Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Vintage Lyman receiversights Keep or sell

I have a small collection of Savage99s as result of hanging around here 10-15 years ago. I bought several vintage receiver sights (mostly on flea bay) because I like receiver sights and have put them on my 99s not drilled for scopes. I have reached an age where I am not keen to buy more rifles. I have several vintage Lyman and Redfield receiver sights for both Savage 99s and Winchester 71s. They are all in new/as new condition. They were hard to come by back then and don't seem to numerous now. They are such fine instruments that I hate to let them go,BUT, maybe better to sell them rather than have them end up in the dump or be sold for pennies on the dollar in an estate sale. One of my sons is into shooting but his tastes runs to new 7mm
PRC hunting rifles and heavy 338Lapua rifles for long range plinking. He finds my old "levers" quaintly amusing but useless.

So :
A-keep them?
B- sell them?

I looked around yesterday and the only vintage Lyman receiver sight I could find was a 57 SA for $399.99.I have 2 of them.

What do the old guys have to say?

Have your son toss them in your casket with the rifles! LOL

Sell, but don't expect to get..."57 SA for $399.99" pricing.

Set them on the fireplace and just look at them. Look at what I have. But you would have to have old people over to know what they are. I myself would sell before they go to a yard sell or goodwill.

300 might be a little more realistic goal for the sights in the box.

That Lyman at 399.99 has been there a long time

The seller is most likely like you. He has sights he doesn’t really want to sell. 😁

Life is short. Sell them, and do it in an auction venue with a large audience. You'll get what they're currently worth, which may surprise you or disappoint you but at least you'll be shut of them. The older I get the more jaded I feel about the ludicrousness of "collecting" stuff for the sake of accumulating a pile of stuff. Stuff is departing my life left-and-right and I breathe easier for it. (So I guess I'm the wrong person to ask for advise about selling "treasured" items, haha!)

Thank you, sir. Best advice so far. I agree wholeheartedly about "stuff" George Carlin has a great skit on "stuff"....buyiing stuff, storing stuff, insauring stuff, alarms to protect stuff..

Now off to the basement to find some "stuff" to sell, put the money toward an elk hunt!

As a son of a gun collector who used to find my father’s old WWI and WWII guns quaintly amusing as I chased modern sniper rifles and magnums, I can say sometimes sons’ tastes mature and we wish we had some of those vintage pieces from our fathers that we didn’t really understand or value decades ago.

Im not suggesting you keep everything, but the items that are fairly timeless and mean a lot to you will very likely mean a lot to your son someday too, especially if you explain your reasoning to him.

I like that 250. Well said.

Gives me hope my ironworkering son, "youngrouser" will appreciate more than just my knife collection someday.

There you go. Think about it like you made an invstment in your elk hunt 10-15 years ago.

I just took a 1899B and sighted it in with under 6 shots using a Lyman receiver sight.

They are awesome !

But $399…….ouch!

Thanks for your insight.I will try and be optimistic.

😂😂😂

Well, I for one am grateful that folks hung onto them and are willing to pass them on. I wanted something more accurate than the standard rear sight that came with my 1919 .250-3000 that was somewhat period correct. Rick99 had one and passed it along for a reasonable price. I'm fortunate I'm able to shoot it, A few more years and maybe not.

LHS

kujuak-
I also have a small collection of 99's. 1 -'04 1895 and another 1920 99 both in 303. A 1951 EG in 300
and a Featherweight in 358. Both the 303's are not drilled and could use a Redfield Series 70LH. If
you have one you want to part with send me an email.
Thanks.
Best,
sbsmith
PS your private message box is over limit.

I'm confused, what do you mean by an '04 1895.

My rule of thumb through the years was to expect to pay around half the value of a gun for decently good sighting equipment. Evidently that still holds true today in an era of $800-1000 dollar hunting rifles and $500 dollar Leupolds and yummy discontinued/"obsolete" iron sights. Inflation's a bitch, as is a finite supply that is also targeted by collectors. Sadly, the era of $150-200 Lyman 30 1/2's is in our rearview mirror as are $400-500 EG's.

I was just gunna let that one roll on by.

I think I'm slowing down, or losing interest.

Gotcha covered Roy!

I am new here and it seeems I am not (yet?) able to send private messages. I received 1, a new member welcome message.?????