I have always wanted a Savage 99, but with so many variants I have trouble nailing the one I really want down, if it exists at all.It must have a straight grip, schnable foreend, 20"barrel,chambered in .300 savage, or a less appealing second choice, .308 win., and it would be great if it came with a tang safety. It seems I have seen a model made in the seventies that comes real close to what I describe, and if I remember right it was chambered in .375 win. Would this model have a box magazine, or did all 99's come with the rotary magazine?Any help you 99 buffs can throw my way would be appreciated.
According to Model 99 collectors and experts, the
highest quality Model 99s were made
PRIOR TO 1960. Quality went downhill after Savage's move from Chicopee Falls, MA. to Westfield, MA. in 1960... which is still their current home.
Your desire for the tang safety pretty well "locks" you into a later (post 1960) model rifle of somewhat lesser quality, but still an excellent hunting rifle, especially with the box magazine, which is a more safe and convenient method of storing extra cartridges and fully unloading a Model 99. If your rifle has the rotary magazine like mine has, the rounds in the rotary magazine MUST be run through the action to fully unload the rifle. While one does NOT have to fully chamber the round to unload it, a removable box magazine is still the MORE desirable (spell that "
s-a-f-e-r") method of storing extra rounds.
Your desire for only a 20" barrel may eliminate any Model 99 with a tang safety since I believe the shortest barrel available for any Model 99 with a tang safety and box magazine is either 22" or 24"... but I could be wrong about this.
Actually, the 22" & 24" barrels "balance" the Model 99 quite well... and you don't lose very much muzzle velocity with either of those two barrels.
Your desire for the .300 Savage is well-founded. The .300 Savage, the "father" of the .308 Winchester cartridge, is an excellent deer cartridge for eastern whitetail hunting using either the 130 grain or 150 grain bullets. Exchange those bullets for the 165 grain bullet and you have a very good black bear, elk, caribou or moose cartridge.
Due to being loaded to considerably higher SAAMI-recommended chamber pressures (.300 Savage = 46,000 CUP vs. 53,000 CUP for the .308 Win.), the .308 Winchester could be called a ".300 Savage Magnum", but for most intents and purposes, the deer or elk couldn't tell the difference between the two cartridges if hit by either of 'em, but your shoulder could. Recoil from the .308 Winchester cartridge is noticably greater than the .300 Savage cartridge in a Model 99.
However, for the "big bears", take a more powerful rifle. The majority of the guides in Alaska use the .338 Win. Mag. and/or the .375 H&H Magnum rifles for "client back-up". A word-to-the-wise is sufficient.
"Whispers" that the .300 Savage cartridge is a difficult cartridge to reload is totally
false. I've owned and hunted with a Model 99 "EG" (24" barrel) for many years (and a pre-'64 Model 70 in .338 Win. Mag. before that) and have reloaded & fired thousands of rounds of .300 Savage without even a "hint" of any problems!
However, I do
strongly recommend that you
FULL LENGTH RESIZE the fired cartridge cases when reloading cartridges for the Model 99... something that's a good thing to do if the reloaded cartridge will be used in a lever action, pump action or semi-automatic rifle.
The .300 Savage cartridge, using the 150 grain bullet loaded to its maximum muzzle velocity (2630-2660 fps) is an honest 250 yard rifle. Loaded with the 165 grain bullet for the larger game animals, it's an honest 200 yard rifle, but you should try to keep the ranges a bit shorter... perhaps 150 yards or less for best bullet performance on the larger game animals. However, bullet
placement and
construction are still "
THE" major factors in a bullet's ability to do its job.
I sincerely hope this post helps you... good luck !~!~!
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
