Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer Savage 99 ?

MD
In your book you mention removing pressure points from the forearm of a Savage 99 to improve accuracy. Do you float the forearm except for the mounting screw area? Do you bed that area? Thanks for the great Books.

Glad you like the books!

The biggie with 99 forends is relieving any pressure on the front of the receiver. When you take the forend off, feel for any pressure from the action. Even if there isn't any, look for darker areas around the round rear end of the forend, indicating compressed wood. Remove those off VERY gently with a small, fine file, until the forend slips into place with no pressure.

MD
I have a circa 1941 R Mod 99. I removed the fore end and found several black spots between the receiver end and the front. I removed these with some 220 grit sand paper but did not address the black where the stock goes into the receiver. I just sanded enough to remove the marks. I will carefully remove the marks at the receiver end now. Thanks.

Please let me know how it shoots!

Will do, thanks again.

MD:

This is sort of off-topic, but it does deal with a Savage '99 and it's something I've often wondered about. Several years ago as a detective I read a true-crime novel about Montana serial killer Wayne Nance. As you probably know as a lifelong Montanan, in 1986 Nance became obsessed with the woman who managed the furniture store where he was employed, and followed her home one night with the intention of raping and killing her. He ambushed her husband outside the home and bludgeoned him unconscious with a piece of wood. As he was binding the husband with rope in the basement, the husband came to and Nance plunged a knife into his chest. Thinking the husband was dead, Nance then went upstairs to rape and murder the wife.

The husband was Missoula, Montana gunsmith Doug Wells, and although critically wounded he managed to free himself and pick up a customer's Savage 99 that he had been working on in his basement gunshop. Loading one round into the rifle, he struggled upstairs and confronted Nance in the hallway where they both shot each other. Wells then broke the rifle stock over Nance's head, picked up Nance's gun and killed Nance with a shot through the head. Had Nance succeeded that night, the Wellses would have been his 7th and 8th victims. After his death, police were able to connect Nance to several unsolved murders dating back to the early 70's.

I recall you mentioning that a gunsmith named Doug Wells had re-barreled your Mauser '98 .338 Magnum many years ago. I also know you are quite fond of Savage 99's and used to live in Missoula. Any chance it was your '99 Doug Wells used that night to turn the tables on this serial killer? As I recall, I think it was a .250 but I'm not absolutely certain of that.

It's an amazing story about a courageous husband and wife, and probably one of the best uses of a '99 in Savage history.

Greg Perry

Greg,

It is an incredible story, isn't it?

No, it wasn't my 99 that Doug used; as I recall it was one of his own. It took a while for Doug to fully recover, and many of his customers contributed to a hospital fund. I haven't used Doug's services as much since leaving Missoula, but have once in a while for certain projects, and he always does fine work.

Doug recently finished the metalwork on a 338-284 M-99 for me. Excellent workmanship and a very nice guy to deal with. MD, thanks for the recommendation.

What book?

thanks

Sorry been away from the computer a few days. The book is Rifle Trouble-Shooting and Handloading.

thank you.