This is turning into one of those “off-the-wall” projects, but I’m having fun with it so will share it here as I watch the snow come down in buckets outside (and sip on a light whiskey as I feel sorry for the Easter Bunny for having to go out on a night like this). Of all the rifles I’ve ever owned, the one I’ve always enjoyed shooting the most is a Savage 99. That’s the rifle I started hunting with (in a .308) and has always been the first one out of the gun safe for sentimental reasons. Over the last 10 years though, I’ve figured out that it’s also my favorite rifle to carry on long days (it’s light), it feels the most natural and almost intuitive following moving targets (I’m assuming because of its balance), and last but not least, there’s NOTHING more fun than filling the air with lead using a lever action trying to nail a running coyote. When I combine all the above, it’s about the ONLY rifle that comes out of the gun safe anymore for me. The only downside is that it has some limitations in the accuracy department when it comes to long range and repetitive shooting – the thin profile barrel and the “hanger” on the barrel for attaching the forearm effectively precludes its use for those two particular applications (both of which I really enjoy). As a result, when I ran across a “sound but abused” 99 in 308 for the right price a couple years ago, I grabbed it with the intent of trying to make a 99 function as a long range/varmint rifle. My goal was to fix what I think are the 99’s biggest weaknesses (get a stiffer barrel and figure out a better way to attach a forearm) while not screwing up the 99’s weight and balance. I addressed the barrel stiffness and weight issue by swapping the original 24” savage 308 barrel out for a 22” medium-heavy contour carbon fiber barrel, and am hanging the forearm off the 99’s substantial steel on the floor of the action. I ended up paying a 4-6 ounce weight penalty for the carbon fiber barrel, but moved it’s center of gravity back a bit while GREATLY increasing barrel rigidity, so am pleased with that aspect. I think the forearm is going to work out well also. There’s plenty of steal to attach to w/o interfering with the rotary system in the action, so I started carving up a piece of wood to fit tightly to the floor of the action. That actually attached extremely well – better than I expected. Pics will give you a sense as to how that forend attaches, and what it’s going to look like. (I’m working on the piece to fill the gap between forearm and barrel, and will do the fit-up so the barrel free floats – will trim the finished forearm down a bit when it’s complete, but I think it’ll remain somewhat of a beavertail configuration since that’s what feels best in my ham hands.)
Since this rifle will serve as my go-to for whitetail deer, coyotes, wolves, and long-range varmints, I opted to chamber this barrel to a 6mm Creedmoor instead of the 308. Now if the snow and wind would let up for a couple days, I’d take this thing out and shoot it before worrying about finishing it just to satisfy my curiosity, but the weather has been downright nasty since the gunsmith did his magic with the barrel. This may well turn out to be the ugliest “custom” rifle I’ve ever seen, but I’m really liking how it feels and fits so far, so I’ll have no complaints if it shoots how I think it might.
Since this rifle will serve as my go-to for whitetail deer, coyotes, wolves, and long-range varmints, I opted to chamber this barrel to a 6mm Creedmoor instead of the 308. Now if the snow and wind would let up for a couple days, I’d take this thing out and shoot it before worrying about finishing it just to satisfy my curiosity, but the weather has been downright nasty since the gunsmith did his magic with the barrel. This may well turn out to be the ugliest “custom” rifle I’ve ever seen, but I’m really liking how it feels and fits so far, so I’ll have no complaints if it shoots how I think it might.
You're fortunate to have a dad who cares.
