Wondering what everyone’s idea is of the most quintessential Savage model 99 ever made. I know everyone’s idea varies, just curious if this thread gets alot of replies if one model stands out over the rest. IMO the 1899 250/3000 and it’s twin, the 99 G Model stand out. Just their styling and workmanship seem to me a true representation of everything 99.

I don't own one, but a 99EG in 300 Savage is about as Savage 99 as it gets.

I'm with you 94C. Lifelong gun guy and only recently entered the 99 fold. The 1899 250-3000 tripped my trigger for my entry into 99 ownership. I don't know if there will be others, but I keep hearing that they're like Lays potato chips.

LHS

The 1899 TD 250-3000 with the cross hatched trigger is the quintessential Savage lever in my eyes. There are many other phenomenal versions from the 1930s like the Ks, the RS, Ts and barrel bands but to my eyes and to my mind the new 250 cartridge in a rifle with the balance and svelte lines of an 1899 which points like a shotgun is simply what appeals to me. It set a new standard.

Cheers.

1939 RS three finger checkering in 250-3000 would be one of the last ones of mine to go. T model in 250-300 would go just before it. GW

I also don't have one but the 99EG in .300 savage would do it for me. I have a 99C in .243

I agree with the 250 guys as far as that’s what flashes in my mind when an 1899 is mentioned. But, my 1899B was so heavy I let it go down the road for another 250. Then when the guy I got my engraved 1899A from, handed it to me, I was impressed how light it felt and how smooth it came to shoulder. It has the shotgun butt, so that may help it come to shoulder. Now that I put the Fecker on it, all the balance may be shot, but it’s my gun of the hour.

Gun of the hour LOL

Oh, if I had a dollar....

Quintessential? EG .300. It's probably the gun that comes to mind when you say "Savage" to the average hunter/shooter who's less than 100 years old. Also happens to be one of my least favorites, but we're talking quintessential here not favorite.

Favorite? Mine's the 1899H, pick a cartridge - .22HP or .303 (but I would connive to own one in .32-40 if such a beast exists).

I like all of them but a 99EG in 300 really works for me. 4 of my 14 EG's are 300's.

Has to be the 99eg in .300sav.
That Schnabel(sp?) Forearm just does it for me. Plus they're a pleasure to carry and kill stuff with.

-Jake

I'd say the early 1899A or 1895A is what I'd consider the quintessential model. It's not necessarily my favorite, but they are what started the popularity and 100 years of production.

My favorite is my 1899 first year .250, with provenance and special features, including upgraded wood and checkered cheeks! I yearned for those cheeks since seeing a Savage Collectors display at the NRA Annual Meetings in 1966 in Chicago of all places. It took about fifty years, but there it is in my safe, still giving me a tingle every time I open the door. Typical? No, mine, the only one just like it!

Pre War R in 30-30 great gun to carry and very nice to look at

Depends on what is meant by quintessential. As for a hunting and shooting gun, I almost hate to admit it, by my favorite rifle I've used in my life is my 1955 99F 308. I don't like the looks of the forearm but it handles like a it was made for me. It's also the only 308 of any make I've owned. Actually it's the first and only 308 I have ever shot. It's super accurate and D/T for a scope. I can't say enough good things about it.

But just for 99s being 99s and Savage, probably an 1899A takedown in 303. It doesn't get anymore Savage 99 than that ( to me anyway ).

These are super cool. All 30-30, all in really nice shape.

Luv my G in 30WCF……

That bottom one looks exactly like my Dad's 300 Savage he had when I was a young boy. It was converted to 300 Savage by the gunsmith he got it from and was originally a 30-30 or 303. The gunsmith had milled over the old caliber stamp and he then inlayed a brass plate in that mill slot and stamped 300 SAV on it. So I don't know what it was when it left the factory. It was stamped 1899 and not 99, and the smith had changed the rotor and re-chambered it. I used to to kill several deer and 1 elk when I was a boy.

My dad sold it when I was about 14 years old. I'd bought a 270 when I was 12, and he found he also liked the Winchester more too, so the Savage fell into disuse. I now have a 99 in 300 and I just love it, but I feel a sense of loss knowing I will never have the one I started with. It seemed to kick me too hard when I was small and thin and because I didn't like it my dad figured it was no longer of much use and sold it. Now over 50 years later I find myself wishing I'd have kept it when he offered it to me.

But I was a kid and I didn't like it. I did like the 270, so that was the end of that.

If words are important then quintessential does not equal favorite.

By definition quintessential meaning the most popular or typical example of something, there is no choice but the EG in 300 Savage.

Favorite example is a different conversation and much more open to discussion and debate.

Ahhh, we're on the same page in the hymnal, Randy.

I agree with the 300EG guys. When I think 99 that's the image that pops into my head.

It's not my favorite model either, but odds are if one is sitting on the rack in a local gun or pawn shop, it'll be an EG in 300.

We tended to call 99's 300 Savages at home. There weren't many 99's around but the ones in our area must have been all 300's.

This also for me.

Seems like I see more 303s for sale than 300s. I'm more interested in 303s than 300s so maybe I just notice them.

Looks like the Savage Model EG in 300 Savage is the 'Quintessential Savage 99' most responders feel leads the pack when a person thinks of the 99 Model. Agree with 99guy that it isn't rally a favorite model, but a typical example. That really is what I was aiming for when I first started this thread. I was thinking of style first, caliber second.

Runners up to my pick of the 1899 250/3000 and Model G were 1) Any early 1899 straight stock model possibly in .303 Savage. 2) Pre-war Model R or post war Model R-probably in 300 Savage, both heavy duty hunters and killers of game. (love my early R in 300 Savage) 3) The popular one on this thread, the Model EG, also from what I've read here and in books one of the most popular and most produced 99, probably 300 Savage. (but I do love my 250 EG).

My 4th runner up, but not heavy in consideration would be any of the models made in the 50's-70's. While not among my favorite models with pressed checkering, modern calibers (but effective ones), and other changes in style and appearance. Growing and coming of age in the late 50's and in the 60's, I poured over copies of outdoor hunting and gun magazines in my local barber shop, drug store (my best friend's Dad ran it so him and I got to pour over issues in the back room), and school library where ads and articles showed hunters in red/black wool gear hunting game with Savage 99's (and Remington 8/81's). My mind fantasized me in those pictures. Then there was the Savage adverts showing the Indian holding a Savage 99. I didn't know squat about models then (not really until the last five years) but fell in love with 99's (and Rem 8/81's). Found out later as the story goes that that Indian was of Italian decent-still great photo's. These four runners up, really the first three are the models and calibers I think of as 'Quintessential 99's'. The 99's produced in my 4th runner up are still in my mind as they were part of me being introduced to center fire lever guns, my education that there was more out there than just my Daisy Red Rider BB gun.

The EG was also produced in greatest range of calibers: 22HP, 250-3000, 303, 30-30, 300, 243, 308 and 358. Off the topic a little but what the heck.

I agree it has to be an EG in 300 Savage. But I think it has to be in a Savage cartridge.
To me a 99 should be in a proprietary cartridge. A 303 Savage would be my favorite. Having said that a .30-30 would also float my boat.
But the 300 Savage in an EG from the 40’s to the early 50’s would be hard to beat and still affordable and easy to find.

However, I have a prwar EG that you used to own and I agree, an EG in 300 is about as quintessential as you can get. The 99 isn't a Dandy's gun. Instead its a damn solid working man's gun, and one that put many of its competitors to shame in form and function!