I've been watching a real clean post war 99R in 300 languish on one of the auction sites for most of the summer at 700-bucks. This got me thinking that in the trio of post war models the 99R is actually the least desirable, which is a bit ironic as it was the "flagship" 99 for that period. In the models offered during the first 15-years following the war it seems that the F comes first in desirability, followed by the EG (or maybe we should just start calling it the 99MS for Mater Stake) and the R comes in at a solid third place. This just my observation and I thought I'd toss it out there if anyone's interested or has noticed something different.

I have a 99R 300 Savage. It is nice, but I think I like the F’s better.

I'd say they're all good and they're all just a little bit different with regard to style and personal taste.
Ask 10 guys to rank 1, 2 & 3 and get 6 different answers. Calibers would be a factor as well.
Doesn't sound like this rifle's talk'in to ya.

A clean 99R/300 for 700 sounds like a good price to me.

Supply and demand. In 300 Savage..

I don't think the R's bring less money than the EG's.

But I don't think the EG's bring more money than the R's.

Because there are a LOT of EG's and R's available, enough to supply collector demand.


Now if you're talking 358 or 243... totally different.

Did they make it in 6.5 Creedmoor?

It's been talkin' to me, but over the last few months I've had other rifles screaming much louder in my ear. Shoppin' around for guns can be a very noisy proposition!

Only down-side to this is the more model choices there are the more there is to collect.., and collectibility always ups the prices.

I prefer the schnable hook over round-end forearms in all my rifles, bolt and lever.
I would grab my 308 EG before any other deer rifle (..if I didn't have an EG in 270 Redding )
I would grab my 243 F (unless I had a 250 F) for calling coyotes
I would grab my 358 R before any other if I went for a walk in open bear country.

I agree, most people shun the 300 R, damn shame, it's really the best deer stand rifle in the whole production line, no mater which caliber. Maybe a 28" octagon 303 would reach further, and more accurately, but I doubt it.

working on it..

Cool!

I had both a 99R and a 99F, each in .300 Savage and both dating to the early 1950s. Both were/are honest 95% condition rifles. I prefer the F for deer hunting (upstate Pennsylvania in heavy woods). Put the R up on Gunbroker. It brought less than $500. I'd guessed it would go in the $575 range, but sometimes GB can be fickle.

There's a real lack of interest in classic rifles of any kind these days. If it isn't black, plastic, and/or semi-auto, it's not likely to sell. And with the advent of the legion of decent big game bolt actions with plastic stocks and CNC manufactured metal work that retail for well under $500 new, that's unlikely to change in the future. Collectors seem to be getting steadily older and they don't seem to be reproducing as they age out and die off.

That being said, my F will be making its annual trip to upstate PA for opening day.

To that I'd add that there is active interest in old US military. Most anything marked 1903, 1903A3, M1 Garand or carbine, or 1917 will sell without too much effort - given you aren't asking the moon.

You forgot the 1911. I should have bought 20 of them 20 years ago.

Anything with a war serial number is $ in the bank

My mistake!

Should have bought piles of Garands 25-years a go when you could have got decent examples for 320-bucks any day of the week. I remember Huntington's in Oroville (RCBS) had a rack of M1s that had been returned from Korea and each were at that price. Ah, to go back to the mid-90s again.

How are you getting around the length of the cartridge vs. magazine length? Aren't 6.5 CM's quite a bit longer than the parent .250-3000 case? Inquiring minds want to know!!

I love my 250R, it’s my go to deer gun. Never thought it was heavy till I walked around with my 22HP, then I realized what light was. One of these days I’ll find an F in 250. Don’t think anything will take the place of the R as number one deer gun.

..pixie dust..., duh

Actually, I'm seeing the 30TC/300 Savage as the parent case for the creedmoors, so it will feed through the 300 rotors slick as snot on a hammer handle. And a custom short-throat reamer will allow for deeper bullet seating, thus shorter OAL, SAAMI OAL is pretty darn close to 2.8" and I have a couple tinkerbell customs that are feeding 2.79", 2.8" from a rotor.

here's some load testing with 142g SMK down to 2.69" OAL

https://rifleshooter.com/2015/09/6-...l-length-oal-on-142-gr-sierra-matchking/

https://rifleshooter.com/2016/03/6-...nt-16-5-inch-barrel-123-smk-and-140-smk/

I'm probably going to chop the barrel and restock this clunky 243R I have...

It obviously didn't matter to Savage when they were making these but to my mind the butt stock on all the post war models could have been vastly improved by using the pre war R/RS design on the butt stock. Slimmer, trimmer, and a notched comb for your thumb. Just compare a later 50's F with the earlier 50's F side by side. The R suffers I think because they have the full fore end rather than the slimmer, tapered schnable of the EG or the less heavy F. In the right caliber this deficiency can be over looked, of course. But 300 Sav? Probably not. I had one, accurate as any and not fussy, was lucky to get 550 for privately 2 years ago. Pre-war R a whole other story. Even in 300 Sav.

I just think Savage was trying to make a heavy gun out of the R. With the F, they were making a lightweight rig. And with the EG, they were making their version of the Winchester 94 or Marlin 336, but with better cartridge and scoping potential. All great guns in my estimation.