Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors what would you do with a full rat?

300 savage, gray, swiss cheese, compass, and swivels.

Haven't shot it yet.

gotta shoot it first - then decide.

If it shoots pretty good , Id hunt the Heck out of it!

Watch someone else own it.

Wouldn't have brought it home....

Even old Rats need a little lovin now and then. Feed it something good and see how it treats you, Joe.

At first blush I thought "project gun". But with extra holes, and .300 caliber, my next thought was "blechhh". Even a bottom feeder needs to know when to stop feeding.

This.

Consider the purchase price as tuition, and start down the dark road of 99 tinkering.

I think I'm going to agree with Gnoahhh on this. Can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. If you want a cheap beater, one of that cal can usually be had on the cheap in more better shape for a project gun.

Trade it to Fireball and let him work the magic. GW

You feed it bullets til it dies.

did I miss anything in full rat-hood?

Sycamore

Crack rat? (Tang cracks) Sewer rat? (godawful bore) Rubber rat? (recoil pad) Sh*thouse rat? (So bad overall that no one would stop you from dropping it in the outhouse)

tag, save for future reference

haven't looked at it in a while, probably rubber, maybe crack, I'll shoot it in a week or two, good excuse to load a box.

Sycamore

Assuming this is a jab, I'll just say some people don't get it.

If your 99 is beyond restoration, powdercoat it and waterproof your 99 while concealing those extra holes (welded shut), thereby creating a more functional firearm, while opening up a new market of buyers that hunt in foul weather.





If anybody acts cute about it on the internet, laugh all the way to the bank and show them where they can plant their lips.

First, shoot it.

Second, don't put any more money into it unless you just like dinking with project guns that won't give you a return on your money (nothing wrong with that, done it a few times myself just for fun).

If it shoots decent (or very well), either shoot and hunt it as is and enjoy the "character" and thinking about all the hunts it's been on over the last 60-80 years. If it's so bad you're embarassed to be seen with it, do a home reblue and stock refinish. You'll be amazed how many guys will still ooh and aah at the range even over a nicely refinished 99 (hey, my dad/uncle/grandpa/etc hunted with one of those!).

I've taken multiple deer with old, gray ratty 1899's and 99's.. they still hunt fine.

Ain't hardly any blue left on this gun..

Rory! That deer has the bleeds, as my infant nieces used to say!

The rifle on the left was a very rough 99F 358 that I purchased for $400. I put $125 and a few hours tinkering into it and sold it for $1100. Funny stuff.

Bottom line, do whatever the he11 you want with it and enjoy doing it. It's just metal and wood, not gold and diamonds. Weld on it, hammer on it, file and sand away. Make it whatever you want. Build a lamp out of it. Use it for wall art. Make a stair railing out of it.

Mostly the world is full of followers that don't encourage individual thought.

Well, I just love taking old silver, gray whatever color "rats" out. They give you old stinkeye.....that is until you outshoot them....

Then they want one......

But, on the other hand there is a vicarious thrill in using a pretty rifle. If it's an old pretty rifle, then you get to know how your ancestors felt that first day they stepped into the woods with their brand new gun- right before they tripped over a tree root and put the first nick in it. (Shoulda been watching where they were going instead of walking along admiring their gun!)

Can't argue that point and mostly agree, but I try not to dismiss a 1899/99 when it has character marks as it does a certain charm. You wonder about those stories as to how they were obtained. Oh and the part where I should have been watching somewhere else instead of where the deer are, well, that is the story of my life......

If it functions as it should and I do my part and put the bullet where it needs to go, then it is a good rifle.

I pretty much agree. However, this is a "Savage Collectors" sight and the type of alterations occasionally seen here are blasphemous to a true collector, but viewed with a cool factor by others whom don't necessarily view themselves as collectors. Lord knows I've done some things I would rather not bring to lite, but to each his own.

Sycamore - so what are you going to do with it?

It's already not a collector, so no loss.

Fireball 2, I like the way you think!!

Not looking to win any popularity contests are you? I'm pretty sure I like the way you think as well. To each his own.

You could always tell people that the extra holes means your rifle is an example of the ultra rare Super Duper Extra Lightweight 99F that was built for the Swiss division of Speigels! There were only a few prototypes made and since each was hand built each are all a little different - adding to the ultra rarity of the piece.

The big tooth smiley face means I am jerking your chain. Thought you would understand so. Sorry if you were offended. GW

No harm no foul.

I've taken a good bit of heat for doing those so I err on the side of probability.

Since the fad right now is "Black Rifle" I'd make it look like an AR-15 with the picatinny rails and put on a laser, flashlight, red dot sight or maybe an ACOG!

Speaking of picatinny rails does any know of a picatinny rail scope mount that fits the standard factory holes on later 99's. My cousin want's to mount a scope on his 99E that has to go on a picatinny rail. he's gotten into black rifles lately and has an extra scope. David

? Has to go on a Picatinny rail? Why not put standard 1" (or 30mm) rings on and attach it to a standard base? I just went through shopping for a scope for an AR and I don't recall such a beast that was for P'tinny rails exclusively.

It doesn't look like the rail on the bottom of the scope comes off. I don't know what brand. He said it's a really expensive scope. I'm not up much on these things. David

I checked Brownells and Midway. They don't have anything. David

I have the one I acquired from a member here out of curiosity. That has been satisfied.

I'm getting the picatinny rail from Lightfoot. Will post a photo once Dave mounts it on his 99E. He doesn't rush into things so it may be months or years before he does it. On the other hand elk season is rapidly approaching and I'm trying to get him to hunt elk with the 99E. It's a 308 so it has more power than he really needs but it's the only 99 he has. David

I had one of these-not a bit of bluing left on it, stock not cracked, but all dinged up. All it did was look ugly and kill deer. It's been gone for quite a while now, but I bet it's still killing a lot of deer.

What the hell, you could restore it. What is its intended purpose?

A friend of mine bought a later .243 99A just recently. He refinished the stock, reblued it (cold) and tried it out. Keyholes every which way.

After much fooferaw, he found out it was professionally rebored to .260, and it shoots pretty good.

Whoever rebored it neglected to re-mark the barrel, which the rollmark said was .243.

It looks pretty good now, and I suspect that after he tinkers a bit more with it, it's gonna kill a doe or two this fall.

He's got a lot of time and aggravation in it, he might as well get some use out of it.

http://www.missouriwhitetails.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208097

Would you sell it to a crazy guy? If so shoot me a PM and perhaps I can make you some profit.