Christmas came early a Savage Model 99

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loose noose said:
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.
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I'll check when I get back to the house. It's old though, passed down to my wife from her dad who got it from his dad
 
loose noose said:
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.
Click to expand...
 
Charliefrank, excellent photo of an excellent rifle, according to the crescent butt plate, and the inscribing on the barrel, it would appear to be one of the forerunners of the Savage Model 99 probably produced in late 1899 or early 1900's. I'd try getting a hold of Savage along with the serial number and check it out, very interesting rifle for sure. The patent date states Feb. 7th 1893, 6 years before the model 99 came into existence, definitely worth checking out. BTW I'm no expert in dating a rifle, I found mine was manufactured in 1930 by inquiring of a friend who has the old serial numbers listed in a pamphlet from Savage years ago. BTW the serial number on my rifle is on the bottom of the receiver near the breech.
 
loose noose

Likewise congrats and Merry Christmas on getting a great rifle at a very decent price! To me the Savage Model 99 is one of the all-time classic American hunting rifles.
 
Congratulations loose noose on a great rifle at a great price! I hope it's a great shooter. My wife's Grandpa had one in 300 Savage when I hunted with him 40 + years ago. It got "lost" somewhere when he died 30 years or so ago and I have been keeping my eye out for one. I've been looking for one for quite a while but have not seen any in good shape for anywhere near that price. I have the same farm he did so having one for deer hunting and such would be very nostalgic.
 
Thanks Vlad, sorry to hear about your double loss, the first time I came in contact with one was back in 1974 on an Arizona deer hunt. A good buddy of mine, had one in .308 with a Leopold Scope on it. He did really well with that rifle as I remember.

Fact of the matter is, I waited to the last day of the local gun show before I even went to it, and the first used gun table I went to had the rifle displayed. No one was around the table at the time, so I could inspect it further, so I decided I'd look around for awhile. Well to make a long story even longer, about an hour later, not finding anything of interest, I went back to that same table, and again no one was back there. This time I asked a gentleman near the table if he knew where the guy/gal was that had the table, to which he referred me to the guy that was over talking to the people at the ticket booth. Like I said the rest is history and I came home with a very nice rifle, as the pictures testify.
 
Incidentally that dang wind is still blowing in gusts up to 35-40MPH so still no range report. I've been able to reload 60 rounds (10 rounds each) for it in 6 different variations using IMR3031, and H335 powders. At this time I don't have any Varget, which according to the reloading manual is supposed to be the "most accurate" load, however I don't like using a compressed charge of any powder do to the possibility of making a big mess, if you know what I mean.
 
A diamond in the rough! You have what others would like to have. Congrats..................
The 99 is a treasure. Clean that puppy up and enjoy!
 
I picked up a 99 this summer... it looked rough but cleaned up really well for a hunting gun from 1927. I did not know much at all about the savage 99 although I have seen them forever. My neighbor had one he just got from a relative- they are not gun folk and it was a 30-30 I reload for the 30-30 already and thought hat the heck. I said I would give him 200 not knowing if it would clean up or not... he was ecstatic... it cleaned up well and turns out it is a take down model to bot :) I have not shot it yet but plan to as I get my reloading room/benches redone. She sure does point n handle nice. I did not realize how collectable these are... and how much they are going for...
 
tallpaul, sounds like you really got yourself a great deal, and it is a takedown model at that, congratulations. I do like the way they point, they just feel natural if you know what I mean, and that lever is so smooth no hitch to it at all, and the lock up is fantastic. BTW the wind is still blowing (7 days straight) so I'm chomping at the bits to get out to the range, I've reloaded just about every round I have in different configurations, so if only that dang wind would let up, I'd be out there.
 
Well I do know the rifle does shoot, went out to the range bright and early this morning, and loaded up with 3 rounds of 150grn. IMR3031, and after firing the first two rounds at 100 yards the target blew off the stand, and the 3rd round went where the paper used to be. I couldn't even set the chronograph up because of the wind. Eight straight days of wind is about all I can stand. BTW that was all the shooting I did, mostly just to make sure it would fire, and it did. the first two rounds went within 2" of each other right at the bull. I'm sure the wind had something to do with it though, at least I do know the rifle will shoot.
 
I understand the pointability for sure... definitely a classic!




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Great looking rifle there taulpaul, I also reload for the 30-30, a very versatile caliber especially in the Savage 99. Man and I thought I got a great deal..
 
Well, I finally got a chance to go out and shoot that 99, with the use of a bench and a chronograph early this morning. Still had some wind but not as bad as it has been the last 10 days. (5-15MPH) The first 3 rounds (that acceptable) were 38,0 grains of H335 with an average velocity of 2492FPS and the first two rounds went within 3/4" of each other and the 3rd opened up the group to 1 3/4". Note all the projectiles were at an OAL of 2.600" using the 150 grain Speer Mag Tip. Next using 38.5 grains of IMR 3031 they averaged a velocity of 2494FPS, however the accuracy fell to just under 4" groups. Note both loads were grouping in the upper right hand corner of the target. (not sure if the wind had any affect on the trajectory or not as all testing was done at 100 yards and all listed loads were carefully worked up and only the best were printed. Now getting to the last of my usable loads I checked the Hornady Factory loadings which were 150grain Hornady JSP. The three rounds I fired in two separate shootings all grouped in just under 2", to which I was quite pleased for factory ammo. BTW I'm sure some of you are thinking why only 3 round groupings, well this is definitely a hunting rifle, and anything more that 3 shots is in my opinion unethical at any type of edible game, also why only 100 yards, well I don't have a scope on it yet and my old eyes aren't the best any more.

I do believe I'll be using and developing the H335 powder with the 150 grain Mag Tip bullet for any type of hunting I'll be doing with it in the future, as I did work up to it, as I did do some shooting with the lesser loads before I got to the "first three rounds that were acceptable". I do love this rifle, and what an adventure it is reloading for it. I do want to get some Varget powder also prior to settling on any load. In case anyone was wondering it was consistently shooting 5" high and 5" to the right.
 
To those who have never shot a 99, they have no idea what they are missing. To those who have, there is a reason the search goes on ... :D

Noose, you dun extremely well. That was/is a deal :D

That rifle was not used and abused because Sav 300 was not a cheap throw away round. Real shooters used it to hunt. No excess paper punching, etc. One reason the old 99's are still solid and tight, they were hunter rifles, not range toys. Maybe 5~6 rounds a year. REALLY good steel in the barrels and good rifling. Look at the muzzle and make sure it never got dropped. A ding will drive you crazy. Once fixed it'll be 1"+ a bit at 100 yds easy (my bet anyway :D ).
 
BrocLuno, the crown on the muzzle is in excellent condition, I doubt seriously if it was ever dropped, primarily due to the over all condition of the rifle. You definitely have that right about any one who has never shot a Savage Model 99 have no idea what they are missing. It truly is a sweet shooting rifle, I'm sure I'm going to have to adjust the rear sight to bring it over and down just a bit, but it is already shooting a 1" and a bit more (3/4") with hand loads just thrown together, with my 70 year old eyes that ain't too bad.:)
 
I'm still trying to get my dad to let me have his 99C in .308. He hasn't shot it since the '70s. It's a decade since it's case has even been opened.
 
My 99 in 300 Savage shoots the best with 4064, but Varget is a close second. I've loaded from 110 grain spitzers to 165 and using a standard page printed target I get 90% of the loads on paper at 100 yards without trying too hard. I shhot 'cause I like to shoot, not so much for minute of deer as for seeing holes in the paper. Like the 300 so much bought a 1952 760 Remington in it too. That shoots almost as good as the Savage, just haven't shot it as much.
 
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