I purchased a 75th Anniversary Commemorative 99 in .308 a few years ago. Right off the bat I thought it was too gaudy. Just too much bling for me. Second, I did not like the gold lever. Third, I felt that the stock, much like many of the 99's manufactured toward the end of their era was far too clunky. Kind of like they were in a hurry and did little hand-fitting. Keep in mind that I wanted mine to hunt with. I bought it new-in-box, but like some of you, I am not going to let my wonderful 99's collect dust just so somebody who inherits them after I am gone can sell them for top dollar. I want to use mine. I sent my stock off to Dennis Pritchard, the best stock guy for 99's that I have ever met. He fine-tuned my clunky stock, into something that Arthur Savage would have appreciated. Will post a photo in a bit as I think it turned out nicely. For the caliber, I agree. It should have at least been a .300 Savage even if the era for such a gun was wrong given the 1895 v/s .300 did not exist at same time. That said, like I mentioned I shoot mine and even with factory ammo, it is a tack driver but .308 is a very accurate caliber in just about any gun. Going forward I plan to have the gold colored (plated I think) lever buffed off and take it to Doug Turnbull to be case colored. When done, it won't be original but will be a shooter that will make a pretty sweet elk-stick. Thoughts?
