Hello, I am wondering if anyone could post a picture of the model 99 RS original sling studs and how they attach to the rifle? Thanks.

Pre-WW2, or 1950's?

Prewar:

Thank you, 1936. I am very curious about the forearm attachment. Does the stud hold the forearm in place, and is there a dovetailed female end on the barrel?

My hunch is that the swivel is mounted forward of the barrel screw and only attaches to the wood. I haven't owned a prewar RS, but what I described is typical of 99 front swivel attachments. Uncle Mike's used to sell a QD swivel stud that fit in through the forearm screw hole. I don't know if they are still being made but one could always get a die and spin the threads onto a standard swivel. I've done it.

The stud does hold the forearm on, but that's not an RS stud. The prewar 99RS studs had a flat top.

The front sight is a ramp sight, with a dovetail in it. Blurry pic here, but if you look at any 99EG or similar they have the same front sight setup.

Better pic from another RS:

Could this be a "RS" with the wrong studs?

You'd have to letter it to be sure, but I would guess not. At one time it was wearing a Weaver T7 side mount for a scope, which was a period option in the 1930's, and in 1936 a 99RS would have come with a Lyman 30 1/2 tang peep sight. But most telling is that there would have been little reason to swap out the original sling studs for the later ones that are on it.

Probably just a 1930's 99R that somebody added sling studs to. Nice gun.

Thank you very much! Any idea what this means?

It's just an inspector's stamp. From 1949 to 1970, they put a letter there which indicated the year. But before and after that it didn't mean anything.

Or this?

Not sure what the 6 on the barrel means. Likely just another inspector stamp?

The 8 on the front of the receiver shows up normally from the late 20's to the late 40's for 99R's and 99RS's. Other models actually got stamps there with the model letter, but they used an 8 for the R's. No idea why.

Yep, I had to clean the dust off, but there is a 8 stamped on the left side. I am adding a picture in a moment.

The Sope and base are both Redfield. The scope is a "Bear Cub" 4x. They were on the rifle when i received it. The Tang sight is a Marble S1. it does not fit on the rifle, it was just in the scabbard the rifle came in.

The sights mounting holes line up, but the arch seems a little off. I believe it would scratch both the metal and the wood if it was installed. Any ideas on the value of this rifle? I know its in pretty rough shape with a lot of extra holes, but I will most likely sell it.

Good find!

And the scabbard? Pics?

Its just a cloth padded zip up gun case, not a actual leather scabbard like we use on our horses. I just have drawn a blank on what to call it beside a scabbard. Sorry.

There is also case coloring on the lever, is that original?

The marbles s1 sight should line up on 2 of the holes on the tang.

Lee

Hey, another prewar 99R with the "Spiegel" holes!

Okay..

1) You have 2 extra holes on the side for a Weaver T-7 mount, which would go with a Weaver 330 or Weaver 29S scope
2) You have 3 extra holes on the top for that mount you have: 2 on the front receiver and 1 behind the bolt.
3) You have 4 holes that are most commonly found on 99EG's sold through Spiegel. Those are the 2 holes on the barrel, and the 2 holes behind the bolt closest to the pop-up indicator.

-- I have a 99R that's also got holes for a Weaver T-7 and the "Spiegel" d&t holes on the barrel and by indicator. Interesting...

That Marbles tang sight should work just fine. It would go on the rear 2 holes on the receiver, way back on the tang. It would fit any Savage 99 made before 1960. Though sometimes they do get bent to not match the contour of the wood. They can usually be bent back, but I haven't had to do it.

My 99R with the T7 and Spiegel holes is 369,5xx. Is that close to yours?

Yes.

yep, it does. Kind of embarrassing, I had it turned backwards before.

Not the first person to do that..

Here's my 99R with the Weaver T7 holes on the side, and Spiegel holes on barrel and by pop-up indicator. Interesting there are two 99R's so similar. Mine doesn't have the 3 holes on the receiver for the scope base you have, but that's definitely from the 1950's or later. Mine does have a rear sling stud like yours, but a different front sling stud.

Wish mine had your condition. Really the only reason I grabbed mine is that it's in 250-3000.

But now I'm curious. Yours is 1936, mine is 1937. Makes me wonder if Savage wasn't working with a vendor with these, like they did with the Spiegel 99EG's.

Might have to kick out money and get it lettered.

For some reason it is not as apparent in the photo, but I can see the outline on the wood of a tang sight.

Do I write to savage to have it lettered? I really appreciate the info. Does the 250-3000 add to the value?

Here is a picture of where the tang sight would sit. After it was pointed out to me how it should be installed, it is clear with the naked eye that one was on it. But like I mentioned, it doesn't show well in the picture.

Yes, a prewar 99R in 250-3000 is extremely uncommon.

However, yours has a lot of extra holes (as does mine). So the 250-3000 adds value, but the holes detract. I couldn't begin to guess at a value. I think I bought my gray one for.. $650? And I did it knowing I was overpaying, I just wanted a 99R in 250-3000.

Savage Arms has the ledgers now, and they will do a letter which might tell you when it was accepted from the factory, when it was shipped, and maybe who it was shipped to. But it might take a couple of months, and I think the current price to get one is $65. Getting a letter probably won't increase the value of your gun, it would just solve a mystery for us collector types.

I'm floored that two 99R's so similar both happen to be in 250-3000.

Since the tang sight was in the canvas/leather gun case, it likely was used on the gun and so the marks aren't that surprising. These sights could be bought over the counter or in the mail for decades. It'd be an odd choice to be original with the gun from the factory.

What's more surprising is the screws in the Spiegel holes on the barrel on yours look like they've been removed and something was mounted there, and mine also look as though they've been used. We've NEVER actually seen a 99 having these holes show up with scope bases on them, and we've only seen a couple of rifles where it looks like anything was ever was put on.

I like mysteries, and finding a clone of my rat has created one.

Well, glad I could help. Is this what the buttplate on yours looks like?

Yep, that was the standard buttplate for the time. Somebody's removed yours before from the looks of the screws. Might be worth a look underneath to see if there's anything - folks have been known to put hunting licenses, or rear sights, or other things there.

Serial number of the gun should be stamped into the end of the buttstock, and also on the bottom of the buttplate.

That was kind of fun, didn't find any historical clues, but you are right about the serial number.

Got a little more curious and was plenty surprised by this

1/2 Rat

A Swiss Cheese rat but I'd buy it if I could

I'm new to this, what does "rat" mean?

And it is going to be for sale.

A Big Rat

Huh, doesn’t really explain much. Interesting picture though.

Jeebus squeeler could you send up a flare and warn a guy?

Rat is our term for a modified gun. Holy rat is one with extra holes in the metal, wood rat has refinished wood, gray rat has lost its bluing, etc.

Unmodified gun’s are the collector’s favorites, obviously.

Rug rat is a Savage laying in the living room. Pack rat is is a collector of gray Savages.

Thanks, that is helpful. So do you think that it has non original parts to it? Everything is numbered. I am going to sell it, and I would like to know if it is not correct, other than the holes. I am curious about what part you think is modified?

I think you need to revisit the original thread on that.

For a collector:

The biggest downer on your rifle is the non-factory holes on top of the receiver. (Holes on top of barrel and both sides of the indicator are factory but sometimes a hard sell to those not in the know.)

Missing rear sight but the tang sight would more than cover for that.

Looks like a small hairline crack at back of tang area. Maybe some touch-up in that area but can't tell for sure.

Has had sling studs added but they are located well.

Big plus for being a 250-3000.

Hard to tell if the T-7 holes on the side are factory or added. We have not yet determined where the factory holes should be. You and Calhoun need to match hole locations and see if they are the same.

Could I ask what the forearm length is on your pre-war R from the receiver. I'm trying to recreate one, and I have 9" written down from Fireball, but it seems short (Post-war F = 9-1/2")

If you are going to sell it I wouldn’t bother with the expense of getting a factory letter. If you are going to keep it then you might bother getting one pretty much to see if the Weaver mount was installed by Savage. Beyond that, I think factory letters rarely do much to enhance the value of a rifle, though they do add to the historical knowledge of a piece and that in itself is of some worth.

JeffG: My 1937 99R forearm is 9". The double rings start at 7 3/8" from the front of the receiver, the two rings are 1/16" apart.

And here's some pics of the spacing of the Weaver T-7 holes on mine. Went with metric for better precision.

For those who don't do metric, the center of the rear hole is about 1" in from the rear of the receiver, the center of the front hole about 7/8" back from the front, center of both holes about 1/2" down from the top of the flat.

My barrel has a 7 stamped on the bottom. So just an inspector's stamp, I'm sure.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7559362/re-99rs-versions#Post7559362

Thanks for all the info. The forearm on mine is roughly the same, 8 7/8" from the receiver, with the center of the 2 lines 7 1/4" from the receiver. Here are some pictures to go along with Calhoun's. I would think the measurements would be close as they are for the same mount, but I could imagine quite a difference in them for the eye relief of a scope, if not put there from the factory.

Between where and how we are holding the measuring tool, they seem awful close.

The crack seems to be very minute, I would say surface only, the camera really brings it out. And I would bet the discoloration is from dried blood under the tang when it was on it. But, I am not a gunsmith. I will take it to a gunsmith before selling it to get an answer. Thanks for pointing out the crack, I had not noticed it. I would feel pretty bad selling it without noting the flaws first.

Looks as though we are within a couple millimeters of each other as far as horizontal (yours being slightly more forward than mine), looks like almost an exact match for vertical. Is that close enough to believe it was done with a jig at the Savage factory? I dunno. Most aren't this close. Good data for the next one we run into.

Thank you very much for all the help! I have really enjoyed this forum.

would you guys have any suggestions for cleaning the rifle? As you can see in the pictures it has not been touched in awhile. As it is not in collector shape, would it be better to clean it up?

I wouldn't really do anything to the wood. Only thing I'd do to the metal is use some fine bronze wool and gun oil to see if you can't clean some of the gunk off. Fine bronze wool won't hurt the bluing. I can never find it locally, but it's on amazon. Steel wool is okay if you get the 0000 Super Fine, and don't put too much elbow grease into it. Any steel wool but the 0000 can scratch the bluing.

It you are into it, putting the old Weaver mount and a nice 330 back on the rifle might be cool. There are even modern replicas to be had of the 330 that could (what am I saying) WILL give you better optics.

Thanks again!

" There are even modern replicas to be had of the 330 that could (what am I saying) WILL give you better optics."

Who is making a 330 reproduction?

Basically a Weaver 330 reproduction:

https://hi-luxoptics.com/products/m73g4

You can even do a reproduction Lyman Alaskan:

https://hi-luxoptics.com/products/william-malcolm-m82g2-vintage-reproduction-riflescope

Thanks for the link. I don't remember seeing those before.

Those scopes are pretty much marketed to the MilSurp shooters who are into restoring or making up replicas of the M1Cs and Ds, and the 1903A4. However, when I first saw them I thought why not try one as a modern substitute for the 330 and Alaskan. The only other alternative I know of are the Alaskans Leopold made years ago that are getting very expensive and hard to find. I don't know if you could remove the rear ocular off of either, or remove the front shade on the M82G2, but if you could they would make a nifty "modern" alternatives for use with Stith mounts.

Going to link back to the 2015 thread where we talked about Weaver T7's a lot. Some of you guys have 1930's 99's with holes that look very close to the ones our SMA and my rifle.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9576737

An interesting piece of history regarding how/why the 99R/RS came to be.
I guess if it is good enough for Townsend Whelen, it is good enough for me.

Rifle 1985

Thank you so much for all the info! It states in the article that the "R" is the only model to have the thin lines in the forearm. What does the "RS" have? its hard to tell in the pictures.

PreWWII R and RS both have the lines around the forearm.

Thanks, I see now that it says all R models. Thanks for the info.

I am sending off the info on the 99 I have to Savage historical department, to have it lettered and find out whatever they know about it. All correspondence to the historical department are done by US mail, so it'll be awhile before I here anything, but ill keep you posted.

And they're not producing letters very fast now as well. So it may be a couple of months.

That's kind of what I figured. I sent the info in to Colt on some pistols I have and it was 3-5 months on those too. It sure is interesting to see want comes up though.

Let us know what you find out as to who it shipped to. I'll quite likely send for a letter on mine as well, to see if they are a match.

will do.

Cool! This is how mysteries get solved.