He likes Beretta's...he doesn't know what you speak of.
B-man, they're made in the day when the craftsman and labor type folks took pride in what they built. As the evidence show's that they're still around to this day, many over 100 years old. If they were even taken care of a little bit, they're typically in fine working order and the bluing is wore like it should be, with that perfect patina, the brass rotary magazine shows wear but not enough to function poorly. The hardwood stock has a few dings and maybe even the famous crack on the tang...probably repaired 53 years ago.
When you grab one with a few nicks in the wood, and bluing wore off the barrel and receiver in certain areas you wonder of the stories it tells, and the shoulders the worn leather sling has been on.
The campfires it's been by...the deer it's shot and more interestingly, the one's it's missed.
Has it been in the CO mountains on a frosty October morning listening to the herd bull bugle up his harem?
Has it seen a snowy November morning in the Adirondacks with a fat forked-horn buck sneaking through the spruce with his nose to the ground?
Would it tell you about the chik-a-dee that landed on its front site while it was held perfectly still at sunrise on the PA deer opener because leaves crunched on the hillside below?
What could it tell us about when it was in the rack of a MN deer camp with the cigar filled room with the smell of whiskey and Birch wood smoke?
A good thought Tom. I can back this up. I've spent many a Pennsylvania opener perched high up on the mountain above our camp. We always called the chickadees deer birds, and they were always thought of as a harbinger of good things to come, and yes, I've had them sitting on my 99's barrel before-even one that landed on the bill of my cap. Up here, I've had them around me too, as well as the Whiskey Jacks, Camp Robbers, or Canadian Jays, as they're more commonly know. 'Made the mistake of feeding a Jack one time. I was stuck with him all day. He followed me all over the woods whining for more.
As for the lore of the 99, my dad created my addiction for this classic gun. Dad killed a lot of deer with his 99. If an old WW II infantryman thought this was a good gun, I sure wasn't going to question that wisdom. I've owned several over the years, and ended up with a 99 that belonged to a member of our camp in Pennsylvania. He sold it to me after he quit hunting, and I've never looked back. Of course, it wears the pre-requisite Weaver K-4. Out east, this is standard fare for the Pennsylvania boys.
Most of the 99's I had were working man's guns-grey rats if you will. Every one of them worked flawlessly, and were very accurate by minute of deer standards. A 250-3000 that I let go still haunts me. Wish I'd have kept that one. Pick up a 94 and then pick up a 99 and it won't take long to see the difference. A good 336 is a darned nice gun, but it sure ain't and never will be made like a 99.
