Rifle Magazine sight, avoiding a shift of focus from the target to front and rear sights. When folks...

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Browning BLRGoes Modern!

The Venerable Savage 99Winter 2009 Vol. 2

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Marlin LeverActions:

An AmericanClassic!

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★Winter 2009

Volume 2ISSN 0162-3593

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36 Browing BLRLevergunsGo ModernStan Trzoniec

46 Savage 99Uniquely American John Haviland

58 Marlin LevergunsEvolution of anAmerican Classic Brian Pearce

68 The Four SavageCartridgesLeaders inTheir TimeMike Nesbitt

8 Burris FastFire IISpotting Scope -Dave Scovill

14 Iron Sights and Leverguns Light Gunsmithing -Gil Sengel

22 .30 WCF (aka .30-30Winchester)Classic Cartridges -John Haviland

28 Winchester Levergun Sights Down Range -Mike Venturino

32 Lever Actions inTwenty-First Century AlaskaA Guide’s Notes -Phil Shoemaker

Page 46 . . .

Background Photo: © 2009 G. Hudson The Legacy of Lever�Guns

Page 36 . . .

Page 58 . . .

Page 68 . . .

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On the cover . . .Top to bottom: Winchester Model 92 .44-40takedown, Limited Edition Short Rifle; MarlinCowboy Model 95 .45-70 with Burris FastFire II;Winchester Model 94 .32-40 Carbine, circa1913; Marlin Model 94 .38 W rifle, circa 1900;Winchester Model 95 .35 WCF rifle with Lyman21 sight, circa 1905. Photos by G. Hudson.

Background Photo: © 2009 G. Hudson

6Page 58Page 46

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Volume 2 Winter 2009t h e l e g a c y o f

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Publisher/President – Don Polacek

Associate Publisher – Mark Harris

Editor in Chief – Dave Scovill

Managing Editor – Roberta Scovill

Art Director – Gerald Hudson

Production Director – Becky Pinkley

Contributing Editors

Associate Editor – Al Miller

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Rifle® (ISSN 0162-3583) is published bimonthly byPolacek Publishing Corporation, dba Wolfe PublishingCompany (Don Polacek, President), 2625 StearmanRd., Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona 86301. (Also publisher ofHandloader® magazine.) Telephone (928) 445-7810. Pe-riodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and addi-tional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S.possessions – single issue, $5.99; 6 issues, $19.97; 12issues, $36. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99; 6issues $26; 12 issues, $48. Please allow 8-10 weeks forfirst issue. Advertising rates furnished on request. Allrights reserved.

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Wolfe PublishingCompany

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Prescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124© Polacek Publishing Corporation

John Haviland

Brian Pearce

Clair Rees

Gil Sengel

Ron Spomer

Stan Trzoniec

Mike Venturino

Ken Waters

Publisher of Rifle® is not responsible for mishaps of any nature which might occur from use of published loadingdata or from recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced withoutwritten permission from the publisher. All authors are contracted under work for hire. Publisher retains all copy-rights upon payment for all manuscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept re-sponsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts.

76 Loads forLevergunCartridgesPearce SharesHis FavoritesBrian Pearce

86 Mossberg Model 464 .30-30100% AmericanClair Rees

94 Winchester Levergunsand Their CartridgesThe LegacyMike Venturino

The Legacy of Lever�Guns

Page 76 . . .

Page 86 . . .


myths” regarding mar-ginal accuracy and fieldeffectiveness with ironsights. Accuracy rivaledany scoped bolt actionin terms of minute-of-lung shot at prudentranges, and proper bul-let placement more orless guaranteed meaton the table.

For most folks, themajor challenge associ-ated with lever actionsis iron/open sights. Forthose who wear correc-tive lenses, I under-stand, but for anyonewith uncorrected vi-sion, regular use williron out the details —such as learning how toconcentrate on thefront sight, avoiding ashift of focus from the target to front and rearsights. When folks start talking about shifting focusfrom the target to the sights, you can pretty well fig-ure they have no clue on the proper use ofiron/open sights. The other rule is to keep botheyes open.

A lot of folks claim aperture (peep) sights con-tribute to better accuracy. That may be true forsome, but I fail to shoot any better with peep thanwith open sights, probably because I still have goodvision and have used both for well over 50 years.For folks who cut their teeth on scoped rifles, ironsmay take some getting used to, assuming they don’tgive up before making a fair go of it. An alternativeto open sights is a receiver sight that’s adjustablefor zeroing at whatever range, allowing the use ofvarious bullet weights at respective velocities.

The issue fixed sights on rifles and carbines arenot all that rudimentary. Several years back, my sonJason and I took a new semiautomatic 7.62x39 rifleand a Winchester Model 73 .44 WCF out into thedesert for a little informal shooting. Quite by acci-dent, we discovered a fair number of jackrabbits ina narrow valley and proceeded to cut loose. Whenthe smoke cleared, we took a baker’s dozen withthe Winchester and two with the semiautomatic,

Ihave no idea how I came to hunt with lever

actions; it certainly wasn’t because I enjoyed thethrashing my friend Harold’s Model 94 Winchestercarbine .32 Winchester Special gave me back in1953. The flat, checkered (post-World War II)buttplate whacked me pretty good, leaving a bruisewith impressions of the checkering embossed onmy hide for a week.

For whatever reason, upon retirement from activeduty with the U.S. Navy, one of the first firearms Ilatched onto was – I must have been insane – a Win-chester Model 94 carbine .30 WCF.

In due course, the little carbine proved exception-ally accurate with cast or jacketed bullets that fairlyduplicated factory ballistics, and it was sort ofadopted as the “go-to” knocking-around rig for every-thing from rabbits to local alfalfa-fed mule deer.

The little carbine also shed a lot of light on “writer

8 www.riflemagazine.com

SPOTTING SCOPE by Dave Scovill • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

BURRIS FASTFIRE II

Dave pulled the secondshot low, but the restclustered in an inch or so.

Winter 2009

the latter of which was returnedto the factory shortly thereafterwithout comment. In retrospect,that experience only serves topoint out there is nothing wrongwith iron sights that a good riflewon’t cure.

Some ladder/leaf sights, likethose commonly referred to as“carbine” sights, are graduated inincrements of 100 yards, out toseveral hundred yards; or 800and 1,000 as indicated on theSporting Leaf sight on the Win-chester Models 73 and 76, respec-tively, and 1,000 yards on a Model86 .45-70. Optimistic, no doubt,but way back in the 1870s, a manon a horse was an easy targeteven for the .44 WCF at up to 400yards – assuming some shooterskill. And in the heat of battlewith a mounted adversary, shoot-ing the horse, either accidentallyor with purpose, is not a badidea. This is why the U.S. Armyliked the .45-70; it put horsesand/or the rider out of action. Sofor their day at least, open sightsgenerally served their purpose.

As a rule the stepped elevatorfor most rifle sights is graduatedin 50-yard increments, out to 300yards. At least that’s true for thefactory load for which the sightsare calibrated. Changing the bul-let weight and/or velocity will alsochange bullet impact in relationto the sight settings. For refer-ence, lighter bullets always shoothigher than heavier bullets, as-suming the same sight setting.

Nowadays, it’s somewhat fash-ionable to mount a scope onlever actions. I’ve never donethat – although I once borrowedtwo Winchester Model 94s, a .38-55 and a .30-30, that were outfit-ted by the factory with Malcombscopes to take a couple of Texaswhitetails and a javelina – butsome folks, apparently, prefer thefinite sight picture. Not that theymight shoot any better, but theylike seeing what they are shoot-ing at up close and personal.

With all that aside, one of thebiggest reasons I’ve avoided

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to selected models of handguns,shotguns and lever actions. TheFastFire II is an excellent optionfor folks who have been writingme for years requesting scopemounts or information on sightsthat might be adapted to lever actions, to replace the open oraperture/peep sights they can nolonger see, at least not as well asthey used to.

The FastFire II uses a light beamthat is reflected off a transparentlens. With the sight mounted on ashotgun, handgun or rifle, the reddot (light) is adjusted to corre-spond with the desired point ofbullet, or shot pattern, impact.With the firearm held in the nor-mal shooting stance, the viewthrough the lens with the super-imposed red dot serves as anaiming point, regardless of yourhead position, as long as you cansee the dot on the lens. I’vemounted the FastFire II on theMarlin and a Kimber 1911, andit’s that easy. Adjust the dot tothe point of bullet impact andthat’s it.

The beauty of the system is thatit does not require keen vision,just focus on the target with thesuperimposed red dot placedwhere you want the bullet toland. Since the lens is in line ofsight, between the eye and thetarget, it can be used as easily asa scope, albeit sans magnifica-tion, and allows the shooter tokeep his cheek in contact withthe stock. This eliminates theproblem that forces him to raise

scopes on lever actionsis the ill effect they haveon balance and handi-ness. Added to that isthe fact that all but oneof the lever actions Iown were manufacturedprior to World War II,some before 1900, andI’m not drilling holes inany of them.

The exception is a re-cently manufacturedMarlin Model 95 .45-70Cowboy with 26-inchoctagonal barrel and magazinetube, straight grip and, for awhileat least, issue open sights. Ofcourse, the Marlin is drilled andtapped for scope bases.

The Marlin was unfired – until Icame across a news release forthe Burris FastFire II Red DotReflex Sight featuring state-of-the-art technology in a nicelycompact, lightweight and water-proof design that is easily adapted


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Winter 2009

his head to see through thescope, and consequently, losesfacial contact with the stock.

For all those old-timers and not-so-old middle-age folks with vi-sion that essentially precludesthe use of iron sights, the BurrisFastFire II is the answer for any-one who admires the fast han-dling characteristics of a leveraction. It is easily adjusted to ac-commodate the desired aimingpoint and comes with battery,screwdriver, fine-tuning dial andadapting base for whatevermount that is appropriate for thedesired firearm. A cap is also inthe kit, to protect the unit fromdust, etc. when not in use. An on-off switch on the side of the unitpreserves battery life.

For the most part, I think, theFastFire II is suitable for anyside-eject lever action, such asthe Marlin 336/95 or 94 and Win-chester Model 94, that is drilledand tapped for scope mounts.The unit could be adapted to anolder top-eject Winchester Model94, but Burris should/could de-velop a side receiver mount, similar to those developed forWilliams and Lyman receiversights, with an extension over therear of the bolt to hold the Fast-Fire II, assuming the ejected casewill clear the lens. That shouldwork since the case from a top-ejection lever action generallyflies straight up and angles some-what to the rear.

Doug Turnbull, Turnbull Restora-tions, has also made up a mount


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Winter 2009

assume, who are used to the“heads up” hold with a scope, onor off a bench, will find the Fast-Fire II easy to accommodate.And, if recoil dished out by theMarlin .45-70 and slamming andbanging the unit on a Model 1911.45 ACP are any indication, theFastFire II does indeed “handlemagnum recoil.”

For more information, contactBurris Co. at 331 E. 8th St., Gree-

ley CO 80631; or visit online at:www.burrisoptics.com.

* * *

If you’d like to read more about lever-action rifles, we pub-lished Rifle magazine’s The

Legacy of Lever Guns, Winter2000 edition, and it’s available for $7.95 (ppd). Order online at:www.rifle magazine.com (catalognumber 566.5) or give our officea call: 1-800-899-7810.


that fits in the rear sight dovetailon top-eject Winchester lever ac-tions, aka Models 71, 73, 76, 86,92, 94 and 95.

After mounting the FastFire IIon the Marlin Model 95 Cowboy,I took the liberty of assuming thedot would be centered (at thefactory) over the barrel, in linewith the existing open sights. SoI used the vertical adjustment tolocate the dot about 2 or 3 incheshigh in reference to the top of thefront sight on an aiming pointdown the hall, about 10 yards.That was a ballpark guess to getthe bullets on paper at 50 yards,and go from there.

Using Winchester factory loadswith a 300-grain jacketed hollow-point at just over 1,900 fps, thefirst few shots from shootingsticks grouped about 5 incheshigh at 50 long paces. I juggledthe adjustment to bring the groupdown to about 2 inches abovethe dot – about right for a 140- to150-yard zero with the 300-grainload – and fired a five-shot groupfor the record. I pulled the sec-ond shot, but the rest clusteredin 1.0 inch. Since the dot is finite– you can see precisely where itis when the shot breaks, like thecrosshairs in a scope reticle –and I was not holding rocksteady on the sticks, it would befair to assume the same loadwould group around an inch, orless, from a solid bench setup. Atleast the dot allows you to callthe shot, something that is not al-ways possible with open or aper-ture sights.

The only hangup I have with theFastFire II is that I, apparently,shoulder a rifle unconsciously(after 50 years of shooting leveractions) to place my eye in linewith the barrel sights. Since theFastFire II places the dot about.5 inch higher, I have to readjustmy cheek weld on the stock.That upsets my rhythm when du-plicating field conditions withshooting sticks and requiressome mental/physical adjustmenton my part. Most folks, I would �

Sav

46 The Legacy of Lever�Gunswww.riflemagazine.com

John Haviland

Now that the Savage 99lever-action rifle is a sym-bol of the past, the priceof 99s is spiraling ever up-

ward. Collectors are fascinated byits many variations made over morethan a century, and shooters andhunters want to own a piece of Amer-icana that both connects to a simplertime and is an engineering marvelthat has stood the test of time.

What exactly makes the Savage 99 so appealing?“For one, it’s a good-looking rifle,” says John Calla-han, who worked at Savage Arms from 1965 to 1979and is an independent historian of Savage firearms.The 99’s lines, especially on rifles with straightgrips, flow forward. The top of the 99’s grip arcscontinuously into a slender receiver. The lever looplinks to a yoke with a contour sweeping up to thereceiver base and on forward to a slim forearm anda tapered barrel. These fluid lines came at a timewhen other lever actions wore exposed hammers,like antiquated muzzleloaders, squared-off re-ceivers and potbelly tubular magazines.

The receiver itself was vastly different and moreinnovative than any other receiver. “The 99 startedas a forging that weighed more than a finishedrifle,” Callahan says. The forging was machineddown to hold a brass rotary magazine, a magazinecartridge counter window in the left front, internalhammer and a cocking indicator that protruded togive both a visual and felt signal when the firing pinwas cocked.

Great praise has been given to the controlled-round features of Mauser and Winchester bolt-ac-tion rifles. Well, the Model 99 also completely keepsa check on a cartridge during cycling. As the leveris closed, the bolt starts forward and the lower faceof the bolt pushes a cartridge forward and up to-ward the chamber. When the cartridge is in linewith the bolt, the rim of the cartridge case slips upbetween the bolt face and extractor and is guidedinto the chamber. There is no chance of doublefeeding. When the cartridge or fired case is ex-tracted from the chamber, it is held against the boltface by the extractor until the head of the case hitsa bump on the rear of the automatic cutoff thatejects the case. A slow pull of the lever pops thecase out of the receiver into the hand. A hard pullsends it over the fence. A cartridge can also beloaded into the chamber by hand, and the extractorwill slip over the case rim and the action close.

HISTORY

The Savage Model 99 was the result of several pre-vious rifles designed primarily by Arthur Savage toland a contract from the U.S. military. Only after therifles were turned down by the military did Savageturn to the civilian market.

Uniquely American

age 99

Winter 2009 47www.riflemagazine.com

This rifle is a 99F .300 Savage made in the 1950s.The rifle came from the factory with a Marble tangsight, but it wears a Lyman All-American 4x scope.


The Model 1892 was Savage’sfirst rifle that bore a resemblanceto the 99. Engineers from ColtArmory helped Savage design theModel 1892. “Just like engineer-ing firms do today,” Callahansays, “Colt Armory offered engi-neering services. In fact some ofthe guns are marked with Colt’ssignature.

“That rifle was downright ugly,”Callahan says. The 10-pound riflemeasured nearly 41⁄2 feet long,and its potbellied rotary mag -azine held eight .30-40 Army cartridges. During the 1892 Ord-nance trials at Governor’s Island,New York, Savage’s rifle fired 10shots in 26 seconds during thesafety test. In a speed test, therifle fired 6 rounds from the mag-azine in 7 seconds and 14 shotsin 36 seconds. The breechblockbroke after the third shot dur-ing the trial of single loading and

shooting for one minute. TheNorwegian-designed bolt-actionKrag won out over the 53 riflesentered in the trials.

The domination of the bolt ac-tion for military use convincedSavage his lever action’s futurelay in the commercial field. Hedesigned a smaller sporting ver-sion of the Model 1892 and cham-bered it in .32-20. This 1893patent design had a lever handlewith a closed loop and a cartridge-counter window on the left frontof the receiver. With the backingfrom a group of Utica, New York,investors, Savage lengthened thereceiver of the rifle to accept thenew .303 Savage and contractedwith Marlin Fire Arms to producethe first Model 1895 rifles.

In the June 1895 Shooting and

Fishing magazine, an announce-ment for the introduction of theSavage Repeating Arms Com-pany’s Model 1895 states: “Therifles are manufactured by theMarlin Fire Arms Co., of New

Haven, Conn. Of this new riflethe manufacturers say: ‘The rifleembodies the results of years ofcareful experimenting by Mr.Arthur W. Savage, a practicalsportsman, who spent severalyears in hunting in Australia.’ . . .The guns are built to use metallicammunition loaded with smoke-less powder in its full strength.”

“Savage must have shot some toprove his ideas,” Callahan says.“But he was an inventor, not ashooter or hunter.”

The Model 1895 incorporatedseveral innovative features. A


Savage99

The .300 Savage was by far the most popular cartridge chambered inSavage 99 rifles. Federal, Remington and Winchester still produce .300Savage ammunition.

Left, to many, the Model 99 Savagewas an ideal rifle for hunting muledeer, elk and pronghorn. Right,the magazine cartridge counterwindow is one of the well-likedfeatures of the Savage 99.


This craftsman is assembling a Savage Model

1895 75th anniversary model. Chambered in

.308 Winchester, a total of 10,000 were made.

The man on the left is Charlie Dubbison, who

was president of Savage at the time.

The growing popularity of scope sights promptedSavage to introduce a 99 with a Monte Carlo combto align the eye with a scope’s reticle.

The World War II WarProduction Board dictatedthat Savage could onlymake military arms duringthe war. However, a Savageadvertisement helped keepthe Savage 99 in the minds

of big game hunters.“When the War is Won . . .

you’ll want this rifle”the ad states. Left, theSavage Model 189575th anniversarymodel features a rareoctangonal barrel.

This 1950 ad announces: “Thisyear – the first since the war –expanded production makes the famous Savage 99 available to you. . .” Three models wereavailable: the EG, R and RS.

This 1965 ad introduces theSavage 99C with a removablebox magazine chambered in.243, .284 or .308 Winchesters.Other 99 models available atthe time were the Deluxe GradeDL, Featherweight F, EconomyE, Presentation Grade PE andCitation Grade DE.

Photos and archival imagescourtesy of John Callahan.

Savage99

Those changes and a few otherswere incorporated into the Model1899. It had an oblong-shapedcocking indicator that protrudedabove the front top of the breech-block when the hammer wascocked. The Schnabel on theforearm was less abrupt, andthe lower curve of the forearmblended into the lower front of

trigger-lock safety pushed for-ward blocked the movement ofthe trigger and locked the leverclosed. Rifles were made with 26-inch round, half-octagonal andfull-octagonal barrels. Carbineswere made with 20-inch barrels,and military full-stock musketshad 30-inch barrels. The .303 Sav-age was the standard cartridge.Sights included a dovetail buck-horn rear on a sliding elevatorand a blade front sight. The tangwas drilled to accept an aperturesight. A window in the top of thebreechblock showed the firingpin, marked with a C for cockedor an S for safe. This feature waswhat mostly distinguishes theModel 1895 from the later Model1899. The Model 1899 has a rec-tangular cocking indicator thatrises from the front of the breech-block to show and feel when therifle is cocked.

The Savage Arms Company wasincorporated in 1897, and in Jan-uary 1899, the company began of-fering the Model 1899 rifle. The1895 and 1899 were so similarthat for $5 Savage would convertan 1895 rifle into an 1899 by fit-ting a new breechblock, hammerindicator, sear, firing pin, ham-mer and extractor.

These 100-yard groups were shot with a Savage 99F using 39.0 grainsof IMR-3031 and Hornady 165-grain bullets (left) and with Sierra180-grain bullets and 36.0 grains of TAC (right).

the receiver. The bottom rear ofthe stock had a slight downwardcurve, often called a perch-belly.

The 1899 was initially availablein several types. The 1899-A Stan-dard Weight Rifle had a 26-inchround barrel and was chamberedin .303 Savage. The 1899-A ShortRifle had a 22-inch barrel; theModel 1899-B Standard Rifle, a26-inch octagonal barrel; the CStandard Rifle, a 26-inch half-round, half-octagonal barrel; andthe F Carbine, a 20-inch barrel.Additional cartridges loaded byWinchester included the .30-30,.25-35, .32-40 and .38-55 Winches-ters. One of the 99’s stated advan-tages over other lever actionswas that its rotary magazine al-lowed shooting pointed bullets.However, most, if not all, theearly factory loaded ammunitionfor these cartridges were loadedwith round or blunt-nosed bullets.

The .22 Savage Hi-Power wasadded in 1912 and the .250-3000Savage the following year. Thesecartridges were designed byCharles Newton and created

quite a commotion. The Hi-Powershot a 70-grain bullet at 2,800 fps.The .250-3000 replaced the .25-35.The .250 shot an 87-grain bulletat the astonishing speed of 3,000fps. Today that would be like the

.30-06 being replaced by a .30-cal-iber cartridge that shot the sameweight bullet 500 fps faster but inthe same size and weight rifle.


The .300 Savage (right) was wayahead of the rest of the cartridgecrowd when it was introducedin 1920. It resembles a compactedition of today’s .300 Winches-ter Short Magnum (left).

When the .308 Winchester (right)was chambered in the Savage 99in the 1950s, it took away a lotof the popularity of the .300Savage (left).

The .300 Savage (right) nearlyduplicated the ballistics of the150-grain bullet in the .30-06(left).

Savage99


drivers. In 1909 takedown mod-els in A, CD and H were intro-duced with interrupted threadson the barrel that separated therifle at the front of the receiver. Acompanion .410 shotgun barrelwas also available for some take-down models. The shotshell car-tridges, though, had to be loadedinto the chamber by hand.

Savage suggested the riflescould be shortened for packingand travel by removing the stock.Unscrewing the buttplate andthen the stock bolt would reducethe length of a rifle by nearlyhalf. However, that requiredsome time and a couple of screw-

A military version of the 1899was made with a 28-inch barreland full stock with a bayonet.“Some of these rifles were usedby the New York National Guard,”Callahan says. The rifles evensaw service during World War I,sort of. Callahan says membersof the Montreal, Canada, PoloClub were worried the Germanswould invade Canada and or-dered 800 rifles chambered in.303 Savage. The rifles were evenfurnished with bayonets. “If youcould find one of those bayonets,it would be worth even morethan one of those rifles,” Calla-han says.

Savage Arms was sold to Driggs-Seabury Corporation in 1915, andArthur Savage retired to Califor-nia. In 1917 the company’s namewas changed to Savage ArmsCorporation. According to Calla-han, Mr. Savage never ownedSavage Arms. “He was an em-ployee of the company and washired as the general manager andtroubleshooter,” he says. “How-ever, he did get some stock in thecompany.”

After World War I the name ofthe Model 1899 was shortened toModel 99.

Savage had its own ammunitionplant on the grounds of the fac-tory to produce cartridges for therifles. Later, Remington took overthe production of ammunition.

Subtle changes were made tothe Model 1899 over the years. In1908, starting with serial number90,000, the 1899’s receiver waschanged to a breech bolt roundedat the rear, and the hammer indi-cator was changed to a pin thatprojected above the top of the re-ceiver behind the breech boltwhen the rifle was cocked.


Loads for the .300 Savage100-yard

bullet powder charge velocity group(grains) (grains) (fps) (inches)

125 Speer TNT Benchmark 40.5 2,724 –H-4895 40.0 2,510 2.66TAC 42.0 2,784 –Varget 44.5 2,821 –

150 Remington Express Core-Lokt PSP 2,535 2.11150 Sierra flatbase IMR-4895 43.0 2,627 1.66

Varget 44.0 2,726 1.30TAC 42.0 2,609 2.21W-748 43.5 2,620 2.31

165 Hornady Spire Point boat-tail IMR-3031 39.0 2,578 .68IMR-4064 41.0 2,455 .66IMR-4320 42.0 2,629 1.53RL-15 42.0 2,538 1.78

180 Sierra spitzer H-4350 44.5 2,303 2.56IMR-4895 39.0 2,260 2.37RL-15 42.0 2,462 2.33TAC 36.0 2,257 1.48

200 Hawk roundnose RL-15 40.0 2,363 2.66Notes: A Savage 99F with a 20-inch barrel and a Lyman 4x scope were used to shoot these loads.Remington cases with Winchester Large Rifle primers were used throughout.

Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.

The Savage Model 99was the result of

several previous riflesdesigned primarily by

Arthur Savage.


In 1920 the .300 Savage was in-troduced as a short cartridge thatfit in the 99’s action, yet pro-duced nearly the same velocitywith a 150-grain bullet as the.30-06. It came up a bit shortof the .30-06, but it was closeenough; and in a compact riflelike the 99, it was an immediatehit with big game hunters. The.300 case had a sharp shoulderand a short neck to maximizepowder capacity. In fact, it lookslike a narrow version of today’scutting-edge development in car-tridge design, the .300 Winches-ter Short Magnum.

By the early 1930s, at least 10different standard models wereoffered. Douglas Murray’s bookThe Ninety Nine extensively cov-ers each model. Suffice it to say,pre-World War II patterns includethe A, B, E, EG, F, G, H, K, R,RS and T. Post-1945 patterns in-clude the A, C, CD, DE, DL, E,EG, F, PE, R, RS and 358. A num-ber of deluxe models were alsomade with custom wood, sights,engraving and gold and silverinlays. They include the Presen-tation Grade PE and CitationGrade DE.

In the following years, the 99was chambered in other car-tridges that were slightly longerand operated at higher pressurethan the .300 Savage. They in-cluded the 7mm-08 Remingtonand .243, .284, .308 and .358 Win-chesters. The .375 Winchesterwas also chambered as competi-tion for Winchester’s Big Bore 94lever action.

The 99’s action was altered toaccept the .308 Winchester in the1950s beginning at serial number900,000. The rotary magazinespool was lengthened to acceptthe slightly longer .308. The rearwall of the magazine well was cutout to extend the magazine welland a piece of sheet metal wasput in its place. The magazinecutoff was also altered. With onlythese changes made to acceptlonger cartridges, the 50-someyear old Savage 99 easily ac-


Winter 2009

cepted the hottest cartridges ofthe day, a testament to its well-built design.

There are all sorts of conflictingreports on what was the last year99s were produced. One sourcestates 1985 or 1986, another 1989and yet another late 1990s. Therewas a centennial edition 1899made in Spain. Callahan saysabout 2004 was the final year.“The last model was the 99C, theone with the removable clip,” hesays.

When a rifle is no longer made,it quickly assumes the standingof a collectible. Prices go up ac-cordingly. Prices have increasedsignificantly on 99s made duringthe 1950s and before and rifleschambered in cartridges thatwere not so popular at the time.A friend recently sold a 99 cham-bered in .358 Winchester for$1,650.

Callahan says it was collectors

originally seeking Winchester rifles who drove up the price ofSavage 99s. “These guys werelooking for Winchesters,” hesays, “but they kept finding these99s in great shape and startedbuying them up.”

takes dead aim on its 2nd millionin sales. . . .” However, exactlyhow many 99s were made is amystery, because serial numbersof 99s are out of sequence. “Ifthere was a rack of rifles andshotguns ready to go out the door,they were given serial numbersright down the line,” Callahansays. “So there are really no con-secutive serial numbers on 99s.”

Savage was working on a planto reintroduce the 99. “But thathas been scrubbed,” Callahansays. So, to paraphrase the songthat says you don’t know whatyou’ve got until it’s gone, the Sav-age 99, the engineering marvelthat has stood the test of time, isnow a piece of Americana.

MY 99

A few springs ago, my wife andI walked into a sporting goodsstore intending to buy some fishhooks. I walked out with a Sav-age Model 99 rifle.

Callahan says pre-World War II99s are the most desirable to col-lectors. “That’s followed by 99smade in Chicopee Falls, Massa-chusetts, and then rifles made inWestfield, Massachusetts,” hesays. “Some models from the1960s with extensive engravingand fancy wood and checkeringare also prized by collectors.”

In 1960 Savage produced its mil-lionth 99, when an advertisementstated: “The world’s favoritelever action, big game rifle now


Subtle changes weremade to the Model 1899

over the years.

that came along. Right on sched-ule a doe walked through thetrees and stopped broadside at80 yards. I brought the 99 up andshot. The deer took off on a maddash. Nearly on its own the riflewent click, slick and chamberedanother cartridge. There was noneed; the deer fell after 30 yards.

My son thought that was prettyneat. So he took the rifle the nextweek. He stalked to within 40yards of a feeding doe and wasjust about to shoot when it tookoff up the ridge. The deer passedan opening and my son shot. Thedeer fell over.

LOADS FOR THE .300

The nice thing about the .300Savage is it doesn’t require an expensive controlled-expandingbullet to perform well on biggame. With a mild velocity of2,700 fps a regular 150-grain soft-point Hornady, Sierra or Speerwill expand well yet hold to-gether. The .300 Savage load weused on those deer was a Rem-ington 150-grain Pointed SoftPoint Core-Lokt with 43.8 grainsof Varget for a muzzle velocity of2,740 fps. The bullets expanded,did their work and exited.

Federal, Remington and Win-chester still make .300 Savageammunition. All three load theirstandard softnose 150-grain bul-lets with a stated muzzle velocityof 2,630 fps. From the 20-inchbarrel of my Savage 99, the Rem-ington 150-grain load clocked2,535 fps. Federal and Remingtonalso load 180-grain softnose bul-lets at 2,350 fps. At 300 yards the150-grain loads retain about 1,100foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of energyand the 180-grain bullets 860 ft-lbs. Those loads should handleabout any big game out to 300yards, which, in spite of all themega magnums out there today,is still a long shot.

While not in collector’s condi-tion, there are quite a few 99s onthe racks of many sporting goodstores, and a hunter looking forone should have no problem.


“How did that work?” my wifeasked.

“Just the way I’ve been hopingfor the last 30 years,” I replied.

I’d been looking a long time foran older Savage Model 99 .300Savage. I wanted a 99 for the

rifle’s good looks, fast handlingin the deer woods and to revisitthe days of my youth when I car-ried a Savage 99 after mule deer.

My rifle is a Savage 99F with a20-inch barrel that was made inthe early 1950s. It was in goodshape when I bought it, with onlysome of the blueing on the bot-tom of the receiver worn from ahunter carrying it there on itsbalance point. The stock smelledlike it had spent many years in abackwoods cabin near a woodstove. The rifle still had its fac-tory-installed Marble aperturerear sight that extends back overthe grip on a piece mounted onthe top rear of the receiver.

I started shooting the rifle with150-grain jacketed bullets. Withthe Marble sight it was no greatfeat to shoot 2-inch groups at 100yards. However, I wanted to puta scope on it to see just how wellit would group. I found an oldLyman All-American 4x that wasabout the same vintage as the 99and mounted it on the rifle. Witha leather sling, the rifle weighed73⁄4 pounds.

Initially the plan was to take the99 after mule deer, like I had as a boy with a borrowed 99. Butwhitetail numbers around homehad increased so dramaticallyover the decades, it was mucheasier and used less gas to find awhitetail.

With a whitetail buck and doetag in hand, I headed out, huntingridge-top thickets of lodgepolepine and bottom swamps of brushand quaking aspen. I saw quite afew does and a couple of smallbucks during the day. I practicedgetting the rifle quickly on thedeer as if they were big bucksand I was going to shoot. Therereally wasn’t anything to it. As Ikept my eye on the deer, the riflecame up and the comb met mycheek, the scope lined up withmy eye, and the post reticle wason the deer.

Just after sundown I told myselfto shoot the next big, lone doe


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