Savage 99E--the undiscovered rifle

[Cosmoline]

I picked up a 99E in .308 from a pawn shop about a month back. Sent it to the smith for a new coat of blue and it came back last Friday. I put a Williams receiver sight on it and removed the factory scope mounts.

Did some test shooting with it this weekend and it's just awesome. It's a fun rifle, but quite a bit more than a "fun gun." Loading the rotatry mag takes some practice, but after repeating the exercise I could load three cartridges at a time in one smooth motion. It tops off very easily with the sixth round. No failures to extract, though the rifle heats up very quickly and I wouldn't want to fire more than 30 rounds through it back to back.

Accuracy was great. About two inch groups at 100 yards with the receiver sight. Recoil was minimal. I shot off my hip several times and a few times from the waist with no support.

Rate of fire is the most impressive thing. I was able to cap off six rounds about twice as fast as with any of my bolt guns.

For hunting inside of 200 yards I can think of few rifles I'd rather have. It's very light and quite potent.

My only complaint is the trigger, which is terrible. If I can fix that I expect accuracy would get even better.

This rifle could give any bolt action hunting rifle a serious run for its money.

 

[JPL]

I had a Savage 99 when I was a kid.

Dad took it with him when he and Mom divorced, and it disappeared.

He probably sold it.

 

[Mulliga]

I hope Savage brings this gun back sometime. They could even do a "Dawn of the Dead" Commemorative Edition signed by Ken Foree.

"The only person who could miss with this gun would be the sucker with the bread to buy it...except for you, of course."

 

[Smoke]

Great gun.

I have a 99 in 300Savage. I love that gun. Mine has a great trigger, came from Grandpa so don't know if he had it tweaked. Best brush gun I ever had.

Smoke

 

[Cosmoline]

What fascinates me is how this rifle rose to popularity then fell. I've seen many, many period photos of Alaska and Western US hunts from the '20's and '30's with Savage 1899's in the hands of those posing. Then something happened and after WWII they sort of fell by the wayside, replaced by bolt action rifles and semis. Savage kept making them, but they never filled more than an niche market as far as I can tell.

My gunsmith assumed I must be involved in CAS when he saw my '99! Aside from any rule problems using a modern .308 in CAS, I think his attitude is pretty common. Leverguns are for play, not for serious hunting. I intend to disprove this notion soon, hunting along the Big Su in Alaska where I live.

 

[litman252]

I picked up a 99 in .243 from a friend. I like it a lot for the little shooting I've done with it. It wears a Sears 4x scope for now, just might stay that way............
Tony

 

[Bob C]

My first commercial center fire rifle was a 99E purchased new in 1970.

I put a 2.75x Tasco with a post reticle on it, and I was happy until I dabbled in silly wets and had a problem with vertical stringing after four or five rounds.

Trading the rifle was dumb; wish I still had it !!!

I don't have what I traded it for either, a very early .308 Ruger M-77,and wish I had kept that also !!!

 

[Lobotomy Boy]

I have a pre-WWII Model 99 in 300 Savage, and it is a great gun. I've had it since I was 12-years-old, and it has done its part to help thin the whitetail population in northwest Minnesota. I really dig that old gun. It is completely original and I have no intention of tapping it for a scope or refinishing it. I like it just the way it is.n To me this is a classic firearm design.

I have been loading and unloading the rotary magazine for so many years (28 and counting) that I could do it blindfolded and drunk.

 

[keeperofthehills]

i have what is, i think a late 40s savage 99 custom sporter with a marbles peep sight in 250-3000. its been passed down through the family for three generations now.

welcome to the club man!

 

[russlate]

I need to get my gunsmith to give his OK so I can take mine out and shoot it. It's been sitting here nearly 2 weeks and I still haven't shot it yet. ( Since I live in town, shooting it out the back door is frowned upon. But I can be in the desert in 4 blocks. Two minutes max. )

 

[Kurt S.]

I bought one in .243 back about 1975 that I never fired that much. I left it with my Dad in Kentucky about 1982; he never used it much either but lent it out all over the place for years. I finally gave it to my nephew- he has been using it since he was old enough to hunt and killed a whole load of deer with it in the past 8 years.

 

[goon]

My dad has two Model 99F's.
One was my grandfather's, bought in about 1923. It has the safety down behind the trigger and the shaved forearm.
The other is the one that my dad bought in the '70s. It is some special edition with a gold trigger.
Both are 300 Savage and both have killed more deer than anyone can remember.
A '99 is on my wish list but it will be a .308 .

 

[DAdams]

Resurrection

Of the Cosmo Savage Thread.

I inherited a Savage 99E in Savage .300. It is mint (no box). It was my bother's and he passed away at the age of 28 in 1978, so I think it is a mid 70s vintage but not sure. SN 11122XX.
My parents recently passed it on to me with two Winchesters, a Marlin and this .300 Savage.

I never could figure out how to load the thing. :banghead: I recently had some time to research the little bugger and found out it has a rotary magazine.

I bought a box of ammo for it, so now I guess it is time to figure it out.

Any suggestions on positioning of the round (round to the front ) for loading?

I read some reviews and about the round itself, quite potent. I always figured it in the 30-30 performance category but its much better.

Very nicely balanced rifle and the weight is minimal, not sure, but it must be sub 7lbs?

 

[Cosmoline]

I wish you could resurrect my old Savage! I had to sell that off in '05 during a rough spot. However a vintage Savage, preferably a take-down--is very much on my list of rifles I need to get.

For loading you just push them in, couldn't be easier. Pointy end to the front ;-)

 

[ReadyontheRight]

I've discovered them. I just can't afford one.

I would love one in .308 with a Weaver K4 scope.

Inconceivable that Savage does not bring them back. I think the idea that lever rifles are "cheap" is lone-gone.

 

[MMCSRET]

I have a solid frame carbine 99 built in 1936 in 30-30. Loaded with 130 grain pointy bullets it is a fantastic alround gun for every day carry in the pick up to use on coyotes, stray dogs, feral cats, antelope and deer. Love the ol'e 99.

 

[Cougfan2]

The 300 Savage cartridge has almost a cult following among some old school hunters. I wanted a 99 so bad I could taste it when I was a kid, but alas.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

I once passed on a .300 Savage Remington Model 760 for less than $200 at a dealer in Hopkins, MN. He just couldn't move it and he was willing to throw in some boxes of ammo.

I knew nothing about .300 Savage. Of course when I did a little research and went back, it was gone.

A Savage M99 in .300 Savage would be awesome.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

My dad hunted with the 99 Savage in .250-3000 for many years. Among other game, he killed a tiger in Sumatra, a cheetah, a kudu, an oryx, and a host of other game in Africa.

 

[bonza]

Guy I used to shoot with years ago, in Australia, had a couple of the Savage M.1895s. One was a .32/40 the other a .38/55.....a couple of real classics! About three months ago I was at the range hosting a bunch of the youth from our church, one of the young men brought along a '99 he had just got off his father, who lives interstate. His Mom & stepdad don't know anything about firearms, but knew that I had an interest in older guns, so suggested he show it to me. It was a nice little SRC in .25/35 with a Lyman tang sight. He had a box of ammo with it & put in some decent groups at 50yds. He's more into the EBG scene, so hopefully he won't decide to trade in the '99 before he gives me first dibs!

 

[Cosmoline]

It's interesting to look at old pics of Alaskan stampeders and trappers. Judging from these, the 99 was *the* rifle to have for Alaska. That was back before bear and moose knew they were immune to anything short of a .338 WM. The state museum has an "indian gun" version carved with ornate Tlingit designs. If they ever have a fire sale, I've got dibs on it!

http://146.63.87.186/ASMSearch/ObjectDetail?object=1516065

 

[skinewmexico]

When it came out, the 99 in 250-3000 was the hottest gun ever built. I'm lucky to have one.

 

[CU74]

I bought a Savage 99 in .300 Savage about a year ago from an old Pennsylvania deer hunter. He got it used in 1953 and it was his "go-to" deer rifle for forty years. Although it's old and well-used, he maintained it well. The bluing is worn to a memory in spots but it is in great shape otherwise and is a good shooter. My grandson will inherit this one..........

 

[rangerruck]

it is double tough to do a trigger job on these, get someone with experience to help you do it, or a very good gunsmith...

 

[DAdams]

in an

upline I stated this

and found out it has a rotary magazine.

As it does not have a magazine what would you call this, a rotary loading mechanism? Perhaps this article answers the question. So it is a magazine, a "rotary spool magazine".

Jon Wolfe wrote an article:

The design of the 99 is superior to lever actions such as the Winchester 94 and the Marlin 336 because it can handle high intensity cartridges. It has several superior design features that make it more comparable to the Browning BLR and even modern bolt actions like the Winchester Model 70. The rotary spool magazine allows for the use of pointed bullets, which retain greater velocity downrange than the flat point bullets required by lever guns with tubular magazines. Its strong action allowed it to be chambered in many modern, short-action, high intensity cartridges. A few of the most popular calibers were the .250-3000 Savage, .300 Savage, .243 Winchester and .308 Winchester.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/savage_99.htm

Interesting article.

This too is very enlightening.

I would not hesitate to use a 150- or 165-grain Barnes X Bullet, Swift A-Frame or Nosler Partition on elk, for example, in the .300 Savage. Handloading



The .300 Savage case holds about 53 grains of water--about three grains less than the .308 Win., which was introduced much later. While capacities of the two cases are nearly the same, the .308 is generally considered to produce higher velocities due primarily to its higher operating pressure. The SAAMI maximum average pressure for the .308 Win. is listed at 62,000 psi while the .300's is 47,000 psi.

Another interesting write up on the 99 and .300.

http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/savage_0702/

Tell you what. I am probably not going to load this round but I am going to go out and find about 10more boxes of 20 Federal 180gr soft points. Gander Mountain only had one brand and I bought one box. After seeing the performance I'm going to load up.

This financial situation (US/Global) is driving me to investing weekly in durable goods.

Mulliga said:

I hope Savage brings this gun back sometime. They could even do a "Dawn of the Dead" Commemorative Edition signed by Ken Foree.

I agree if you know what I mean.