Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99F that I just bought

I have been wanting a Model 99 for some time now. I must say, I know very little about the different models and chamberings. I only know that I wanted one. Guns are a little like women, attraction is not rational.
I have bought and sold several rifles and handguns in the last few years, but could never find a good "shooter" 99. My hope was for a .308 Win or .300 Savage chambering, but I would look at anything, even an 1899 in .303 Savage that had two cracks in the receiver ring and was, in my opinion, unsafe to fire.
This weekend I bought a 99F in .243 Win chambering, serial# 1069XXX. 22 inch barrel, round forearm tip, brass cartridge counter, gold? trigger, pistol grip stock, steel butplate. Exterior condition was not high on my list of requirements, but this rifle has 99.9% of its blueing, which leads me to believe it has been refinished, but I have no way of knowing. The reason I suspect a re-blue job is the buttplate, which has some rust and blue wear. It looks nothing like the rest of the rifle. Also, the buttstock shows a lot of scratches and scrapes, and it and the foreend show some wear on the checkering.
Can anyone suggest a book on care and feeding of the Model 99? When was this one made?
If collector value is low, should I consider refinishing the stock? All I want is for it to shoot well and kill deer.
Help me out here.

Just as a side thought. When I first started hunting I used a Marlin 336 (blasphemy, I know). I took "very" well care of the rifle but the butt plate was really screwed up from being on the ground in the snow etc. The beat up butt plate is not always a sign of what the condition of the rest of the rifle should be...!!!


Mike...

Your gun was made in 1964.

It's your gun and since it isn't in new condition and been reblued go ahead and go crazy on it. Make it the gun that you want to go hunting with.

Now give it a couple minutes and Rory will be here with the long version of what I just said.

Good point. If it were not for the condition of the wood, I would assume you were correct. I think someone started restoring this gun, then ran out of money, which is why I found it in a pawnshop.
I tried to add some pics, but failed!!!
Is there some way I can tell if it has indeed been re-blued?

is the lever blued? It should NOT be...edges rounded, numbers and address stamping not sharp, etc

post good pics (look in the sticky at top for help) and the guys here willl help...

Here's a receiver from a 1960's 99DL. The bluing is shiny, but not glossy. Case colored lever is probably your best bet for telling. If it's been blued, or is really worn, then it's probably a reblue. If it's still got most of it's color, it might just be that somebody didn't store the gun real well.

Nice grab, any 99 in 243 is very popular at the gunshows around here.

I refinished one stock on a 99 I had that was total junk. I've got others with lots of dings, but I'm not going to touch them. It's part of the history of the gun. Now, that's your gun, but I wouldn't do it just to get rid of some dings. Pick up some Snake Oil (http://www.oldwestsnakeoil.com) and see how it looks in 6 months after a couple of coats.




PS: There is a Radocy book which talks about how to take down 99's, and there's a book by Doug Murray which tells about all the different models (see the Misc. Good Info sticky thread at top to order that). But, truthfully, this forum is your best source of info on 99's.

Lever is not blued. Stampings seem sharp. No rounded edges.