Figuring out manufacturing date of Savage 77 (no letter0

Almost 20 yrs ago I bought a Savage 77 12 Gauge from a young Airman I used to supervise and, during a change of assignments, noticed there wasn't a serial number on it. Decided to resume the research to find out how old this shotgun might be, aware it was around 1965 when a S/N was added. Learned the letter after the 77 indicates the year manufactured (77A= 1949, 77B=1951, etc.) but there is no letter after 77. What is identifiable appears to be an 8F within a circle. Could this be the identifier showing it was made in the early 1960s?

Thanks!

Doug

Yep, that's a date code, the F stands for 1954.