What a nice looking rifle!
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/766600554

Reread that carefully it says G&H styled, or some such. Photo #5 looks like a pretty big crack at the tang to me, but who knows? That and the 24" barrel, thinning blue, price killed it for me.

any price would not get my motor running

I'll say with fair amount of confidence that this is a G&H stocked rifle. You guys must not like Griffin and Howe rifles eh?

Just going on the description.

"Griffen & Howe style wood"

Sometimes the descriptions aren't always accurate, or as in this case, misspelled.

I'm not saying you are wrong, but what substantiates your claim. I'm not spoiling for a fight but instead I'm looking for an education.

Having owned a couple of Griffin & Howe rifles and an 1895 Winchester similarly stocked but attributed to R.F. Sedgley I would agree that this rifle is done in the G & H style. However that said the stockwork more closely resembles that on my Sedgley stocked 1895 than the stockwork on my G & H rifles. I am basing this on the quality of the checkering and the general execution of the stockwork, the nose of the comb is really bulbous and the shape of the cheekpiece expecially the dishing out does not look like anything that I have ever seen on a G & H stocked rifle. I think whoever bought the rifle got a nice rifle at a fair price, had it been a G & H I suspect the price realized would have been significantly higher and the seller probably would have had a reserve.

Could never get past the extra holes....

Besides the quality and style of the stock work, the blind mounted scope mount base is a very good indicator of being installed at G&H.

Compare it with this one from the same era. https://stevebarnettfineguns.com/griffin-howe-rifles-for-sale/griffin-howe-sporter-243-winchester

I looked at the G & H on Barnett's website and see similarities, but in addition to the things I previously cited I have never seen sling swivel bases like that except on Sedgley rifles. So at this point the 99 is an interesting vintage custom from a bygone era, it would be nice to be able to see if there are any marks under the buttplate or elsewhere that might yield clues to its origin.

Swivel bases......
https://www.gunsamerica.com/919308024/Griffin-Howe-11-358-Norma-Mag-Beautiful.htm
http://www.pendletonfirearms.com/rifles/rgh0101.htm

Thanks

Guess you can't use that style of swivel bases to determine if a rifle is a G & H or not. I had not seen them before but it looks like they were utilized on G & H rifles of that era. Thanks for posting the links.

Nobody, including the seller, mentions if it's marked G&H on the barrel. There should be a g&h serial number on the bottom of the barrel that indicate when it left their shop. The fore arm looks g&h, but the butt doesn't. The cheek piece looks "slabby" compared to a g&h treatment. I will say the mount looks like it came from the g&h shop- they always grind and polish so the screws and pins disappear. That's not to say a craftsman smith couldn't have done it too though. You can still send a gun to them to have one of their mounts installed, so the gun may well be the product of a skilled guy who s!nt it in for a mount. If the gun had a g&h number on it you could contact them and get the straight skinny on its history.

Anybody who has ever worked with G&H qd scopemount would ever object to extra holes necessary for installation. This is one instance where extra holes can be a plus. If indeed it's attached in the traditional way- it could be soldered on too.

The seller also doesn'tention if the scope rings are with the gun. They are hand fitted to the base and as such are a team so to speak. You'll take on a thankless task locating a used set and fitting them. Or you could send it in and let G&H fit you a new set, if your name is Daddy Warbucks.

Gary, imho extra holes are never a plus....

Top of the barrel.

On a collector's piece, of course. But on a shooter, meh. In this case the gun is so far from original it doesn't matter IMO. (Especially when we're talking about a G&H qd mount that allows for instantaneous choice between scope and aperture sights.)

I guess the bottom line is that if there is no proof of this 99 having gone through the G&H shop then, for purposes of value (and perhaps also authenticity), it didn't happen. At least that's how I'd look at it when look at when it came to cracking my wallet open.

The buyer appears to have concurred with that opinion.

Griffin and Howe still has records all it would take is a phone call. Not an expert on G&H but they installed the mount and the rifles I have seen with their SN on the barrel have all been rifles they barreled. On a rifle that still retained the factory barrel not sure how that would be marked or if it would be marked by them

Indeed G&H has all their records available, but you need the number they assigned to the gun to make it work. Numbers are on bottom of barrel whether it's their barrel or someone elses. There aren't enough confirmed indicators to state this is a G&H gun. Just because it looks like their work doesn't necessarily make it so.

Said serial number is not in their data base.Again, G&H work order numbers are on top of the barrel.

I want to be careful to not trash the OP on this posting. It is an interesting 99 and his post did bring up some infrequently discussed topics. Having said that, does anyone actually own a G&H "enhanced" 99 with proof of authenticity? It would be great seeing an example of one (or two, or three, or...).

https://jamesdjulia.com/item/52206-3-397/

Mr. sqweeler - that's a wowser! Thanks

its an interesting study to compare this 99 against the GB rifle. The GB rifle certainly was done by someone with skill, albeit to a much more conservative level of finish. I'd like to know what the brass plate near the rear sling swivel has printed on it. But still, all in all, you can't make a claim for a rifle having been reworked by a high profile custom house without the provenance. Especially when there have been scads of lesser known but talented smiths for whom the names of many have been forever lost to time.

"that's a wowser! Thanks"

+1

I had a few pre-64 G&H Model 70's.G&H #'s on top of barrel.

we need more pics.

Might be a good chapter for another book. Did any of the other more well known shops do such work on 99s? G&H is great, but when it came to work on 03s I'm more a fan of Sedgley. Did they ever customize the 99?

Man, I wish Mark Benenson was still alive. He was the most knowledgeable guy I ever knew who knew about custom high-end 99's (and Krags).

Oh man, don't bring up Krags! That's the stuff of OTville.

Here is a picture of Marks custom savages at the first savagefest at Jeds in 2006,they are in the back of Marks sportscar, he was a real knowledgeable on the custom rifles.In pretty sure the bottom one is a Griffin & Howe. Don

Now those are damn purdy!

There will be a chapter on tastefully custom 99's in my next book.

Finally got my grubby mitts on the rifle and I’m pretty sure she was stocked by G&H.

Do put up some more pictures. I never tire of looking and reading about the classic 99!

Indeed.

I like those shallow vee flip down rear sights.

I'll see if i can't get some pictures up that are worthy of this rifle. She's in need of a good cleaning and has a couple of wrinkles but she is still a looker! I'm going to send some photos to Bob Beach at G&H and see what his opinion or her is.