I bought a cool old 99 today.
Serial # puts it 1938 or 39. I hope that's a fast twist its a hunter not a collector. looks like an EG, 22 inch barrel . it has a 4 power Leopold in Redfield Base and rings. as well as a lyman ( I think} tang peep. Wood is good with an old red pad added, bore is very good, Bluing is thin but still there, And I got 5 Boxes of factory ammo. Actually a total of 94 rounds and 16 cases. 26 Rounds are Winchester silver tips and the rest Remington Corlock.
I paid probably a little much at a grand , but hell the ammo is worth 100 easy , and i could get 100 for the M8 4 power too, so i guess i did ok. Might try it out tomorrow.
...tj3006

Checkered wood or not?

If its a 1938 or 1939 vintage, it will have the 1-14 twist. You might get moment of deer accuracy with 100 grain spitzers, but 87 grain Speer Hot Core are the choice for that twist. Never seen a white tail that could tell the 13 grain difference either.

Should be 14:1. I have two of them, and both of them shoot 100gr accurately enough to hunt with but it sure does effect your groupings on paper. But I'm also agree with oldotter, a whitetail is won't know the difference between 87gr vs 100gr, if you place the shot well. Any pictures?

its got smooth wood , no checkering , i have some 90 grain sierras on hand, i hope they will shoot , when did they go to the faster twist ?

1960. Shorter bullets will shoot best in your 1-14" twist.

Uncheckered 250 EG is not an easy find.

Edit: Your 100 grain cor-lokts are short for weight and they shoot very well in many 1-14" twist barrels including both the 250's I personally own.

tj, the rate of twist changed from 1 in 14" to 1 in 10" beginning in 1960

Lee

any body ever try the 80 grain Barnes ,? i wonder how long it is.?

The Barnes 80 grain TTSX bullets are TOO LONG for a slower twist 250-3000 barrel.

Several years ago I milled the blue tips off a batch of these bullets to see how they would perform but the bullets were not accurate enough in the 1:14 barrels of the older rifles.

thanks that saves me some money.
If the 100 grain core locks work i will be happy. I have a couple hundred bullets to reload for my 2 .257 Roberts rifles. But i ordered a box of the 87 grain Speers, to check out. I will likely Take this one after Coyotes this spring and summer, If i draw an eastern Oregon Deer tag it will probably stay home. There are some really big deer out here. But if i don't draw, the 99 will be great for the black tails in the coast range. Those little bastards are real tough to hunt. But the savage is plenty of gun if you can find one to shoot !.
...tj3006

I have a 1955 vintage 99F in 250-3,000 in good shape, bought new by a shooting buddy who is now 91. He's not doing any more shooting or hunting at 91, so he sold it to me. It will shoot 87 or 90 grain bullets quite well, but for some reason won't shoot 100s worth beans. That includes short for weight 100s. Simple answer: Shoot 87s and 90s.

I carefully checked the rifling twist, and it is 1 in 14". I understand the twist rates can vary as the old machinery wasn't exact. Good luck with your new 99!

What is the serial number?

Straight stock or pistol grip?

Solid frame or take down?

1955 vintage

What are the differences you see in your groups with 100gr at say 100 yards? I've shot a lot of 87gr and a lot of 100gr ( handloads ) and the 100gr bullets only increase my groups by 1/2" - 1". I'm not implying your rifle doesn't shoot 100gr worth a sh*t, just curious. One of my rifles is 1915 and the other is 1919, I wouldn't think vintage would make much of a difference, but you never know. What's your bore like?

Thanks.

I have an older 250-3000. I have some Nosler 100 gr. with a blue tip. I suppose they are ballistic tip . I filed the tip off and they shot as well and the same point of aim as the 87 gr I have been using.

I would bet on the 87 Speers over the 100 CL's for coyotes. Minute-of coyote is a lot smaller than minute-of-deer. I never had good luck in the past trying to get 90 grain Sierras to work, but haven't tried them in the current .250 du jour. It's all about length of the bullet not weight.

My 1919 shoots the 100 CL fine and my 1950 R shoots them MOPE( minute of pigs eye). Our guide said his favorite 243 shot on a big pig was the back of the head, so that should work for the 250 also. I got a 250 pounder, and teased him I had to wait 20 minutes for the pig to turn and give me the behind the ear shot. The next year I asked if he had the pigs trained to present a better shot? He said “just shoot it in the eye, that’ll work too”. So, I shot the 150 pounder in the left eye, bullet exited under the right eye. Bang flop!

If you skin a coyote they are about as big around as a beer can. I quit skinning them greasy stinky bastards about 30 years ago but I am still familiar with the size of a beer can.

LOL!