A lot of how the 1899/99 transition came around has a lot to do with Doug Murrays book. He more or less gave them an identification because way back when there was no such thing as a model 1899A, it was more of an 1899 round barrel, octagon barrel or half octagon barrel in the earlier catalogs.
Needless to say it was Savage that shortened the term 1899 to 99 in the early 1920's IIRC but it's confusing because some early guns were still marked 1899 yet the same model later on was stamped 99. I think if you were to find a rifle with a manufacture date in the mid 20's on up it will be marked 99 but right now I can't remember the exact year due to age and brain fart.
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