Not that I`ve ever seen, the 87 gn. bullet had always been considered the varmint load.
Uh, no the 87 grain .250-3000 was considered a medium game load from the git-go, and has remained so even when supplanted by 100 grainers. Again, take your pick between bullet weights. They both do a darned good job. Your old Savage 99's rifling pitch might have a say in it as far as what you can get away with, but otherwise whichever you pick will do nicely in the deer woods. Don't overthink this.
My re-barreled Ruger #1 .250-3000 has fast pitch rifling, 1-10" (but more nearly 1-9 1/2" as far as I can tell). It'll handle heavy/longer bullets beautifully but I mostly shoot 87 grain Speers through it anyway. Why? Because they're very accurate, and I have a metric [bleep]-ton of them, and why not. They kill deer just as dead as 100's do. Again, don't overthink that measly 13 grains difference in bullet weight.
One thing I can't be bothered to investigate is the usage of lighter bullets in the .250 for varminting. I have way to many other rifles that are more ideal for the purpose anyway.
