How can you tell the age of a Savage 219C?

Answer 1

Barrels were marked 219, frames were marked 219, 219B, 219C, 219D. Barrel and frame may not have come from the factory as you find one. However, after 1947 the 219 was actually the 219B and used a new cocking mechanism which disallowed a 219 barrel to fire on all later models. The later models were made from 1948 to 1968

219 was made from 1937 to 1946. Essentially, all these models are very similar except for cocking. 219 barrels wont work of later models and later model barrels wont work on the 219.

Precisely why the letter "C" is used in the model number is a mystery. One 219C barrel was made in a 20" length. This might explain the "C", however standard barrel length on all models was 26".