Christmas came early a Savage Model 99

Like the title said Christmas came early. I've been looking for a good deal on an older walnut stocked Savage model 99 in of all calibers .300 Savage. Well today I went to the local gun show and low and behold there it was. Noted the rifle was in about 80% condition as the bluing had wear as well as the stock, but it was in excellent condition, and very restorable. No cracks, or heavy scratches, just normal wear. The asking price was $425.00, so naturally I asked to see it. Noted the lever was color case hardened, and at least 70% of it was still visible. In checking the bore I noted it to be extremely dirty and difficult to decipher the condition of the lands and grooves. So therefore I asked the gentleman what his bottom price was, and he asked me what I would be interested in paying. I stated $300,00 and he countered with $325.00. So the rest is history. Once I got it home I ran a bronze brush thru the bore and that puppy just shined like a diamond, with sharp lands and grooves throughout. Anyway below are a few photos of the rifle btw it was made in 1930, and the wood to metal fit is about the best I've seen on a production gun.

The .308 is definitely a much more desirable cartridge thanks in part to the M-14 rifle and the over all ballistics, the problem is I started reloading for the 300 Savage about 20 years ago for a good friend and still had the reloading dies, and empty casings. Kind of like having a bullet for a particular rifle and having to get that rifle just for the heck of it, know what I mean. BTW I'm a collector so to speak, and I didn't have a Model 99 in my collection, hope that makes some sense.

Now I'm waiting to take that rifle out to my personal range, if that darn wind would ever stop blowing. Today I took it completely apart and noted very little wear on the inner workings, probably the reason the bore is so pristine. Looks to me that the guy that owned it before me, probably used it once a year for deer hunting, and it sat in the closet the rest of the year. Like I mentioned before it has some wear on the receiver (bluing) and there were a few scratches on the wood, fore end, and stock, but other than that the firearm is basically very sound and clean, once that bore was swabbed out.

BTW folks thanks for all the nice comments.

Really a good looking rifle there Charliefrank, do like the crescent shaped butt plate, do you have any idea what the year of manufacture was? Mine also has the steel butt plate, which cleaned up really well, just surface rust from sitting for so long, incidentally mine (butt plate) isn't as pronounced as yours.

Unfortunately the wind today is as bad or worse than it has been, seems like every time I get a new rifle something like this comes up. Wonder if the anti gun gods are trying to tell me something? Thank God I'm retired, so once they cease a little bit, I'll be out there, and a range report will be forth coming. Meanwhile I'll just have to keep reloading some cartridges for that day.

Riomouse911, that .308 is a great caliber, back in 1974, I hunted mule deer with a good buddy that had one in that caliber, in fact he shot two mule deer that year, one in Arizona, and one in Northern California both very respectable size with one shot kills. I didn't do too bad that year myself, with a record Muley in Arizona, but with my Remington 700BDL in .270. His rifle had a scope on it as I recall, so I'm going to have to try and get a hold of him and find out if he recalls what mount, as I noted mine had been drilled and tapped for a scope, however, the holes had little screws installed probably at the factory, and they don't look like they've ever been removed. Sorry to hear you got rid of yours.