Regardless of that rifle not being "original"... I believe it's one fine-looking little rifle, but 'way over-priced. From the serial number only, it appears to be a 1951 EG... a year in which Savage was building excellent quallity Model 99s.
I also don't see any
real advantage in the .270 wildcat caliber over the standard .300 Savage cartridge. While it would recoil slightly less, recoil is really not an issue with the .300 Savage, so where's the advantage?
If one were to make a .270/.300 out of the rifle, performance would be like a slightly less powerful 7mm/08... not exactly a highly desirable cartridge.
Assuming it was a .300 Savage prior to being re-barreled, using the original barrel (as long as it wasn't "shot-out" or rusted) would save investing in a new barrel. I'd just give the original barrel a high polish (in the white) and then have a fine bluing job done on it. I'd also have the lever re-case hardened as well.
If it were me, I'd use that high-grade wood and the nice bluing job... and leave it a .300 Savage.
I could be wrong, but I'd guess by buying some really nice wood and re-doing the stock one's self... and having a good gunsmith do the metal polishing and "hot" re-bluing, one could turn a "gray-rat" into an outstanding looking and excellent shooting rifle for
$1,000 less than the asking price of the rifle on Gun Broker... and such a rifle would be far better looking with even nicer wood than buying an original Model 99 in excellent condition
IF you could find one at $800.
Jus' my 2�...
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
