I went to a gun show yesterday and spotted a old octagon barrel Savage in 303 the seller had tagged as a 99. I think it may be a 1895 as it has the square back bolt with the cocking indicator and a forearm with the slight concave shape that 95s seem to have. The buttstock is perch belly with a crescent butt plate. The buttstock has some major damage behind the tang but the overall condition of the remainder of the rifle looked like honest wear with an expected amount of patina for a nearly 120 year old firearm. I didn't get as far as the serial number because the 1K asking price stopped me in my tracks and because I just purchased a 1903 Springfield sporter with a majority of parts from an NRA Sporter. I'm hoping a SRS check will give me a positive hit on the receiver (the seller said it would and I didn't even ask the question) but if not it will serve as good foundation for building up a sporter in the style of the NRA model. Anyway, I'm going to try and make it back out to the show today and thought I'd pass the information on to you guys if anyone would like the sellers contact info.

The SN will tell it all!

Just looked at it again. Not a 95 at SN 26,280. Also OP for what it is. False alarm. Still you don’t see too many of them that old out here.