I picked up a Savage 99 with a Weaver pivot/swingover style base and ring set, and was curious if anyone has any experience with this style. How repeatable is this set up, and do you see much shift in point of aim when rotating the scope out of the way?

Jason280.

I have Weaver Pivot mounts on many of my tapped 99's. I have never had a problem with the guns losing their "zero" when the scope is pivoted to the side and returned to the top (locked) position. Many people dislike these mounts because there is the possibility that the scope could be jarred from its locked position and there's nothing worse than pulling a rifle up and having the crosshairs canted because the scope is not locked. I just check the scope before leaving the house or car (depending on the situation) to make sure it's locked, just as I make sure the scope magnification is set to a lower power, so I don't pull the rifle up to find it on 9x power. Snaping it in to place does make a "click" noise and it's something I prefer not to do in my treestand while hunting.

My brother prefers shoot thru bases (i forget what brand), so he can switch to open sights without having to pivot the scope. I don't like them because i feel they put the scope too high on what is normally a low profile, relatively sleek rifle.

Still others prefer the one piece (Leupold, Redfield, etc.) scope mounts which are surely the strongest, but offer no option for open sights should the need arise (at least without breaking out a screwdriver).

I hope this helps. If you decide not to keep them, you could always sell them on ebay for about $20-25 for the rings and bases. Good Luck & happy hunting. -TomT

Tom,

Thanks for the info. I believe the bases/ring set is probably the original set purchased with the gun. The rifle is a '63 model, and I do believe the pivot mounts were available at the time. I've been debating on changing them over, but I have to admit I like the uniqueness as you simply don't see them anymore.

I have had the pivot mounts on 2 different 99s and I do not see the point in having them. I could not see the iron sights good enough to make them useable when the scope was pivoted to the side. IMO the Weaver pivot mounts are useless.

Mike

I had and used a set of Weaver pivot mounts on my pre-'64 Model 70 in .338 Winchester magnum and they always returned to "zero" if I pivoted the scope off to check the iron sights... and then back "on" to check the scope sights to be sure both sights were "on target"... and they always were.

Jus' my 2¢..........


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I had one of those mounts on a 760 in 300 Savage. It worked fine for the scope, but as mentioned earlier it didn't allow use of the metalic sights. I ditched it for a plain Weaver base, because otherwise all the cool kids would have pointed and laughed.

I've used them, but never needed the irons until I didn't have them. Of course. Tasco made a one piece base with swing over rings very similar in concept, had one of those as well, seemed well made.

When I grew up in the late 60's, deer were commonly hunted with dogs in East Texas. This area was typically VERY thick brush and shots were close (under 50 yards) and fast!! The most common firearm was a shotgun loaded with buckshot with the few rifles used being open sighted lever actions or pumps.

As time went by, stands began to be used in the morning and evening hours (dogs were run in the middle of the day still) and the advantages of scopes were recognized. The problem was that almost no one (there was ONE outstanding exception in our group) wanted a scoped rifle when running dogs.

The deer were just too hard to pick up quickly in the scope and due to the fact that early scopes were often not as reliable as today.....no one really trusted them to not fail at a critical time. Those early scopes were believed to be fragile and too often tended to fog up in bad weather. Additionally, I don't know how many remember when the crosshairs of scopes were NOT centered, but many times the aiming point was off to one side and above or below center.......not an aid in fast shooting.

For this reason, ALL rifles carried open sights and scopes were mounted to give access to those sights. Various see-through mounts as well as different detachable mounts were popular......but the most used were the "swing" mounts giving instant use of the open sights, but allowing for swinging the scope in place if a standing shot was offered.

I found it interesting when reading an article several years ago (can't remember when or what magazine) where the author tested the repeatability of 8 or 9 different detachable scope mounts (some were VERY expensive too). He stated in the article that he had an older rifle that had the Weaver swing mounts and basically threw it into the test for kicks. Low and behold.....when the dust settled, that old Weaver swing mount beat out every other mount tested.....several times as the author repeated the test to confirm the original results.

I have used the swing mounts for more than 40 years and have never seen one fail or show signs of losing zero. In fact, to me, the Savage 99 just looks right with those mounts in place and I buy up every one I find.

I've actually only "needed" the swing feature a couple of times (mostly due to rain water on the scope lens), but it's good to know it's there......and it does work.

You must have some tall irons if you can see them over the mount bases , I couldn't on the two I had.

Mike

With a Marble tang sight & Pachymer swing down scope mount, it's no big deal to use either, and the Pachymer has always locked up at zero when swung back in place.

Richard