I wandered into the gun shop near my office, and a widow had brought in a pre-Mil 99F in .308 Didn't get the LBC but the SN range is about 700K.

Its factory D&T and right now it has a Lyman arpeture sight on it of unknown origin. Everything looks right on it and its in 90% condition or better.

Shop wants $795.

I'm wondering if thats a realistic price or if they are asking too much.

I've seen a lot of them on gun broker go for $650 plus, $795 seems a bit high but condition is everything.
I can't believe this slipped under the radar, somebody got a heck of a deal. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=501866647. When I checked gunbroker, it had 1 minute left on the auction, the auction expired while I was looking at the pics otherwise it probably would be headed to my house

Lee

Good to see you post F O! Been a while....

For a 90% gun, the price is by all means appropriate.

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!!!

99F's in 308 have to be in the 900,000 serial number range or higher. A 700,000 range rifle is going to be a single shot.

My bad. Missed the serial range.

While I get where you're coming from, didn't they manufacture at least some of the 700K's and 900K's simultaneously?

No .308s in the 700K range. There is at least 1 .243 that lettered in that range but that's the only one I've ever heard of. It had feeding problems as reported by one of its owners.

Factory screw up??Functions only as a single shot. [img:center][/img]

I didn't realize the 700K's could be lettered.

Yes, that surprised me too. That letter was posted here when received , I believe. I kept a copy as well.

Can anyone shed any light on what can be lettered and what can't??

I'll go back and get the SN, all I know is it was high six digits and had the Chicopee Falls address.

This same shop had one years ago that I passed on for $450 and kicking myself.

The seller had a 1954 catalog with it, confirmed for 99F.

I'm guessing it's actually 900,000 range. But we have seen one or two 243's in the 700,000 range that were factory plus 308's that had been rebarreled and all have been single shots. It might be interesting to own a factory screwup, but a guy should know it going in.

Who just posted the other day on the last serial # that can be lettered? Wasn't it 371,xxx or some such? I'm confused by this 700K stuff. Admittedly not a statistician, so am asking rather than saying.

That was the last one that can be lettered until... Sometime after WW2. Maybe the records start up again around 500,000 with the move to Chicopee Falls? What info is available may change by year as well.. But I don't know.

Always learning something from you guys. Another tidbit to file away...

Rory,

Don't forget that they played with the .243 and the .308 before they lengthened the internals. Given past posts there are a few out there in the 700,000 range that don't work very well.

I wasn't aware that you could letter the later model's either. ?
maybe John could give us a better idea of what he would have available ?
this would be good information .

plab

The 371200 serial is the last in the Log (Ledger) Books. Records start again after WWII(?) sometime but are on microfiche and I thought they only provided a ship date (not a production date) via the shipping invoice. The letter above indicates that he could also tell the model and caliber. I didn't know that to be the case.

Many years back he gave me the ship dates for the safe full of 99-F's that Jed owned. It was interesting that within less than a 1000 serial difference you might find up to a 3 year difference in shipping dates. So the ship dates didn't do us much good in establishing a production date list. In other words there was no way to connect a production year to a serial number for 99's made from around WWII till the A Series serial numbering was started. There was no way to determine if a 50's 99 was a C&R or not. That info was pieced together here on the Forum with the help of all the great people who have used this site over the years.

I'd sure like to get a look inside one of those 700K .243s!

Have to wonder if it had been modified with the stretched magazine or somebody just took a chance??

Bottom line: if the gun turns you on and you have the jingle in your pocket, buy it. I've had more gun related regrets in my life than I care to remember. (Just make sure of the chambering v. serial number, and if it is a "low number" .308, make sure it feeds through the magazine before reaching for your wallet.)

I wonder if JTC (or anyone else) could shed some light on whether or not lettering post WWII 99's is generally possible and what the contents are.

Okay, update from the shop.

Confirmed: Its a 99F

SN is 918XXX, I could not find a Lever Boss Code

Rear sight is a Lyman 57SA, barrel rear sight is a Marbles fold-down semi-buckhorn rear sight. Front sight looks stock.

Asking price is $795.

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You're the one looking at it and you're the one judging the condition. Depending on how much you want it and what you can afford would have to play into it. $795 is not unrealistic. You can always negotiate wiggle room. Most have it and are open to an offer. Let us know how it all pans out.

Not sounding too bad with the Lyman on it.

Are you sure the rear sight is a Marbles? Savage started using a fold down semi buckhorn around 1959. The elevator would have a 2 stamped on it if Savage.

Rear sight had Marbles name on it so yes I'm sure its theirs.

Looking at the market on GB, the shop is asking a bit too much. I think I want to wait a bit and then see if they are willing to come down some.

My brother talked my father into buying a 99F in 308 in 1973.
My father had a machine gun patent and the military had dropped off crates of 7.62x51mm ammo, even though it was on the wrong kind of belt.
http://www.google.com/patents/US3894471

To use up this ammo we teen agers got a 308.
It as amazingly accurate, and then my brother shot flares from it.
My brother sold it.
Then it got rebarreled with a new barrel from Savage.
That was installed by an incompetent gunsmithing who claimed he was the best gunsmithing in the state. The headspace was a full thread too big.
By then I was an adult. I found out about the missing family heirloom, bought it back, and took it a real gunsmith, the late Randy Ketchum.
I have it now and have hunted with it.


Yikes! is has mold on the stock. I am not doing a good job of taking care of this family heirloom.