This rifle has round barrel,checkered stocks, but no peep sight.
In several years of recording info on 29-A's I have seen many more with checkered stock and round barrels than any other configuration, here is some of a break down I just wrote up a few months ago. The limited number leaves some very large gaps in the recorded serial numbers. I still am very unsure of what occured durring and just after WWII, much of that is just guess work so take it as such -
My database of 35 observed 29-A�s as of May 2013 has-
- 10 with checkered wood & octagon barrels �serial numbers from 1027L to 332xxL. The L was added to the serial on Savage branded guns, a K was used on house brands and an M on Stevens, all these were in the same serial number sequence so the serial numbers reflect the total combined production of all the various versions, including house brands. The M on Stevens is very rare & I have only seen one example and that was on a Stevens Model 75 that dated several years before the 29-A, later Stevens named pumps were treated like house brands & had a K.
- 24 with checkered wood and round barrels, serial numbers from 43704L to 58438L. There are several sources that say rounds barrels were post war but the numbers seen suggest otherwise and Savage dropped octagon barrel from the description in catalog # 76 with a price list dated Jan 2, 1942; but it did not then say round barrel or show that in the picture � the ratio of round barreled 29-A�s to octagon suggests to me that the change to round barrels must have occurred even earlier than this. (Again the house brands are included in the range of serial numbers.)
- 2 with checkered wood and no serial number � these will have a combination of numbers, letters, and/or symbols where the serial number would be ranging from a couple to several (the same will be stamped on the stock under the butt plate). I believe these have to be post war but I am unsure about serial numbered guns some of which could also be post war.
- 2 with plain stock, grooved forearm, round barrel, and no serial number � these I consider the very last of the 29-A�s, made just before the release of the 29-B's.
All 29-A�s without serials number seem quite scarce. Also it should be noted that the years immediatly after WWII were when Savage moved to Chicopee Falls. The 1947 product catalog lists the Model 29 with checkered wood and round barrel but has a note that it was �not available in 1947�; this catalog also has the Chicopee Falls address. The model 29 is then not listed the 1948 & 1949 catalogs; in the 1950 catalog it is again listed and the picture and description has a round barrel and un-checkered wood.
The product catalogs all just say Model 29 without any letter suffix so the change between models cannot be found there.
