All the Savage/Stevens guns from 1948 to 1968 were date coded on the bottom of the action with a crude letter/number stamp inside a circle or oval either just in front of the trigger guard or just back of the action break. 'A' represents 1948, and each successive letter represents the next year. 'O' and 'Q' were not used, probably because of the similarity. After 1968 the guns were all serial numbered as required by the Gun Control Act...Geo
Everything I've ever seen says it starts with "A" in 1949 and ends with "X" in 1970. No "O" or "Q":
http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/stevens_date_code.htm
