I am looking at an 1899 .303 Savage that is in good shape except the Schnabel fore end has a 1/2 inch X 1 inch chunk missing on the left side. Are replacement fore ends available, and do they require much tinkering to get them to fit. I can get this rifle at a reasonable price due to the break. Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes a replacement can be made, appears the gun would be a shooter. Define reasonable price. GW

I can get it for $450.00. The stock has some scratches and a few dings, and the sides and bottom of the receiver shows a good bit of fading from being held, otherwise it looks like a good solid old rifle that I could hunt deer and hogs with.

Repo forearm with 90% finish likely around $50. Will need to redo the stock to match. Now have $50. plus finish material cost and time. If you don't mind the work/time and the bore is good, still have a shooter. Look closely at the stock tang connection for tang cracks/ repairs. For a little more you likely find a shooter that doesn't need repairs. GW

Thanks for the advice, and you are right, no need to get in a hurry. The auction that I recently bought my 1899 .250 at actually had two .300's, a .303 and the .250 I bought. I was just going to buy one, but you guys are right, there will be more.

Most after market stocks take a lot of effort to fit properly, if you are a stickler for fit. They are oversized and need to be filed/sanded down to be flush with the metal. If you can do that and like it, or if you aren't picky about fit, go for it. Another option is to get a stock guy to repair the forearm, if possible.

Fore arms are a piece of cake to fit. But a 1/2x1" missing chunk should be able to be repaired by a reasonably skilled wood butcher.

If I buy the rifle, I do have a wood butcher friend that could help me. There is one other .303 with this one, with an octagon barrel, rifle butt stock that I would rather have. The thing is, it has a really badly cracked stock at the tang. Someone wrapped the stock at the crack with what looks like electric fence wire, and also around the back of the receiver. It was a good looking rifle before it was abused.

Welcome to the forum Oldfolks. I suggest you give 'em a "take that junk off your hands" offer for both rifles, and start your own journey into 99 stock tinkering!

Fitting a stock takes a lot of time. I picked up a nice set of wood for an Ithaca 37 when Fajen went out of business many years ago. I seemed to put a lot of time after dinner over several winter months to get it to fit correctly. I smoked the metal and slowly removed wood and then got all the contours right on the exterior of the stock that was 90% fitted. Then came the refinishing, and fitting the forearm and finally fitting and grinding the butt recoil pad. Long story short, I said I would never do that again. I would rather pay a gunsmith. A lot of hours. The result was absolutely beautiful. I gave the shotgun to my son. It will be passed down. But it was a lot of work.

Thanks for all of the good advice. I'm going to pass on the .303 with the badly cracked stock with wire wrapped around it, but just may take the other one home with me. Then again, I really want a .300, and one will come along at the right price. That nice 1899 .250 I bought made me want more.

It only gets worse the more you get, not better! There is no cure!!.