RCA has been much discussed over the years on the Savage forum, for obvious reasons along with Harry Caldwell who Savage used to promote the 22 Hipower's exaggerated efficacy. Below find some information made available over the years. It skips around a little bit but I did not want to make edits. A lot of information about the model 1920 and improved 20/26. Apologies in advance if anyone takes issue with copy/paste from another forum.
RCA was a serious Savage shooter! He took 1899s on his 1st and 2nd Asiatic Expeditions and 1920s on his 3rd Asiatic Expedition. I have the SNs of 4 1920s that were send by Savage to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, with 1 specifically to the attention of RCA.
RCA hunted/explored with the missionary who shot tigers with the 22 HP, Harry Caldwell. Caldwell's book, Blue Tiger, is an interesting read. RCA's books, Camps and Trails in China, Across the Mongolian Plains, and Ends of the Earth are also interesting reads. RCA was a man's man who took names and kicked a$$. His exploits are reputed to be the basis for George Lucas' Indiana Jones character.
The shooter in the pictures below was a Methodist(?) missionary in China, Harry Caldwell. IIRC, Roy Chapman Andrews hunted with Caldwell in pre-1920 China, before RCA traded his 1899 250-3000 rifle for a 1920. Caldwell wrote a book about hunting tigers in China titled, IIRC, "Blue Tiger". I think that Rev. Caldwell shot tigers with a 303 Savage 99 prior to getting a 22 HP.
If you "google" RCA, there is a picture of him sitting and holding a rifle at an angle. In a good copy of the picture, you can see by the front sight and forearm that it is a Savage product and by his knee, you can see that it is a bolt action rifle, RCA's 1920.
Jeff
- Chapman2.jpg (45.68 KiB) Viewed 12972 times
PS - According to the Savage records, 3 of the 4 rifles sent to the AMoNH for the 3rd AE were chambered in 300 Savage.
A few of the differences between the 1920 and Improved 20/26 are:
1920s were cataloged with:
1. Featherweight barrels in 250-3000 (22") and 300 (24").
2. The barrel were dovetail for an open rear sight.
3. The front sights were pinned blades in short integral ramps.
4. The bolt handles come off the bolt body at about 90-degrees.
5. The stocks always have a capped pistol grip and a slender forearm with a pronounced schnable.
Improved 20/26s were cataloged with:
1. Medium weight 24" barrels in 250-3000 and 300.
2. The barrels weren't dovetail for an open rear sight, as the factory specs rear sight is a Lyman #54 installed on the bolt shroud.
3. The front sights were originally a pinned blade in a longer integral ramp. In 1928(?) the front sight was changed to a dovetail sight in an integral ramp.
4. The bolt handle comes off the bolt body at about 90-degrees, but is swept back to the rear.
5. The stocks don't have a capped pistol grip and are heavier/larger with a less pronounced schnable.
As with all things Savage, there are some mix of parts at the point of transition and at the end of the production run in 1928/1929.
260 Remguy said:
This information was given to me by Mr. Clark in his letter, dated March 24, 1993.
"The following Savage 1920s were shipped to the American Museum of Natural History, 3rd Asiatic Expedition, on December 17, 1920; #5575, #5742, and #5747.
#5640, in 300 Savage, shipped "Special Attention, Roy Chapman Andrews", on January 19, 1922."
Also in that letter was this information:
"The first Improved Model 1920 rifle with larger forearm and barrel and the Lyman #54 sight (as standard), without the rear sight slot, came through our production of 06/17/26. However, the first 100 or so will be marked "Improved" before the serial number."
The letter from Mr. Clark reports that my Savage 20/26, # 10594, was accepted on 06/17/26 and shipped to Harry Harrison on the same day. Mr. Clark also notes that the word "Improved" was listed in the log entry.
Jeff
In the larger pictures, you can clearly see the trigger guard and it is certainly a bolt action rifle, not a Savage 99. The only Savage bolt action rifle with that front sight and schnable which RCA could possibly have used in China and Mongolia was the 1920. Therefore, I think that it is highly likely, using deductive reasoning, that the rifle RCA is holding in that picture was 1 of the 4 rifles shipped to the AMoNH.
China and Mongolia closed their borders to archaeologist in the mid-1920s, there wasn't a 4th Asiatic Expedition, so it couldn't have been a 40/45 Super Sporter
