Serial number with a dash

Dad picked up another Savage ( he's becoming an addict) with an odd serial number. The receiver ring is stamped 1899. Serial number 253277-2. Haven't been able to locate anything about a dash. Almost looks like it could have been added. What say the experts? Thanks in advance.

That is extremely unusual. The receiver ring being stamped 1899 is correct for a serial number of 253277, which probably is a late 1923 rifle. The "-2" though.. would love to see a picture of the serial number. Was the -2 added later, or at the same time.. a good picture could help figure that out.

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Originally Posted by CalhounRR

That is extremely unusual. The receiver ring being stamped 1899 is correct for a serial number of 253277, which probably is a late 1923 rifle. The "-2" though.. would love to see a picture of the serial number. Was the -2 added later, or at the same time.. a good picture could help figure that out.

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I should see him in a few days. I'll get a picture and try to get it posted.

To explain the 1899 stamp... Savage started doing that in late 1920 and kept doing it up until 1927. Which is really confusing, because 1921 is when they renamed them to the model 99. So it is a model 99 even though it's stamped 1899. Just FYI.

Got a pic if I can figure out how to post it.

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Originally Posted by stickp

Got a pic if I can figure out how to post it.

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https://www.savageshooters.com/showt...-(All-Members)

https://i.postimg.cc/Z5nyP0Ym/3100.jpg

Let's try this. Thanks for the link Baker. Definitely a different font for the 2.

Yeah, that was added after it was made. Why is the question.. and I have no reasonable guesses for that. Wild guess might be that Savage stamped the same serial number on 2 guns and one owner ended up with both guns. Then at a later point had the "-2" added. Duplicate numbered Savage 99's are ridiculously rare, and the odds of one owner ending up with both guns is even far more unlikely. I've only ever seen 2 99's with the same serial number together.

We've seen lots of guns reworked at the factory and none had anything like that, so can probably remove that possibility.

I'd consider the reason as unknown. Next time you see it, you might look under the forearm and on the buttplate/buttstock for the serial numbers stamped there. Betting there won't be a -2 on them.

Thanks for the reply. I will check for the other numbers as soon as I get a chance.