Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors So I joined the club this weekend

I was in the LGS this weekend, and in the corner was a 99. I asked to see it, and that was that. She is a 99c in .308, looks to be carried a lot and shot a little. The butt plate had rust on it, looks like she was standing in the corner and the floor got wet.

It has a lot of character, and I've been wanting a 99 for awhile.

My question is..... I want to put a period correct scope and rings on it. I want a variable power like 2-7 or 3-9. I'd appreciate some suggestions on both a scope and what to look for, for rings as well. If you something for sale, please let me know.

I like the Redfield widefield, that's what I have on my 1950 99 R in 250-3000. The R is kinda big and I think the widefield looks good on that rifle. I think my dad bought the scope new in 1968, so that would make it period correct for a 99 C. Can't go wrong with a Leupold. I put a big Leupold, 50mm bell on my 1951 R in 300. It looks kinda silly, but I was setting the rifle up for late evening pig hunting, trying to gather as much light as possible and squeeze the last couple minutes out of the day, Joe.

The Redfield is a good period correct scope. Many 99's sport a Weaver 2 pc. base set and Weaver rings with the older Weaver 2x-7x or 3x-9x scopes. I like the old Micro Trac Weavers, but be warned-they're a big scope. Good optics for that period, and mine all hold point of impact very well.

What's the serial number range on the gun? A 99C will date from 1965 to the early 2000's, so period scope will depend.

Put a 3 x 9 Nikon Prostaf on it. Its the best scope for the money, has holdover marks on it, great optics, and looks like any other scope from 1970 to today. I don't think "period correct" really applies to any gun made since 1965, but thats just me. If you were talking 1935 or 1945, that would be a bit different.

I like the Leupold Vari-X II 3X9 from the 80's.

The serial number starts with 1,11xx,xxx

60's then. I'd find a nice Leupold m8 or some such off of ebay, but lots of nice Weavers and Redfields out there.

Screw vintage, put a new Leupold 1.75-6 on it. Do you want it to work right or do you want it to be perty? If you want perty, buy a vintage gun and mount a peep sight on it.

Any ways I prefer the more modern vxr Firedot for hunting woods. The fx series for western hunting. I have some Minox scopes variable power za 5 2 x 10 x40. Very clear very easy to boresight but very very fugly. One scope I bought this winter that has so far suprised the heck out of me is the weaver dangerous game 1.5 x 6 x 24. But it gets a very large central dot at high magnification. After my mule wreck where I ended up breaking my scope I am leaning towards quick detach rings so the fugly scope is easily removed. With my new eyes due to Lasix surgery and the excellent advice from this forum
....I can shoot iron sights better than I ever have.

+1 I love old guns, but old scopes suck. YMMV

Old scopes are what made new scopes possible. If the old manufacturers hadn't pushed the envelope your new scope would probably be a Weaver 60B K4.

I like old guns with period correct optics.

But If you want to make sure that your scope will not let you down on a dark damp morning, use a $200-$300 scope from the 21st century. It will beat any scope from the 1960's That you can afford hands down.

Well stated

Put Weaver mount bases on your 99's. You can see iron sights over them because they are low and many top mounts fit them

I have a 2-7 Leu. on one of my 99's and an old Lyman 4X on another.

But you don't hunt!

So I ended up putting a leupold gloss 4-12 I had kicking around. She's a good shooter, and fun to shoot.

Savage 99- it came with the weaver bases you recommended.

OMG! You must be able to see God with that scope.

Kind of like this one, Joe.

The front of the bell on mine has a half moon cut out of it so it wraps around the barrel to sit lower. It actually uses low mounts. Mines a VX-3L, 3.5-10X50. It's my low light pig gun, Joe.