Made: 1895 (1895-98); Model 1899 (1898-1923); Model 99 (1923-2003)
Variants: Numerous fashions, variations, grades, and commemoratives; 20-28” lengthy barrels. 16 calibres together with Savage’s personal .303, .22 H-P, 250-3000, and .300.
Production: 5,000 Model 1895 (Marlin); greater than 1 million Model 1899/99: Utica NY, Chicopee Falls Mass., Westfield Mass.
Original value: Standard Model 1899 from $20 to $21.50 US; 1951 Model 99 EG, $105.65 US
Current worth: Model 99 EG .300 Savage $600-$1,000
Iconic Savage Model
My 1951 Model 99EG in .300 Savage is the commonest and iconic Savage lever-action. Its smooth traces and inner rotary journal ship spectacular accuracy. It surpasses the Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 as my favorite lever motion.
Ironically, the Model 1899’s inventor, Arthur Savage, solely lasted a decade along with his namesake firm. Jamaican-born Savage skilled as a missionary and artist. He dabbled at opal prospecting and cattle ranching in Australia, operating a Jamaican espresso plantation, and managing a railway in Utica, NY. His firearms patents launched Savage Repeating Arms in 1894. But he left 10 years later for California to show one other patent into the Savage Tire Company.
Savage began with a Martini-based repeating rifle patent. He then designed a hammerless lever-action rifle with inner rotary journal and cartridge counter in 1892. Colt refined it because the Model 1893. Savage added a Schnabel forearm, cocking indicator, and behind-the-trigger security to create the Model 1895.
Marlin Firearms
Marlin Firearms made 5 Savage 1895 fashions: spherical, octagonal, or half-octagonal rifles with 26-inch barrels and crescent butt plates, saddle-ring carbine with 22-inch barrel with carbine butt plate, and army musket with 30-inch barrel, in .303 Savage.
Savage Arms opened their very own facility in Utica, NY in 1898 to transtype the 1895 into the Model 1899. It got here in six commonplace fashions together with the 5 above and a short-rifle model — all with Schnabel forearms, straight grips, and no engraving. Savage additionally provided extras, together with $5 Model 1895 conversions.
Savage Arms expanded the 1899 line over the following 20 years by including deluxe, featherweight, takedown, and Montreal dwelling guard musket variations. They added fashionable Winchester calibres and Savage’s .22 High Power (HP) and .250-3000.
In 1920, Savage launched its .300. They additionally rebranded the 1899 as the Model 99 with complicated alphabetical designations in 1923. Over 20 years, Savage launched a .410, Models 99R and RS with straight heavier forearms, and the 99EG.
Savage in WWII
During the Second World War, Savage produced Thompson machine weapons, Lee-Enfield rifles, and Browning plane machine weapons in Chicopee Falls, Mass. They resumed manufacturing of the Model 99 there from 1946-1960, with few adjustments.
Savage continued manufacturing in Westfield, Mass. from 1960 to 1998. They added tang security and choices like clip/journal, Monte Carlo inventory, extra calibres, and presentation/commemorative fashions.
Savage stopped promoting their flagship firearm in 2003 due to excessive manufacturing prices, with no plans to reintroduce. Pity!
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