Page 62 - 4094-BOOK2

LOT 1063
Extremely Rare Documented Factory Prototype Panel Scene Engraved
Savage Model 99C Deluxe Lever Action Rifle in .308 Winchester, as Pictured
in “Savage Model 1895, 1899 & 99 Rifles Volume 2, Engraved and Special-
Feature Models” - Serial no. 1096723, 308 Win cal., 22 inch round bbl., blue finish,
deluxe walnut stock. Offered here is an extremely rare and highly attractive factory
panel scene engraved Savage Model 99C rifle, a one off engraving prototype. The
receiver was manufactured c. 1965-1966 according to the production chart on
page 136 of the book “A Collector’s Guide to the Savage 99 Rifle” (2016) by David
Royal. This exact engraving prototype rifle is described and depicted in various
pictures on pages 284-287 of “Savage Model 1895, 1899 & 99 Rifles Volume 2,
Engraved and Special-Feature Models” (2022) by David Royal, in which the book
states, “The author was fortunate enough to get this rifle from Ralph McElwain.
It was produced around the mid-1970s. Roe Clark and some other Savage
employees took an early Model 99C receiver, serial number 1,096,723, and had it
engraved. They then installed a .308-Winchester-caliber Model 99CD barrel and a
high-grade hand-checkered American walnut stock and forearm. They proposed
that the factory put the rifle into production. The factory was in receivership at
the time, and the government auditors wouldn’t allow production of the rifle.”
Features elaborate panel scene engravings consisting of an elk on the left side of
the receiver, a mountain lion on the right, with the base of the magazine depicting
a deer, and floral scroll patterns and border pattern engraving on the receiver
and lever. Although unsigned, the engraving on this rifle appears to be the work
of Master Engraver Joseph Fugger. His work can be seen on another example
of a signed and engraved Savage Model 99 rifle recently sold by Rock Island
Auction Company (Auction 4093, Lot 30), and other examples of Joseph Fugger’s
engraving are also pictured on pages 45-46 of “Gun Engraving Review” by E.C.
Prudhomme. Austrian born, Fugger trained in Ferlach and worked for renowned
Master Engraver Rudolph Kornbrath. From the late 1920s to 1960 Fugger was the
in house engraver for Griffin & Howe and Abercrombie & Fitch. Fugger has been
called “the unsurpassed engraver of his generation in the U.S.” Various similar types
of factory engraved Savage Model 99 rifles are pictured on pages 97-99, 108-109,
and 118-122 of Royal’s 2016 published book. The upper left chamber area of the
receiver is marked “SAVAGE/MODEL 99C” in two lines.
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