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Savage Model 99F Lever Boss Code Meaning?
dana3vt
Member Posts: 8 ✭✭
I own a Savage Model 99F with a Boss Lever code which is an oval with the number 3 and Letter P in the Oval.(3P) I have read the P means it was manufactured in 1963... however I haven't found out what the 3 defines... any help would be appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you
Comments
The Lever Boss Code (LBC) is located inside a lightly-struck oval on the lower, front side of the lever boss. The lever boss is the lower extension of the receiver into which the lever rotates.
Inside that light-struck OVAL (not a circle), you'll see numbers followed by a letter. The number(s) is the inspector's number and the letter represents the year the rifle was manufactured.
Beginning in 1949, Savage began putting a LBC on their Model 99 rifles. To represent the year of manufacture, Savage used the letters of the alphabet beginning with the letter "A" which represented rifles made in 1949.
In 1950, the letter was changed to "B". In 1951, the letter was changed to "C" and so on and so on through the letter "Y", the last of the LBC letters which was used in 1971.
The letters O and Q were skipped due to their similarity.
And so, if your rifle was made in 1956 and inspector #16 inspected your rifle, the LBC, stamped inside the oval, would be 16H. If your rifle was made in 1957 and inspected by inspector #17, your LBC would be 17I.
There was a considerable amount of the mixing of serial numbers through the 1950s making it difficult or almost impossible to absolutely determine exactly what year a given Model 99 was made strictly by considering the rifle's serial number.
It appears that, from time-to-time without any obvious reason, rifles were pulled off the assembly line and set aside for a year or more (often more), then put back onto the assembly line and finished thus making it's serial number considerably out-of-sequence with the then current production's serial numbers.
It is likely you'll need good light and a magnifying glass to read the LBC since so many of them were struck so lightly. In fact, it is rare to be able to even see the whole oval... and some folks have mistaken the front half of the lightly-struck oval for a large letter "C"... but there is a considerable difference in size between the front of the oval and the letters used plus the fact that the year of manufacture's LETTER follows the inspector's number.
A - 1949
B - 1950
C - 1951
D - 1952
C - 1953
D - 1954
E - 1955
Thank you for solving the mystery of the number 3 in the oval. I now know that the rifle was made in 1963 and inspector number 3 inspected it. Anyone have any idea what the value of this gun is roughly. It is in great condition and it just sits in my vault at home.
Need quality photos for identification and valuation purposes.
Caliber also has a substantial baring on Savage values.
Instructions for posting photos in the forum, at this link.
http://forums.GunBroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=259294