This.
“Savage experienced some hard times shortly after the Model 99 was dropped. Ron Colburn took over the company and made a drastic move to drop every single product except the Model 110. Everybody said he was crazy, but he saved the company. Savage today is healthy, vibrant, and is building good guns.
Once Ron’s brilliance became apparent and Savage began growing and prospering we all asked when he would bring back the Model 99.
“Never,” he said with his Irish brogue. “It’s just too expensive to make because it requires a lot of hand fitting of parts. Besides, the market isn’t there anymore. I wish it wasn’t true, I dearly love the rifle, but that’s reality.””
And this,
“The same question came up with the current owners during a press conference in early 2020 and the Savage folks provided the same answer almost by rote.
Most recently I contacted Jessica Treglia, Sr. Brand Manager at Savage Arms. Here is what she said:
“We have no current plans to bring back the M99. The cost to manufacture this gun would push the price above $1500 and would not be well received by our customers and thus the volume would not cover the cost to tool up to make the rifle. That said, a lever action is not in our current plan but is on the long term one. It will not, however, be a M99.””
https://www.outdoorlife.com/story/guns/life-and-times-of-the-savage-model-99/
Make the notion seem like little more than wishful thinking. I know things change but that was their position just last year.