Firearms trivia question April 17th

[Float Pilot]

DATE: Mid 1890s,
PLACE: USA

A little-known fact is that Marlin made the first 8,000 or so __________________(the predecessor to the ________model ____ Rifle). It seems that _________ had the rifle design, but did not have the manufacturing capabilities, so he contracted this work out to Marlin. These rifles can be identified by the "JM" that they have stamped on the bottom side of the barrel.


What famous gunmaker contracted with Marlin around 1895 to make the first 8,000 lever rifles for them?

[Matt M]

Stab in the Dark...

Browning

Matt

[Louis]

How about Savage 1895, Predecessor to the Savage 99?

[Float Pilot]

Louis Knapp

how about savage 1895, predecessor to the savage 99?

You sir,, are the winner!

[Louis]

Cool! Nice to win now and then! I have a Savage 99a, although it's in the newfangled
.308 caliber. What caliber did the Savage 95 originally appear in? This is not a trivia question since I don't know the answer..Louis

[mauserboy]

Model 95

30-40 Krag

[Float Pilot]

The standard features of the Savage 1895 (not to be confused with the Winchester model 1895 lever action or the 1895 Lee Navy Sraight Pull Rifle built by Winchester) including the unique cocking indicator hole on the top of the bolt...not found on Model 1899's. It also had the early style recessed bolt face and rotary magazine cartridge counter numbered 0 to 5 on left side of the frame.

CALIBER .303 Savage

The Model 1895 SAVAGE (Made by MARLIN) was lengthened from the 1893 prototype to accept the .303 Savage cartridge. This round, not to be confused with the .303 British, was obviously intended as a direct competitor to Winchester's .30-30, and is similar in size, though the neck is considerably longer. The Savage round also was loaded with a 190-gr. bullet, which was thought at the time to give it a slight ballistic edge over the .30-30.

BTW, I believe the 303 Savage was really a 30 caliber.

Savage offered a conversion service to upgrade the Model 1895 to Model 1899 standard. For $5, the owner could get a new breechblock, indicator, sear, firing pin, hammer, extractor and retractor. So some old 95s may now look like model 99s.

Savage offered rifles in .303 Savage until World War II.
By 1905, the Model 1899 was offered in four Winchester calibers-.25-35, .30-30, .32-40 and .38-55.
In 1912, Savage necked down the .25-35 to take a .228" bullet and created the .22 Savage High Power.

In 1913 or 1914 the Charles Newton designed the .250 Savage or .250-3000, which replaced the .25-35. Newton had intended for his cartridge to drive a 100-gr. bullet at 2850 f.p.s., but , the marketing department got in the act, arguing that 3000 f.p.s. was a magic number. So they cut the bullet weight to 87 grains.

In 1920 Savage introduced the .300 Savage., a round intended to produce .30-'06 ballistics in the Model 1899. This was accomplished by specifying a sharp 30 degree shoulder angle and short neck to maximize case capacity. While the '06 still holds the edge, the .300 Sav. came close,(at the time) and was an improvement over the .303 Sav. and .30-30.

The 300 Savage became the basis for the 308 Winchester (7.62 NATO) some 30 years later.