I was reading another thread where someone was talking about finding a repair slip in the buttstock of a 99.

That reminded me of a 99 on bought on gunbroker a couple years ago from a pawn shop in canton Ohio. I found an old ammo box flap with the owners name and address written on the back in the buttstock.

I did a little google research and found the owners obituary. He had died a couple years prior, born in a small town in WV, worked in a canton factory most of adult life, enjoyed hunting, had two sons, one in GA and one in OH as I recall. Based on his dob, he was about 11-12 years older than the gun. Makes me wonder if this was his first deer rifle. Makes me kind of sad to think about all the years he probably hunted with that old .300, probably back home in WV, and it ends up in a pawn shop.

I showed my wife and kids, and put the note back in the buttstock… where it belongs.

Anyone have a similar story?

Been thinking about checking all of them.

There was a thread about this not too long ago. But I can't find it in the awesomeness that is the search function. I'm not suggesting there shouldn't be a newer one. Just saying if someone is truly interested in the subject, and if someone can find it, it might be worth a read for some folks.

Found this in the butstock of a Spiegel 30-30 that I bought this year. The only thing he didn't write down is what store he bought it from.

found a name in the buttstock of a 22HiPower tried to trace the name no luck

old hunting licence and spare 303 in another one

I found a the #15 rear sight, with a Marbles elevator, in one of my 250-3000s that had a peep sight on it when I bought it.

In a 99T I found: candle, fish hook, foil, dime, needle, fish line and matches.

👍

I have found a number of names and addresses in the buttstocks of rifles,i generally just put them back in.One deluxe engraved marlin 1881 model in 32-40 used to belong to a big sawmill owner in western pennsylvania,at least that was what i found out searching the net.Don

I found one in a 99 barrel band.

I have a bolt action 3006 from a viet nam vet the (gun is British made) NIB. He had it shipped to his home in Idaho, but he never made it back.
His name rank serial number is on the box.

I told my brother about it. I was worrying about what I should do with it.

My brother said…..

“ John, how many guns do you own that were once owned by dead people?”

I kinda wish I could simplify things like my brother.

Merry Christmas

A few years ago I bought a ratty 99 250 with a Fellas name (william McGoon)and Rock Springs, Wy engraved(poorly) on the receiver. I found his 1946 deer/bear license rolled up in the stock. The deer coupon is mssing but the bear coupon is still attached. Did some research on him, just an old Wyoming cowboy. License is back in the stock.
Also found a 1916 Michigan license in a 1915 ratty old Model 12 12ga. Sold the gun and kept the license.
Removed every butt plate after those 2 and have come up empty since.

A few years ago, a friend bought a 99 at a gun show we were at. I always check under the butt plate so we looked. He found a $100 bill.

Traded for 1887 Winchester 12 gauge and found in the stock a note that showed ownership. Don't recall the name but read like this . "I John Smith traded two coyotes for this gun in Kimberling city, Idaho on April 4, 1922. Left the note and added another with my name. GW

cool thread. Makes me want to start pulling buttplates.

I pull the butt plates (and everything else) off of every gun I buy. (To me a thorough disassembly and deep cleaning is the act by which the "new" gun becomes truly mine.) In all these years I found but one note, in an old M24 .22/.410 I gifted to my Dad, that identified the gun as a Christmas present to a kid in Brooklyn, NY, sometime in 1950's I recall. I did find the issue three piece cleaning rod still there in a Krag butt stock once, and two truly ancient moldy cartridges in the butt trap of a M1908 Mannlicher-Schoenauer.

Do notes on the buttstock count? I've had a couple of those.

When one of the previous threads on this subject came up I checked all of mine, nothing. The 1902 engraved rifle has the name, date, county, and state engraved on the end of the pistol grip. Kurt knows a family of that name in that area. When I got the rifle I wondered why a 1902 rifle was engraved with 1904. When I got the letter it stated the rifle was sold and returned in 1902, then sold again in Dec of 1903. Making the carved date more understandable.

I forgot to mention after I got off the phone with the 284 owner I added some information to the note about his age and new date, plus mine.

I found a 30-30 rolled up in scrap of paper, to corroded to shoot.

Just had a thought. Since I didn't get the $75 Letter, Just the $5 search, I'm going to print another copy and put that in the stock.

Oughta put a $20 gold piece in there with it.

A double eagle?

St. Gaudens.

Dang, I just gave my last one to the girl at Paradise City!

I just remembered one from a milsurp, K-31 stock. I guess we should all put one in our rifles today, ‘Go Brandon’. They can try to figure it out 35 years from now.

I bought a Savage 99 in 300 savage for my son for his first deer rifle. In the butt stock was the original bill of sale and original hang tag. The rifle was purchased in 1936 and I bought it in 1997 from the original owners son.

I have found a few things, nothing noteworthy, but of the few guns I have ever sold I generally put a little something in the stock to intrigue the next guy.

Model, production/shipping date or estimate...and the 24HCF link.

Wouldn’t fit

I have an 1919 .250 in the safe, now I’m thinking I should take a look.

Bought a Model 1920 250-3000 that had made it's way around south-eastern Kootenay, BC up to Yellowknife in the Yukon. Trapper's gun I was told with a very early serial number - 103X. To make a long story short, under the butt plate wrapped in a oily rag was a Marbles 250-3000 cartridge extractor:



(the 250-3000 to 25 Auto reducer was bought from a member on this site)

Didn’t find any hidden treasure in my stock, but what it the 61* an inspector number??

.250 Stock

Yup.

Yellowknife is in the North West Territory’s....

From an earlier post in the Savage forum..,

‘Almost a great ending, but true.

Bought a 99F out of NY that had a private bill of sale in the butt stock from 1961. Both buyer and seller were from Michigan. After some research, the buyer was dead and so was his son, but not his grandson. I contacted the grandson and asked if he wanted to buy back his late grandfather’s 99F for same money. He was appreciative but passed. I would have bought it in a second.’

Maybe we aughta stick nekked girly pitchers in there, and thataway when we do some swapping we got some new blood to look at.

"Yellowknife is in the North West Territory’s...."

Correct, my bad. I mixed up Yellowknife and Whitehorse. It was Whitehorse, YK. I stand corrected.

I recall selling the rifle to someone in SK, if I'm not mistaken.

No worries, lived in Whitehorse a few years and saw that a bunch.

Amazing how many people at the post office knew that Whitehorse was in the North West Territory’s 😉

Don’t think it was me

Cheers

My dad bought a Winchester Model 12 at a pawn shop in New Mexico in the late 1980s.

It was if I remember correctly around a 1915 production gun that was a 28" full choke. Like most nickel steel Model 12s, most of the blue was worn off, but it was mechanically sound. I'd been shooting a 1970s 870 Wingmaster that I'd scrounged together enough money to buy because I thought I needed a 12 gauge. I will always remember how much more natural and easy it was to smoke targets with the Winchester compared to the Remington. The 870 felt like swinging a barrel-heavy 2x4 next to the graceful old Model 12. I've never cared much for 870s since that day.

This gun started my dad off on collecting Model 12s and after a year or so he'd bought a couple more, and I was able to trade him funds from the sell of the 870 and some weekend / Summer work I was doing for him for the Model 12. We decided the gun was beat enough that putting a recoil pad on it wouldn't hurt. So my dad removed the buttplate and out fell a business card.

The business card appeared to be from the time period the gun was new and was the card of a newspaper owner from a town 120 miles north of where we purchased the gun and across the state line in Texas. That town happened to be the same town where my great grandfather bought 2,000 or so acres from the XIT about the time the Model 12 was produced. The newspaper man was my great grandfather's hunting buddy and they bought identical Model 12s roughly at the same time with the exception that my great grandfather's gun was a 30" full choke. My great grandfather's gun was last seen the 1970s when his daughter's eventually ex-husband borrowed it.

We called the newspaper man's son, and he showed up a couple of days later with a new Browning BPS, which I didn't want, so my dad negotiated a fair deal to sell it back to the family. I replaced it with a late 1950s production 28" modified, 16 gauge Model 12, which is one of my favorite upland combinations to this day.