Old Savage

Silent Sam - nice... That ol' rifle shoots well!

A 99 in .300 Savage is so very cool.

The .308 Win might make more sense, as I've got so much .308 brass, but the 300 Savage is just great!

Guy
 
Understand the brass thing. But I prefer the 300 in the 99. Have to load it different anyway and the 300 was made for the rifle. 308 is a younger cousin that the rifle was adapted to. Haven't reloaded for mine yet. I bought a box of Federal ammo when I got the rifle and it shot it so well I went back and bought all the boxes they had. Just making brass now. I won't say what I paid for the rifle, but I added the Marble's tang sight and that cost more than the rifle did. It will group tighter with a target aperture but unless it's high noon on a sunny day there's not enough light for my eyes. Sighting in was easy. I just lined the peep up with the the barrel sights. It's drilled & tapped for a scope (not factory), has an aftermarket butt pad and the compass hole is filled in on the stock, so it's no collector. I'm actually happy about that though because it deserves to be out hunting and I really enjoy carrying it.
 
I picked up a M99 from my B-L who got it on a tarde. He had no idea what it was. He just said "Look what I got". After a few years and a pile of coyotes he finally let me buy it from him. It had a split stock, I replaced it and refinished the new wood to match (close). It's a 300Sav and the model is about the same year my grandfather had - early '50s. This gun was been drilled and scoped...... oh well. I put a Leu 3x9x40 on it and it shots very well for an old gun with factory ammo.
 
Well... A very cool box of 100 ancient Speer .228" 70 grain round nose bullets showed up today... (y)

Thanks Filmjunkie/Dale!

Starting to have dreams of chasing a puma, with hounds, and dispatching the big cat with this ol' Savage!

Guy
 
I wanted one and looked for a long time before I found mine. If you want a collector piece they are relatively easy to find but you will likely pay for the privilege. I saw a lot of them beat up and overpriced at shows. Many with split wrists. Then one day I walked into a local shop and they had bought a whole estate collection and were just trying to liquidate everything and clear a profit on the bunch. There, kind of buried in a rack of 30 some rifles was an old 99. I couldn't believe it at first. I went out and checked the numbers on it to find out exactly what it was and went straight back in and bought it. It wasn't "collector" grade but neither was the price. I wanted a shooter anyway. It was drilled & tapped post factory (holes were properly plugged) and had a replacement butt pad on it. Bluing was worn especially the action where it is carried but the stock and factory sights were solid. The color case on the lever was beautiful. None of the screws were boogered up. It was hunting rifle that had had been hunted but not abused. The owner agreed that if it didn't cycle and fire properly I could bring it back. So I bought it along with a box of Federal 150gr soft points they had on the shelf. They had five or six boxes of that batch of 300 Savage ammo. I should have bought a lottery ticket that day. After I shot it I went back and bought them all. It shot into about two inches about an inch and a half high, dead center at 100yds with the factory irons. I didn't touch the sights other than dusting them off. I went and found a tang sight online and ordered it immediately. At home I installed the tang sight and set it aligned with the flip up irons. Next range session I played around with apertures to decide what was useable for hunting. With a small aperture it would put the whole magazine into less than an inch centered at an inch and a half high. Those loads chrono'd at 2650fps with a very low ES.

And just to rub it in... the hang tag price at the shop was $125.
 
That's a great shooting 300. I need to pull my grandfathers out of the safe and run some rounds through it. It is a fun rifle to shoot and it pretty accurate as well. Can't beat the way it carries.
 
Silent Sam - Some guys have all the luck!!!

I have two of these rifles personally (one in .300 Savage and one in .308 WCF) and there are probably a dozen or so altogether in my family. Many of them still see regular use for hunting. They are a solid made rifle and frankly with CNC manufacturing being better than ever, I can't see why Savage wouldn't bring back their former flagship rifle.

I for one would love a new Savage 99 in .284 Winchester! :)

And Guy, enjoy those bullets. Unfortunately there are only two of the .22 Savage Hi-Power rifles in the family these days. S&B out of Europe still sells factory ammo through Old West Scrounger as 5.6x52R if you ever run out of bullets or brass!

Dale
 
I had one a 1959 EG in .308 that the wrist was cracked and I repaired it and sold it. I couldn't use the fine open sights that were on it and didn't care for a scope mounted on it since my chin would have been on top of the comb. I don't know how the original owner shot it with a scope on it. I'm really not knocking them since they were a great rifle just not one that tripped my switch.
 
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