Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99K Expert help and opinions needed

A good buddy of mine inherited a Savage 99K Takedown in 300 Savage based on the serial number was made in 1938 for which we are looking for answers to a few questions:
1. Are all 99K's Takedowns and if not any idea on the percentage that were?
2. Is the .300 Savage chambering common in this model?

I will say that upon first glance of the photo he sent me I was taken back with the beauty of the wood but my eye was quickly drawn to someone's crude carving of what could be initials in the butt stock. Without that defacing of the gun I would have rated it 80-90%. I am going to attach a photo and ask for opinions to the following questions:
3. Of course the lost wood where the initials were cut can't be replaced. Any suggestions (short of replacing the butt stock) to lessen its the ugly initials?
4. How much do the initials devalue the gun as a collectible or should it just be considered an attractive shooter now?
5. At the risk of getting responses like "I'll give him $100.00 for it", how much would you value this 99K?

I can answer one of your questions. Not ALL K's were takedowns. We know of one that is a solid frame K, and I own it. Several members of this forum owned it before me. My quess is that it did not measure up to their standards. I was told several lettered it and it came back as a standard (td) K. I was also told that it was not mentioned as being a non takedown in any of the correspondence with JTC. I talked with the historian and he was most interested in it. I sent him a letter with full discription and photos. There have been several G's sent back to the factory for modification into a non takedown. This gun was sent back to the factory several months ater it was sold, but what work that was done was not mentioned. All numbers match. .300 Savage is a common caliber. You can never make it original, so it would be very difficult to assign a value to it. A K is a pretty sought after model. Original trumps all. Carved wood is going to be a set back. I don't like playing the "what's it worth" game. Ask 10 people you;ll most likely get 10 different answers.

Thanks for the feedback. I am new to this forum and have to ask how you were able to post those larger photos. I had to keep scaling my photo down as I kept getting an error message saying my 1 photo was too large.

And thanks for answering the questions about 99K and takedown and the commonality of the .300 Savage.

Just keep asking questions here. Everyone will be eager to help you. Once your post count gets high enough you well be able to send and receive private messages.

As far and my pictures I use Post Images.com https://postimages.org/web

It is easy. I will repost your picture for you.

rtscatpack's K I couldn't get it any bigger because of the size of the original.

I have a 1928 K with the initials JM on the butt stock. They are done well and kind of look like a cattle brand. It also has a 1920's Noske scope with a side mount on it. I paid $800 for it. Had the Cody museum do a serial number search on it and the initials turned out to be from the California artist Jo Mora. The initials definitely drove the price down into my range here. But, the JM initials might be worth more than the rifle to a Jo Mora collector.

This is a close up of the carved initials.

Enlarged full view of 99K with damage.

It is what it is and I would leave as is. Replacing the stock will not be cheap and still won't be original.

Also, don't bother lettering it as there is no info for rifles in your year range.

The 99K was only catalogued as a takedown. Special order rifles are special order and can be anything.

I’d say it’s still collectible, just not a high end collectible.

Letters look like they were made with a wide blade screw driver. If so the wood would be compressed vs removed. I don't know if steaming would help. Might experiment on a piece of walnut and see what it would look like.

A good wood Guy could make the carving go away for a small sum!!

A good carver could make the letters look a lot better and it won't hurt

the value any more.

I was thinking about some tangs that were missing big chunks and were plugged and really looked pretty good. Where's Gary?

Perfect job. I am happy you can post a picture. Your rifle is MUCH better than some that we see. Listen to Fug1899. A good woodman can make those carvings disappear.

Just because something isn't cataloged doesn't mean it doesn't exist, nor does it lessen it's value. ESPECIALLY, if it is documented as factory.

So is there a name that goes with a good wood guy?

Disappear? No chance. Make them somewhat less noticable yes.

Here's the 1938 catalog entry for the 99K, so you can see the standard configuration.

Thanks much Calhoun!

Could be a lot worse

I don't know if you do Facebook or not, but there are several groups there that are discussing Savage Arms. One group in particular has over 7000 members. It is owned and moderated by Joe Brady. AKA as Triple Deuce here on the campfire. Selling, asking "what's it worth", or pretty much even intimating something for sale is forbidden over there. Posting pictures is a snap. And being anything less than civil is looked down upon. There is at least one very good wood worker there. If I were you and trying to find as much info as you can, I would consider joining that club as well.

JMO, just because something isn't "cataloged" doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It was nice having JTC as the historian. Having worked there he was able to substantiate deviations in descriptions with personal experiences at the factory. Something lost with Cody handling the books now. What's in the ledger entry is what you get.