Savage 110 Date of Manufacture

[motorcyclerider]

So we have the same identical guns with different model #'s. Mine 110L-H, yours 110L-D. This is intriguing. Post some picks! I would like just to see it if anything else.

[motorcyclerider]

No idea why the bolt is etched, bubba maybe, not factory though.


Also have the serial number hand etched on the bolt, which according Wayne Zwoll's "Bolt Action Rifles" pg 493 (http://books.google.com/books?id=xm2xIevYNswC&pg=PA488&dq=savage+110&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rvMKUpu0Aa684AODu4E4&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=savage%20110&f=false) was standard practice.


I picked up an IDENTICAL Savage in comparison to yours. My serial is 1115xx and also etched on the bolt

There is a pattern starting to form. Anyone else with the serial # etched on the bolt of their older Savage?

[fatphatboy88]

Mine has the last 4 digits of the serial engraved on the backside of the bolt body. F3073xx. 110 7mag from the early 90s I believe with the 3 screw trigger.

And the accutrigger centerfeed 110 270 I bought yesterday has the last 4 digits stamped on the bolt face lug but not on the bolt body. G9966xx.

[chukarmandoo]

Okay this is an interesting thread and also a bit comical. Anyway I have two rifles. One I bought new in the early 90's and the SN is etch on the bolt. the other one I bought new in early 2000's has the last 4 digits of the SN stamped in the bolt head lug.

Also if I could without hijacking this thread beings we are talking letters I would like to know what the G stands for? I heard that SN's that start with a G are "large shank" actions?

[motorcyclerider]

I started cleaning my guns this week and got around to my Savage Arms 110L-H chambered in 7 mm Rem Mag. This brought up past memories of never being able to solve the mystery of why there is a "H" in my Savages model number. So I spend hours on the internet not finding any helpful info. I've looked at old Savage catalogs, other forums, even read books on the history of Savage Arms. None of this has been able to answer the "H" question. I have learned that the bolt having the serial number etched in it was common from the factory when this gun was produced. I have learned the "H" can mean hinged floor plate. But my example doesn't have a hinged floor plate. I have also learned that the 60's through the 80's wasn't the best of times for Savage and the company changed hands many times. All of the catalogs I've seen that list a left handed 110 list the model number as 110L no "H" in sight. This could just turn out as something trivial. For example one of the numerous owners just decided to use the model number 110L-H as left hand. It could also mean some factory worker was just stamping the barrels incorrectly. But I plan on finding out why that "H" got stamped on there. Also anyone with a 110L-H I would recommend hanging on to them. There doesn't appear to be very many of them out there and if there is some cool back story for that damn "H" it could make the gun become more valuable. Rarity usually drives up value.Savage also made guns that other companies that would stamp their name on. Maybe the "H" has something to do with that? People will call me crazy and obsessed buy I must know the answer. I am waiting for a reply back on my request from Savage and as soon as I hear something I will post it here. I'm also kind of hoping someone reads this and already knows the answer. And it turns out to be nothing special. If that is the case my feelings will not be hurt but my curiosity will be filled. The 1st person to give the answer with proof to back it up will get a 1 year subscription to this forum on me.

:help:

[RustyShackle]

Probably just a transition model. The -H could also be that it was a factory conglomeration of spare parts all slapped together. Good luck in your search.

[Hotolds442]

I’ll take a wild stab at this. H=7mm Remington Magnum
Maybe during the time period this rifle was manufactured, whoever owned Savage at the time was jumping on the Mossberg bandwagon and adding the factory chambering to the model number by means of an additional letter to aid in providing the correct replacement parts in the future. It’s a wild stab, but there is evidence in the thread that another 7mm Remington Mag has the same model designation. I’ll even guess that there are additional 270 Winchesters out there with a D suffix......

[J.Baker]

I started cleaning my guns this week and got around to my Savage Arms 110L-H chambered in 7 mm Rem Mag. This brought up past memories of never being able to solve the mystery of why there is a "H" in my Savages model number. So I spend hours on the internet not finding any helpful info. I've looked at old Savage catalogs, other forums, even read books on the history of Savage Arms. None of this has been able to answer the "H" question. I have learned that the bolt having the serial number etched in it was common from the factory when this gun was produced. I have learned the "H" can mean hinged floor plate. But my example doesn't have a hinged floor plate. I have also learned that the 60's through the 80's wasn't the best of times for Savage and the company changed hands many times. All of the catalogs I've seen that list a left handed 110 list the model number as 110L no "H" in sight. This could just turn out as something trivial. For example one of the numerous owners just decided to use the model number 110L-H as left hand. It could also mean some factory worker was just stamping the barrels incorrectly. But I plan on finding out why that "H" got stamped on there. Also anyone with a 110L-H I would recommend hanging on to them. There doesn't appear to be very many of them out there and if there is some cool back story for that damn "H" it could make the gun become more valuable. Rarity usually drives up value.Savage also made guns that other companies that would stamp their name on. Maybe the "H" has something to do with that? People will call me crazy and obsessed buy I must know the answer. I am waiting for a reply back on my request from Savage and as soon as I hear something I will post it here. I'm also kind of hoping someone reads this and already knows the answer. And it turns out to be nothing special. If that is the case my feelings will not be hurt but my curiosity will be filled. The 1st person to give the answer with proof to back it up will get a 1 year subscription to this forum on me.

:help:

As was already mentioned in a previous post, the "H" likely denotes a series change or just left-hand..

Through the late 70's and possibly into the early 80's Savage used to use Series designations to denote small changes to the models year-to-year. These changes were just to small parts and/or a change in the part supplier. There's no record for these changes so what exactly changed with each Series will always be a mystery. The "-H" is the dead giveaway that it denotes a Series change. Look at all the other model designations at that time, none of them have a dash anything because that's not how they named models.

H has only been used in the model designation to indicate a hinged floorplate in recent years (2005+). Also, Savage didn't come out with a hinged floorplate on the 110 until the early 1970's, and very few of them ever got into the hands of customers as they had a design flaw in the latch (the latch wouldn't stay latched under recoil and would dump the magazine when you would fire the rifle). Those few that did get out were quickly recalled and replaced with a blind or detachable magazine arrangement.

HotOlds442 suggesting maybe it was for the chambering is also incorrect as Savage didn't start using caliber/twist rate codes on the 110's until 2008 and those codes are covered by the barrel nut when assembled on a rifle.

[motorcyclerider]

Can you link the post discussing the "H" as meaning a series change?

[J.Baker]

Can you link the post discussing the "H" as meaning a series change?

Post #12 back on page 1 of this thread:


Just a guess, but maybe Series H? The rifle looks almost identical to my 110CL except for the rear elevation bar. My rifle has a Lyman flip up rear sight. Mine was built in the early 1970s.

Whether it's a series number or was for left-hand or whatever makes little difference. Most Savage 110's from that period were just stamped 110 or 110L on the barrel whether they were a 110C, 110E, 110M, 110MC, 110CL, 110ML, or 110MCL or any other variation.