savage 99 date codes

[iron brigade]

Hi all,
just picked up a mint 99 c in .308. i'm trying to figure out the year of manufacture. serial# A522xxx. on the right side of the barrel is a circle with a 19x inside. I have been on the savage 99.com site and did not find a correct date. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pietro]

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Your Model 99 was made in 1970. :D

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[iron brigade]

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Your Model 99 was made in 1970. :D

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many thanks to you sir! I was hoping around that time period:)

[gnoahhh]

Not necessarily. If that 19X also appears in a small circle or oval on the front of the lever boss, then that is the date code. It's the lever boss code that determines it. "A"= 1949, "B"=1950,etc. "O" and "Q" were skipped for obvious reasons. "X" does indeed equal 1970.

[iron brigade]

the 19x appears on the upper right side of the barrel just after the receiver. I don't see any letters or numbers on the lever boss.

[gnoahhh]

That's it then. I suppose the inspector was feeling rebellious that day!

[NVcurmudgeon]

I have a 1949 production EG .300 (SN 519XXX) with no 19X anywhere. Guess it took a while to settle down to the new system.

[gnoahhh]

You won't find a "19X" on your rifle. That was the inspector/date code for the OP's rifle. Your code should be a number and a letter inside a small oval or circle, stamped onto the front of the lever boss (probably very faint and hard to see). If it was made in 1949 it'll be a number and the letter"A". The serial numbers don't mean a whole lot for 99's of that era- it's the date code that matters. Receivers (with their serial numbers on them) were made at a different rate of speed than actual rifle production, and strict adherence to sequential serial number usage wasn't adhered to. Example: you might find a rifle built in 1955 using a receiver made in 1954. The date code went on as the finished rifle neared completion, hence it is an accurate indicator of age.

[BeMan]

The address on the barrel of your 99 should be "Westfield, Mass." And all 99s with that barrel address were made after 1960, most 99s with a serial number over 1,000,000 have that address, and were made 1960 and beyond. Beginning in 1969 Savage added a letter prefix in front of the serial number and "A" was used from 1969-71. My records show that 1969 99s ended around "A300600" and January 1971 indicates a serial range of "A667385" . It is likely that your rifle was indeed a 1970 production rifle. My experience with 99s has convinced me that Savage outshines both Winchester and Marlin in quality and accuracy. Best wishes.

[iron brigade]

thankyou BeMan. I took it to the range the other day and after the 25 yard sighters, I settled in and put 3 into an inch at 100. windy cold day.
the load was
44 grains I4895
wlp
hornady 150 sp
win case
interesting thing about this rifle is that the butt stock is not original to the gun. it has a fajen stock on it, at least that's the name on the plastic butt thingy. very nice though. nice cheek piece and made of walnut. this gun handles like a dream. the pointability is unreal. neat gun. hoping to take a buck with it this coming opening weekend. I guess i'm old school, I like the blue/wood combo.