Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Lightfoot Mount Update

Jay Ward posted on FB but couldn't get logged in here for some reason.

He has met with a bunch of machine shops and has it narrowed down to 3 candidates. He will be working on a deal with the best choice once he wades through the details.

Encouraged by the forward motion though!

Will keep ya' tuned in.

Thanks Mike, I could use another one!

Pretty amazing there is enough demand to keep them around the same price they were before?

AWESOME!

Just means my original Lightfoot mount on my cheese rat HP 22 QUADRUPLES it's value!

WOO HOO!

Also, seeing how it was THE LAST ONE...

Seems ridiculous now, but maybe Mr. Lightfoot could put that in writing for you to provide provenance for future generations of 99 collectors. Otherwise, it will just be another story lost to history.

Good point. I was the last of 2 available, so I know it was the last HP22 mount, as that was different than the others. Unfortunately I don't have the emails that went back and forth. If he wishes to provide that provenance, that would be great, but I am glad it is an original.

I do have the PM's from him.

Thanks for all you do lightfoot.

I hope you have a good holiday season.

John

Jay Ward is the hero here for picking up the baton!

No mention of pricing yet since that will be driven by production costs. Fingers crossed... (I worked way too cheap)

Blitz, I checked the emails and there is no mention of 'the last mount' The proof is in the PMs then. I can 'certify' FWIW.

Thanks to all for your ongoing support!!

i have had many opportunities to sell my Lightfoot mount. it will only be sold when my bride sells all my stuff.
looking forward to gen 2 production.

The only thing you stated was that there were 2 left, I got one of them, the last HP22 version. I don’t recall who got the other one. I’m sure the original posting where you announced you only had 2 left, should have more details.

Never got one. Were they for sale somewhere when produced? For the older non tapped guns, all I have is stith mounts and receiver sights.

My 284 has a Leupold though.

Direct sales to people who wanted to preserve the value of their precious 99s. In the beginning most were bought through Campfire contacts. Later it moved to Facebook and kinda blew up.

You contacted me once about a sale to Mike Horstman.

Mike you did a great service to all, going to a machine shop will increase price by +++++++

Jay Ward's update on his quest to ressurect the no-drill Lightfoot mount for the Savage 99:

"Lightfoot update…. I don’t have any breaking news for this week. However I have met virtually with about 30 engineer and machine shops over the last several days. Some local to the NoVA area and some in other parts of the country. I have narrowed it down to 3 groups and will be meeting with them in person over the next week. I am having problems getting into the 24 Hour Campfire to post this update. If someone who is able to get on, wouldn’t mind adding this update there, I would appreciate it."

You can find Jay on Facebook by searching for "Savage 99 Club".

Kind of curious, last I knew 'gnoahh' was going to manufacture 'The Lightfoot' mounts. According to this thread a 'Jay Ward' is in the process of doing so. Didn't see any posts where Gary isn't going to do so. Looked back until around Sept on the back pages and didn't see anything. Did I miss some announcement recently. Fine with me whoever does so, but just curious about what was advised on this thread.

I don't like to speak for Gary but he may be busy with other things.

Due to extenuating circumstances it would have been difficult for Gary to do the entire build. He was counting on assistance with the welding and some other items and that is no longer available to him. He and Jay put their heads together and affected a handoff.

I think it will be an incredible solution if Jay can get this into a production environment at an acceptable price. He seems to be the best qualified to put that together and he has all of my support.

True. Add to that physical/health issues that have piled onto me. It's in good hands - Jay's thoughts parallel mine in terms of streamlining manufacturing.

Sounds good that Jay will pick it up. Sorry to hear of your issues Gary, blessings to you on your health.

Newest Lightfoot mount update by Jay Ward:

Lightfoot — Next Steps…….

I have one of the last Lightfoot mounts that Mike Watson produced that Sam Hurt has offered me as a loaner. I will be using that as the starting prototype to be scanned and then leveraging the expertise of a design/mechanical engineer to do some CAD work for a 3D model. From there, I will be doing some reverse engineering and then making some changes to Mikes design. The goal is to have the final 3D dimensional/tolerance drawing and file created. From there work with the machine shop to have the test units produced with a CNC and produced for testing. After some QA/QC testing, then I will look at production batches.

The changes that I am looking to make is to go with a one piece unit to reduce costs. I am also looking to add picatinny rails (Weaver standard) to the front and rear of the mount to offer 99 owners some flexibility on their choice of scope rings. Hopefully I can determine if different materials can be offered - steel, aluminum, and composite among some others.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At this time I can’t provide a price because I still have to get through the design phase and then get quotes from the machine shop for the production batch runs and the quantity being produced in each run.

I have allocated the next week to work the design engineer and exchanging design files with him until we get a good drawing. Hopefully after that, test models can be produced within the following weeks and prior to the holidays.
Once designs are completed, I think I will call this generation the Lightfoot 99 Series II mounts. Why the specific nomenclature? Because I am going to be starting a similar type of mount for the Remington model 14 and 141 model rifles.

I will also look to create a Lightfoot website where orders can be placed and to also provide a history of mount and Mike’s original concepts efforts that he made in producing 650+ models over the years for Savage 99 owners. Once I get through the design phase and then meeting with the machine shop, I should be able to determine the price for the units and then get them posted to the website.

As far as suggestions and inputs for the design, I WILL WELCOME THEM ALL. Please feel free to send me a direct message here on Facebook messenger or you can email me directly at dandeerepgmail.com

Thank you for your patience. Hopefully there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it will all come to fruition soon.