Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Bill Ruger's Savage 99

Forgive me if this is old hat here. My computer's barely limping along, and it's hard to search. [It also won't let me make paragraphs] I just read gd'40-eg-300's post about the 99H's influence on #3. Does anyone have a pic of the 99 Bill Ruger converted to semi-auto? I had a good article, but I can't find it. If I remember right, Ruger stated that he thought A.W. Savage was underrated as a firearms genius. The influence is pretty apparent on lots of Rugers. 44 Carbine, #3, 10/22, ect.

There is a pic of Bill Rugers' 99 semi auto in the book
"Ruger & His Guns"

Mike

Early drawings for the Savage came from the Colt drawing room...so said Roe.

Jed, does that mean that Savage subbed out the drafting or was there more to it?

Speculation at best...Savage went to Colt with a bunch of money and asked them to draw up a rotary magazine, lever action rifle...I then speculate that Colt built a few prototypes. One of which Roe owned, and I should have bought.

Thanks Jed, this is like peelin' an onion for chrisakes. Have you seen any Savage drawings on Colt paper? It is common practice now, and maybe then, for a company doing drafting for someone else to use their own drawing blocks. Coulda been negotiated away though.

Lozen, sorry about the hijack.

Jed, Were these prototypes different than the ones in Murray's book?

Insightful Jed. Colt eh..Well so much for what I was told years ago that it was Browning who designed the rotary for Savage.

Thanks,

Harry M.

pg 2-0 in Doug's book.

I don't have AWS pegged as an inventive genius...I think he had idea's, and knew how to entice people with money, to back his endeavors.

Here's the picture Jed was talking about....kinda small but you can see the converted 99.

Elwood

Thanks for the picture elwood. Knew I should have bought that book. Only put it back cause I've been kinda boycotting Ruger since he was the first manufacturer to jump on the 10 round magazine bandwagon back in the 90's. Interesting gun...

One time I converted a semi-auto to a single shot.

That rifle is located in the NRA museum in Fairfax, VA. I looked at it last year. Neat gun.

Jeff

Wasnt the prototype chambered in .32-20?

What little I know, I got from Murray's book, and reading this forum for about a year. I've always been curious why the 32-20 on page 2-2 is "believed to be the original prototype". When it never went into production. Sorta like the difference between Marlin 1893's and 1894's.

Looks like the 1893 proto-type was in 32-20.
The 1892 which Roe owned was in 30.