Your question asked about "practical use on the 1899". Either a tang sight or receiver sight will work on any Model 99 with a drilled and tapped tang.
So now the question becomes, do you want it to be period correct as well as practical? The Savage No. 18 that David shows above is actually a Lyman No. 1. In 1905 Lyman introduced the 1A and 2A. The A indicates the addition of a locking lever. Most tang sights (Marble, Lyman 1A, Lyman 2A) are not windage adjustable. The Lyman 29 1/2 and 30 1/2 are windage adjustable (and expensive) and would be period correct for 1899s made after ~1914.
Receiver sights began coming available in the mid-1930s, so they would not be period correct for a Model 1899. The Lyman 56 was available by 1935 according to Stroebel, so the Lyman 56S would period correct for rifles made from the mid-30s through the early 1950s (last cataloged in 1959). Although the Lyman 57 was introduced in 1938, as best I can determine, the Lyman 57 SA for the Model 99 was not introduced until ~1951 or 1952. (My 1949 Lyman application sheet shows only the 56S as a receiver sight for the Model 99.)
According to Stroebel, the Redfield 70 was introduced in the early 1940s. (Savage switched from the Lyman 30 1/2 to the Redfield 70 on the Model 99 RS in 1940.) In 1957 Redfield introduced the Redfield 80 which is simply the 70 with a push button quick removal of the elevation staff similar to that on the Lyman 57.
Last edited by Jaaack; 03/12/24.
