to understand them better.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

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Where it gets confusing for me on the pre-mil/post-mil quality issue is the post-mil model 99 E, as it pertains to the metal parts I mean.
Was it ever decided whether they are left over pre-mil parts assembled post-mil/after 1960, or they are post-mil/post 1960 manufactured to the "lower quality" but in the old lever safety style?
The receiver itself is post mil, due to the lack of a shell counter window right? But what about the internals? If they are pre-mil parts, they lasted until the 1980's. That's a hefty inventory of pre-mil parts to have drawn on. Trying to understand.

There are pre-mil receivers with 1960 LBC dates on them.

So pre-mil isn't ALWAYS pre-1960, but it's 99.95% correct (or some such).

I have that 99E 300 with a LBC of 11L, or 1960, but it has the counter window, so fits in the category of what you say here I guess. I get that part of the equation. What I don't know is the rest of the E production puzzle as it pertains to my above post. We may never know.
By the way, thanks for all your help understanding the Savage 99, I've learned a lot from you.

No way those parts lasted 20+ years.

Savage continued to produce the E, with the lever safety because they had a market for it, not cause they were trying to use up old parts.

No proof of that, but that is what common sense tell me.

I will say this. A post mil E with decent replacement wood on it ain't a bad gun IMHO.

If the rifle has a tang safety then I would say the internals (at least some) are different than the rifles with lever safety's. Lever safety's allow you to close the lever on a decocked firing pin. Tom