In working on an 1899 rifle crescent buttplate I had a couple of questions. Were they forged or cast ,and were they blued or color case hardened ?
Someone cut the bottom 3/4 inch off mine to fit their own particular stock creation. Thanx.

can't answer the 1st question. They were usually blued but we've seen a few case hardened that looked factory.

They are cast, but I don't know if they were also heat-treated in some way. one of the more experienced folks will chime in about original factory finishes, I'm sure.

If You are considering repairing it, more power to You! You could also find an original replacement, they are not impossible to come up with, given enough patience..,

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/813120

this looks right, but(t) check the dimensions

It seems that VERY early 1899's had case colored buttplates.

But they went to blued buttplates pretty quickly. How soon is difficult to tell, buttplates are usually the worst condition part of the gun, and are easy to have reblued for high condition guns that lost case color on them.

I'd want a blued buttplate as a replacement, it's almost surely correct also unless it's a first or second year gun.

Hey Jeff, your PM's are full so I tried your email. Lemme know...

My 1899 serial #10.449 has a blued buttplate. It's well worn but I haven't seen any sign of case hardening even with the bp off.

Speaking of cast, what does the number 35 mean on most but not all of mine? Maybe they knew I was going to be born that year?

I don't think that's any more mysterious than it was probably part #35 in 1899. The receiver, screws, etc go up to 31.

make sure that it is Savage , Winchester do not fit..

Malcom get a welder to extend it and finish it yourself i can lend you one to copy if need be.

norm

The crescent buttplate is listed as part #35 into the 1930's. In an early 1920's parts catalog it's - "1 B 35 Butt Plate Reg. Rifle Steel..... 1.25" I don't know what the "1 B" means.


I pulled an 1895 case-hardened buttplate and tried it on an 1899 circa 1918 1919 and it fit really close with very small gaps in places. I also pulled the buttplate off a Marlin Model 1893 and it fit the Savage 1895 almost perfectly. None of the three buttplate had numbers cast in them but they all have serial numbers stamped on them, not sure if Winchesters would. (I didn't think to take pictures when I had them all off......)

i did not know that the Marlins fit.[ makes sence].


norm

Thank you, Gene! Was busy that day.

It's 35 in the 1897 catalog.
35 in the 1900 catalog.
35 in Catalog 60.
It's "1 B 35" in Catalog 61.

Still 1 B 35 in the 1942 parts list.. and in the 1946.. and 1948.. Don't have any parts diagrams from the 50's organized.

I think that's enough to settle it.

Interestingly, the early shotgun buttplate was part 35A.
By catalog #60 the shotgun buttplate was part 35 1/2 (serrated different than smooth?), and hard rubber buttplate on the 1899H was part 35 3/4.

Thanx for the offer Norm , I'll be mig welding a piece on the bottom and then grinding , filing , and finishing . I do have another to use as a model .
The piece being welded on , is a chunk from an old 1903 Springfield barrel that's hand forged into a small bullet about 1 inch square by 1/4 " thick . Gene mentioned it was regular rifle steel so that should work.
.

Malcolm, I quoted the listing in the parts catalog, I believe the 'Reg. Rifle' is referring to the standard configuration rifle, meaning a crescents buttplate, and not the type of steel. The buttplates being cast might cause a problem with welding, I've found the cast steel used in Stevens receivers gets brittle when welded and is hard to get a weld without porosity on the edges of the joint due to inclusions in the cast metal bubbling out, you may find the same problem with Savage castings.

The times I've welded cast steel it's got so hard it can't be drilled or milled and has to be ground, which would be OK on a buttplate. It also will easily crack if it's bend even a little. I was told to use coat hanger wire as a filler due to it's low carbon content, but I found it still get to hard to work with. I bought some special tig wire from Brownell's that is 5% nickel that is supposed to help and can still be blued, but haven't tried it yet. Ni-Rod and 300 series stainless steel wire, due to the high nickel content, will work better, but you can't blue these and the stainless can still get to hard to machine even with the low carbon versions for use when welding stainless to regular steel, like 309L & 316L.