I recently picked up a Model 99 with a "Y" stamped where the model info is. The serial number is 692XXX. The year code is: 19F.

Can anyone tell me what the "Y" means? I have a couple 99's with various stampings like an "M", an "E", and an "R". What does the "Y" mean?

Thanks for the information.

Lucanus

It's either an EG or R... Depends on forearm....scannable is EG

MfG 1954==GW

Welcome Licanus!!

It has the heavier front wood with the checkering and studs for swivels. It is a well made gun with nice wood and the bore hurts your eyes it is so shiny. I am not sure it has been fired much.

99 R

Thanks guys!

I've been hunting with a Savage 99 my whole life. My uncle sold me a model 99 for 125 bucks and said I had to sell it back to him if I ever got rid of it. I own 5 of them now. I just gave one of them to my brother's son and he hunted with it this year. I just replaced that gun with another nice 99 last week. No deer yet for him yet but he is a trooper on early morning forays into the backwoods of Minnesota.

My five 99's are as follows:

Model 99, (no model stamp) 607XXX, Steel shell Rotary mag with number of round indicator, checkered stock and large front wood, Studs for slings. Boss Stamp= 25(Letter is worn off)

Model 99, M, 733XXX, Brass Shell rotary mag with number of round indicator, checkered stock and large front wood, studs for slings. Boss stamp=3F

Model 99, Y, 692XXX, Steel shell Rotary mag with number of round indicator, checkered stock and large front wood, Studs for slings. Boss stamp=19F

Model 99, E, 697XXX, Steel shell Rotary mag with number of round indicator, checkered stock and large front wood, Studs for slings. Boss stamp=XXE (Number is worn off)

Model 99, R, 746XXX, Brass shell Rotary mag with number of round indicator, I think the stock and front wood are wrong, I think the front wood is for a take-down model. Studs for slings. Boss stamp=3F (Number is worn off)

I've shot perhaps 25 deer with my 99's over the years. I love them and consider them the best deer gun made, hands down. I will get photos of them later and post them all. I know I have nothing of major value but I do know they are the best at what they do. It is a striking gun that always catches attention whenever we are all back at camp talking and telling stories. I am defined by my 99. I give it that.

Lucanus

Yup! sure sounds like an R.

Thank you very, very much for not just coming here to find out "whats it worth?" I'm so sick of hearing that inquiry!

Welcome to the 'fire!

you are oviously hooked ,welcome to the fire ,nice bunch of pre mils ,,all killers

As I understand it, Savage didn't start marking model numbers on the 99s until their later models (post mils - well past the SNs you have), and then they weren't always accurate, ie, the model 99DL was stamped 99M on the barrel for production reasons. Even a few DEs and PEs (a couple of high grade models) were stamped 99M on their barrels. One of the experts here should be able to ID the letters for you, ie, inspectors stamp, etc. What you need for ID is Murray's - "The Ninety-Nine" which gives SN range, production range, calibers, and features of the various models.

607xxx is 1950 and is 99R, 733xxx is 1954 and is a 99R, 692xxx is probably 1953 and is a 99R, 697xxx is probably 1953 and is a 99R, 746xxx is 1954 and was originally either a 99EG or 99R. Why do you think it has a takedown forearm? Is the screw on the bottom of the forearm a latch instead?

Welcome to the forum, I think you're a first for a new guy coming in with a hankering for the 1950's 99R's!


Only have one myself, a 1953 99R in 250.

DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice List of 99's Lucanus! I am green with envy. I have 2 so far, and hanging out here is not good for the wallet.

Very nice collection of pre-mils from the 40s and 50s. I only have one 99R among a small collection of pre & post mil models.

Maybe he's one of "us" and not one of 'them"

I've thought about asking Rick to start a new forum for "Savage Appraisals" so we could keep the BS outa here.

Sound like a good idea??

You can make a picture say ALMOST anything. Without at LEAST an honest picture giving an appraisal is near impossible. Giving an "honest" appraisal without the item physically in your hands IS impossible. I will NEVER get it. If I'm selling something I ALREADY know what I need to get. And I'm NOT asking someone else. If I'm buying something, I ALREADY know how much moolah I can part with. As I said, I will NEVER understand asking for opinions AFTER. What's done is done,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just live with it. The damn internet is just killing the art of communication eye to eye and mouth to mouth..

I'm pretty sure you guys have seen me go on a rant about i bought this gun i dont know what it is, how much is it worth? what should i do with it ? sometimes i wonder how the hell these people get along in life,or who tells them to go take a schitt when there full !!!!!!! see you guys got me going again !!!!!! posted by grumpy old ogre up in his gun cave !! Don

You fella's need to smoke a big doobie and relax.....

Na just need to stop living on Nyquill for a few weeks now !! i' ll attack a bottle of sailor jerrys this afternoon that should counteract the Nyquill .

It's a symptom of the steady decline of self-sufficiency in our society. Instead of solving their own problems, or doing their own research, they follow the path of least resistance which in this case is going on the internet and asking dumb questions. Yet another instance of how the 'net has altered how we live our lives.

People no longer need to be educated, they just need to know how to ask the right questions and voila!, the iPad/Blackberry/laptop provides the answer. The Electronic Age has usurped mankind's ability to think for oneself.

The sad part is, it ain't going away.

This is just a roundabout way of saying I'm with Lightfoot, LBK, and Loggah on this. There are better ways for a newbie to break the ice than by asking "how much is this worth, even though I won't tell you what it is?", and the original poster of this thread is a perfect example of how to avoid that. Pass that bottle Don, I don't care if it's Nyquill or sailor jerrys!!

OMG! If you're hitting the hard stuff I'm glad I'm in Washington!

I do agree with the idea that the time to determine "what its worth" is before, not after, you buy. If you don't know what its worth then what the f are you doing making an offer? If you hate your earnings that much then just send them to me.

The damn internet is just killing the art of communication eye to eye and mouth to mouth.. [/quote]

I somewhat understand your frustration LBK. Times are rapidly changing. Those who retain the ability to effectively communicate face to face and can find their way around the latest techno methods will certainly have an advantage. I can imagine much the same feelings were expressed when the telegraph, telephone, fax, etc... came along. For all the disadvantages, there are some real advantages to internet info and communication.

For myself the internet has educated me in subjects not available before. I have rehabbed a Savage 6A and refinished a few stocks thanks to ideas and info previously unavailable (or at least not as readily available). Sure, library's would have been good resources but I derive confidence personally communicating with those with experience. I only lightly scratch the surface of what the internet and other communication gadgets offer. Frequently my frustration level with the time learning how to take advantage exceeds my perception of benefit. It is truly amazing watching my children master internet offerings, cell phones, GPS units etc... in minutes.

I still remember my grandfather buying my dad a Texas Instruments calculator for Christmas when I was about 9 years old. It was a very basic hand held deal. They sat around the dinning room table for hours reading the directions, arguing and experimenting. After they had finished my brother and I mastered it in short order. IIRC it was the "memory function" that had them most baffled.

Anyway, too bad neither had much interest in firearms or hunting. It is friends and the internet which has grown my fascination.

Now who do I talk to about getting an automatic spell checker/corrector included when typing posts?

If you Mozilla Firefox (free) you will get fewer viruses and it does automatically spell check EVERYTHING you type. I like it hands down over Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Have not tried Google Chrome as a browser yet but I expect it offers rolling spell check also... actually, I have not messed with it but I would be surprised if the newest version of IE does not...

At MY side ALWAYS is "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary". 848 pages of "spell check"....................

Is that abridged or unabridged?

Get with the times LBK!!!

I been using firefox for some time, but as you can tell i don't pay much attention to spellcheck! Don

if it underlines the word is a squiggly red line just right click on it and it will give you more appropriate options...

Got it Drew! Very cool . I carried a pocket speller throughout my under grad education. Still have it somewhere although the binding is worn out. Post grad I used a pocket electronic spell checker until it quit. Torture for me was the older professors who exclusively graded on essay tests. I got away with abbreviations occasionally but not as often as I would have liked .
In elementary school my parents assigned 10 words a night from the dictionary. I did this for years and I am sure it helped but much of it never stuck. I am sure I have suffered in substantial ways from this over the years. Luckily I have learned to cope, mostly by yelling "hey Lisa, how do you spell..." I think she still loves me in spite of the looks I get .

So, now that we've had a chance to vent and compare favorite utilities, back to the original question.

What does the "Y" stamp signify? My question: where is "where the model info is"? Are we talking a large single-letter stamp on the face of the receiver, under the forearm? Or is it a stamp next to the "Model 99" stamp on the receiver ring?

I dunno, and wud like to no.

Sorry, I am guilty of hijacking this thread. I believe greenhornet47 nailed it with his post. Various letters are found stamped on many models and have been attributed to possibly being inspectors stamps, etc... . Features, serial numbers and lever boss codes all help to identify the early models. Murray's book and the participants here will nail it down (year and model)with the proper info.

Randy,

My guess is he is referring to the bottom left side of the receiver ring where on a savage 99R it would say "Savage Model 99" and often has an inspectors stamping letter... seem other than Y... just for grins I grabbed a few... R in 308 has an oddly shaped box, F in 308 has an &, and an F in 358 has a sideways 0 and an R. (not that I think caliber or model makes any difference) PPL often mistake a letter stamped in this location as saying

SAVAGE MODEL 99 "X" but its just an inspectors stamp.

Simple, they weren't. They're distinguished by their features. You just need to find a source like "The Ninety-Nine", Savage ads, or people who have knowledge/experience with them. Over the hundred years of production there were only about 30 models. In the 1920s some of the 'new' 99s were produced with leftover parts from the 1899s, and thus, so marked 1899s. They even reused their model numbers, ie, the F model of the 20/30s was restyled and produced again in the 50/60s and the E model of the 20/30s was reintroduced in the 60/70s. Pictures help a lot in identifying them along with features, take-down vs solid frame, type of butt-stock: pistol vs straight grip, the shape of the forearm, etc.

Thanks, that is what I wanted. I realize that the stamps are not related to marketing model version. I did not notice the receiver ring stamps on my rifles, and will check it out. I have a '23 "E" stamped with a large "F" on the receiver face, but that is not what OP references. I think my '59 "F" in 308 has "Model 99 F" on the barrel. I asked because other Savage rifles have single or two character stamps on stocks and small parts that don't appear on M99 rifles. I don't remember seeing inspector stamps on the receiver rings of other models, at least visible above the stock.

Are there any factory records listing names of inspectors, and/or inspector mark cross reference?
Is there a date (serial number) range where the inspector marks normally appear on M99?

Randy, two answer your last two questions, no and no, at least not that I know of... we have collected some data on different markings seen on 99 like those on the front of the receiver on the 20-40s era guns.

the particular mark that I am talking about probably did not come around until the 50s. There are other inspection marks on the bottom of the barrels... I routinely see a 6 stamped on barrels. And have seen butt plates and stocks with both serial and model before... I have an EG stamped EG on the butt plate, stock, and front of receiver. A G with a letter G stamped on the forearm. But for the most part, Savage 99s are not stamped iwth model that easily readable until the 99F which is stamped on the right side of the barrel. Later on some others were stamped but all of those were post-mils.

Hey guys...thanks for the information and chatter. I spent the lunch hour today driving around, looking for Speer 100 grain plinker rounds for a training aid for my brother's youngest son. I figure him tossing a few of those little lead pills around with less than a kick in the shoulder will help him with flinch and such. I found one box in the Western Twin Cities! I am kinda bummed that Remington does not make the 180 grain SPCL bullets anymore. Best deer bullet made!

The "Y" I was talking about on one of my Savage 99's is in the place the other model stamps are....right on the left side above the shell indicator. It is right under the Savage, model 99 stamp right where the barrel and the receiver meet. I can maybe get a photo of it if anyone is interested in seeing it. I am actually holding the gun right now. It is in fine shape. The wood is dark walnut and the gun is actually really heavy. I like the feel of the 50's guns. Very sturdy and elegant. I hold in my hands a wonderful piece of American hunting heritage. I love 99's!

Lucanus

The gun has a stock that does not seem like it fits and the front wood when I take it off has a worn out area back from the screw hole that looks like there was something there. I think I will be needing a replacement stock and front wood for this gun. It is not a take down gun and it just looks like the wood does not fit it very well.

can you post pictures? We can help a lot with pictures.

Also, there is an inspectors code stamped into the forearm, butt stock and butt plate of this era 99... they should match (or mostly match). Some forearms will also have the last 4 digits of the serial in chalk on the forearm but I think that might have been mostly later.

How do I post images? Send me your email address and I will send all or them to you in one batch.

The front wood on this gun reads:

0 (on top)
1 35 1

This is what it looks like on the round wood part that fits next to the shell rotary carrier.

I took a photo of the Savage 99 with the "Y" for a Model number. I have no way to post it. Any helpful hints?

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/forums/37/1/Photography

First post details how to publish pics on these forums. Pretty easy once your familiar.

Some of the folks who are really more knowledgeable are finally stepping forward with info as there doesn't seem to be much consistency with Savage markings. As someone mentioned, earlier models were stamped in a couple of spots with part of the SN, but their doesn't seem to be any continuity on placing a model number on the firearm.

by my side is 1000 most misspelt words,,but someetinns itts not in their