I am getting really interested in these rifles lately. I am thinking about one in 308 (for general use). What is your opinion of these guns? What is accuracy like? Anyone know of one for sale?
Must be brass spool, with counter, walnut drilled and tapped from factory with open sight and in great shape.

I am not asking for too much am I? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I picked up a 99 in .308 for $400. It is a CD model with the clip instead of the rotary spindle. It consistently shoots under MOA 5 shot groups. For practice I take it out and shoot pop cans at 100 yards standing freehand. The rifle points so well I can usually hit 4 out of 5 cans in 5 shots. I shot a deer at 165 yards with it a couple of years ago. I had an offhand shot and the deer was facing me. Drilled it right in the heart through the brisket. Not too many guns I would have tried that shot with other than that 99 in .308. It really does point like a shotgun. The only problem is I found out it is an R&D gun and it has the most beautiful wood. I hate to take it out now for fear of banging it up. Try a 99 and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. I have a Marlin 336 and have shot Winchester 94's and they just are not in the same league as the 99's. You pay a bit more for the 99, but you get what you pay for and what you get is an historic rifle that was years ahead of its' time. Just be careful because once you try one, you will have to have more. I'm up to 5 at the moment. Rick

I agree with Rick. I bought mine (a 99C) for $400. It has already taken a 200 pound Wild Hog (and I plan on gettin more pork this Spring). Mine shoots good groups (if I do my part) and will effectivley handle deer, elk, black bear, and wild hogs. What more could a hunter need?

The good 308's seem to go for about $400. You can get a "beater" or a 99E for a little less.

BMT

By The Way, the 99E is a truly great hunting weapon. It has the 99's pointability with a lightweight (but ugly) stock and a 20" barrel. The 99E ain't pretty, but I truly enjoyed using the one I hunted with.

BMT

POP-

I picked up a very nice 99G in .300 Savage last summer for $200 and I love it. Mine has the color-casehardened magazine rotor and shoulders like a dream. Definately in a different league than the Winchester 94's that I have. Lite recoil and very accurate. I had a Williams F/P receiver sight installed on mine and can't wait to get it back out to the range to try the new sights. My brother has a fixed magazine .308 with no counter and the "cheap" finished wood. Still a great shooter and he wouldn't sell it for anything.

.308 or .300, I'm sure you'll be very happy with either one! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I have a 99M in .308 it is my favorite rifle for deer, bear, and elk. Try one you'll like it and want more of 'em!

I swapped for one a couple of years ago in 300 Savage.

It didn't take it long to become my favorite rifle.

I hope I get lucky this weekend at the Denver gun show...I might find one.

The savage 99's are really nice guns.One prob with them is once you get one you end up buying more of them but this is something i can live with enjoy hope you have good luck finding a nice one

Pop,
You'll likely find one for a price you can live with before too long. The rifles are a thing of 19th century engineering elegance and beauty. The history and classic status of the rifles will no doubt impress you as much as anything about them. It's true that they can at times be finicky in the accuarcy department, but that usually can be tuned out of them. Mine likes to heat string on 5 shot groups, but is a consistent 2-3 shot hunting rifle from a cold barrel at up to 200 yards. I agree on the .308 as being the most practical chambering option for a general purpose rifle; but if you run across a .300 Savage at a decent price, you will not really miss the .308 all that much once you get set up and handloading for it. You can drive 150 grain bullets up to about 2700 FPS and 165's up to about 2600 out of them if you absolutely need top performance. That's plenty sauce for about anything you'll tangle with in the lower 48. If you are thinking antelope up there, then 130 grain bullets will give you a tiny bit more speed and flatter trajectory than you can get with the 150's, but probably not enough to change the big picture much. It appears to me that the 99 is getting a real cult following these days and I expect it to eventually go to fever pitch until Savage brings back a string of regular production rifles with the rotary magazine in several calibers. Sometimes the old fashioned classics simply have an "aura" that can't be matched by some of the new fangled developments of the 20th century.AW

POP
I saw a couple nice 99's last friday at the gun show in Casper.
Before you hit Denver, stop by the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne. There is a Wasatch gun show Sat & Sun.
Should be most of the same dealers from Casper.
I have a 99 in 243 that I like alot.
If the weather holds out, I will be in Denver for the Tanner on sunday. I would like to make both shows. All depends on the roads.


Delbert

Delbert-

Were there any 95's or 1899's (particularly B's or C's) at the Casper show?

Gary

Gary,
None that I can recall right now. If I make the Cheyenne show do you want me to look for you? Send me a pm with details, I would be happy to help.

Delbert

Cult following is right. I was picking up really great pieces (1899A-B-C's in odd-ball calibers) for $200-300 several years ago. I bought quite a few (have 23 in the safe), and am kicking myself that I didn't mortgage the house for a few more that I passed up as too expensive.

GOT ONE!!!

It is in 308 WIN! It sports a magazine, tang safety, walnut stock with checkering, 22" barrel and best of all.....unfired 100%!!!

serial # E048xxx what can you tell me about
it? When was it made and what model is it? where can I get another magazine?

POP-

Let me be the first to say "congrats." I'm sure you'll love it. These Savage 99's really seem to grow on a guy. No doubt it won't be your last! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

M99's....a habit...an addiction...an obsession...I acquired my first a few months ago, cleaned it up, including a stock refinish, shot it, fell in love with it, and have been looking for more ever since. My current "must have" list includes a 250-3000, another 300 if I find the right one, and a .308. The .308 whenever I find it, and assuming it will not be anywhere near mint, is destined for a re-blue, and a custom stock in fancy walnut. It will then be topped with new Leupold or Burris optics, probably 2-7x.

I recently passed on a 99E in .243. It was in very good shape, but with the ugly stock,no counter etc., I just wasn't willing to go the full asking price of $350 Cdn.....I think that's about $215 U.S. Did I make a bad decision? What do you guys think? Should I go back and get it if it's still there?

I don't need it, and I'm not looking for one in .243 Win. That said, I'd have a hard time convincing myself that I couldn't find a use for a 99E for $215.00 if its in that kind of shape!

Just my 2 cents.

serial # E048xxx what can you tell me about
it? When was it made and what model is it? where can I get another magazine?

If you want all that info you can post on the savage board. Sounds like it could be from the 80's but would need more info for the model. You can find out all that on the savage board. As for the magazine, check on e-bay. I see them quite a bit and they sell for about $35-40.00. Rick

Next up comes getting a 250. That is the ultimate model 99 white tail round. Get a pre war model F and you will never look back. Ohhh yeah get yourself a 22 high power too. Just plain fun to shoot.

Rick,

Most all the CD's I've seen have had some pretty decent wood on them. Makes sense being he "D"elux version of the mod. "C".

Emhart and later R & D guns had a RD prefix to the ser. #, I presume yours is so marked?

If'n you treat her right, I wouldn't be affraid to take her to the woods for many more deer. Used guns have value, abused guns don't. You seem like a guy that knows the diffrence and would take good care of her. Think how happy the dog gets when its time to head for the field.....rifles get that same feeling when its time to head to the woods. It would be a shame to deprive her of that feeling by leaving her home in the rack <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ram, I do hate to keep it in the rack, but if you saw where I hunted and the beautiful fiddleback stock you would understand why I take the 110 .270 Win. out instead when I hunt the swamps. I do take it up to deer camp in Minnesota and hunt the logging trails with it (easy walking, no brush busting). Always gets the attention of the other guys in camp and I have heard "if you ever want to sell her let me know" quite a few times. I have taken quite a few deer with it and the .308 Win has become my favorite round. Light kick, great accuracy, really efficient, the perfect deer round. That's why I just picked up a Savage 10FP in .308 with the 20" barrel last month.

As for the serial no. It is DSW RD 6XX. I have to get a letter off to the Savage historian if I ever get the time. Like I said, it has a beautiful stock, factory d&t'ed, Savage butt pad, hand checkered Monte Carlo stock, Williams rear sight and hooded gold bead front sight (probably 95%+ condition). I have 5 99's and the CD is by far the most beautiful gun I own. I probably don't fit the description of the true collector, but I really admire the 99's because they were so far ahead of their time, so well designed, and so aesthetically appealing. It gets to be an addiction doesn't it? Rick

What part of the cheese state are you in? I did some poking around Baron and Rusk counties but found mostly farmland, rolling hills and some nice wooded ridges. Kinda interesting driving a state layed out in a grid. You always got directions two ways! A left and a right, or a right and two lefts <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />! I also found out when someone out there says, "I'm gonna buy me a 40" They are not talking about a handgun or malt liquor!

Gonna get back out there this summer for the Birthday party, but that will be a different part of the State, and wildlife of a different sort.

How's the CWD situation working out. My Buds out there said the kill was down, they figured the CDW was keeping people out of the woods. If memory serves there was a SE county they wanted total anialation of the herd. Did they succeed?

Ram, I live in the central part of the state in Wood county. I hunt down in Adams county on the paper company land. It's either thick pines or dense hardwoods. I also hunt on a swamp for gun deer season on a 40 (private land thank God). Lots of farmland around but it's getting pretty hard to hunt the farmland nowadays as the farmers lease it out if they don't hunt themselves.

As for the CWD, the deer kill was down about 10% and the license sales were down 10%. Go figure. I myself didn't see the numbers of deer I have seen in the past. I think it was more weather related than due to a lack of hunting pressure. We didn't have any snow cover and the weather was too warm. In a good year I'll see 30 deer a day in the swamp. This year I saw 8 deer opening day. Passed up a spike and a 4 pointer opening weekend and never saw another buck all week. Did get a doe and had some trouble with the 250 Savage 99 on a couple others (been dicussed extensively on this forum). Next year it will be the 10FP in .308 win. I've been out to the range getting used to it. Very accurat out to 400 yards (about the max range for my shooting ability).

I have heard that they are going in with sharpshooters in the endemic area to try to wipe out as many deer before the fawns are born this spring. There is alot of opposition to the DNR plans, especially the baiting and feeding ban. I personally am glad they banned baiting as I saw more bucks bow hunting this year than ever before. I imagine the ban will be overturned as there is alot of money lost for the feed supply companies and as we all know, it all boils down to money.

As for keeping people out of the woods, I tell them they better stop eating chicken, beef, eggs, and drinking the water. Rick

Rick,Ram,

Part of the reason the license sales and kill were down this year definitely may have been due to CWD. One of the guys I hunt with in Onieda County has a brother who lives in IL. He said that IL wasn't allowing WI venison in this year because of CWD so it cut down on the number of folks coming up north to hunt. Don't know how true it is but I also heard it from a WI State Trooper who has a shack next to ours. He works the southern part of the state and told us he had met some IL Troopers who told him the same thing. I didn't hear squat about it out here so I made d... sure mine came back to WA with me.

Skidrow, they figure the harvest was down 10% and hunter numbers were down 10%. I'm sure this was due to CWD and the numbers correlate quite closely. I think the article they ran in the Milwaukee Journal linking CWD with game feeds was the culprit. They ran a follow up story the day before deer season started that stated there was no link between CWD and the diseases the 3 men had died from. I think it was too little to late. Talk about terrible, irresponsible journalism. As for the FIB's not hunting up here in Wis, that just goes to prove that there is an upside to everything. Rick

Got to agree that I didn't miss the Flatlanders at all. Nothing personal, just that as a group they're more of a drinking, partying weekend away from the old lady crowd than hunters. Also have to agree that the media has way over blown the CWD issue. No verified reports of anyone dying of it or even contracting it yet they've made it out to be the worst health hazard to come along since asbestos and/or tobacco. Ya just got to consider the "Duh" factor. As far as the kill being down, you ought to hunt in WA. More deer are harvested in WI each year than there are in the entire state of WA. I saw more deer opening day in WI than I have seen in 18 years of hunting out here. I guess growing up in WI spoiled me.

I know what you mean. I hunt in northern Minn. and I had my best year for seeing deer up there, 8 in one day. I had my worst year for seeing deer here in Wis., only 8 in one day. I passed up 2 smaller bucks during gun season and I passed up probably about 15 small bucks during bow season here in Wis. Then when my wall hanger walked 15 yards broadside to me and stopped at my scent wick, I drew my bow and when I brought the release up to my face, my face mask moved and caused my glasses to fog. I couldn't see my pin at all. Of course the buck looked right at me when I drew the bow so I couldn't let down and redraw. Needless to say, he got away. Can't wait til next year. Rick

I have a .308 Mod 99 F and a 250 Savage M-99 EG....I used them for years hunting mule deer and elk horseback, still do as a matter of fact..Never had a complaint with either one of them...My dad shot about 30 elk with the 250 and 95% were one shot kills, the other 5% required a finishing shot...

To this day the most exciting hunting I have ever done is horseback in the mountains of the Big Bend of Texas, when you jump a big buck from under a rimrock and step off with your rifle and shoot him off hand as he is parting the country...and the 99's were built with that in mind....