Savage 99E
- Thread starter Melvin
- Start date
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
They've always had a good reputation, although the newest production isn't as highly thought of. How old is this particular critter? Generally, the older versions are more desirable, particularly pre-WW II.
The 99E Carbine, version 1, was made from 1920 to 1936. Version 2, 1960 to 1989.
All I have for a price guide is an out-of-date 1994 Gun Trader's Guide; it shows a 100% version 2 at $260...Somebody else will probably be able to help. Maybe go to Harley's forum and ask.
The .300 Savage is a good deer cartridge. You don't have the restriction of round- or flat-nosed bullets, as in the tubular magazines. With 125- to 150-grain bullets, it will do quite well, thank you.
Hope this helps,
Art
The 99E Carbine, version 1, was made from 1920 to 1936. Version 2, 1960 to 1989.
All I have for a price guide is an out-of-date 1994 Gun Trader's Guide; it shows a 100% version 2 at $260...Somebody else will probably be able to help. Maybe go to Harley's forum and ask.
The .300 Savage is a good deer cartridge. You don't have the restriction of round- or flat-nosed bullets, as in the tubular magazines. With 125- to 150-grain bullets, it will do quite well, thank you.
Hope this helps,
Art
Mike Irwin
Staff
I've used Savage lever-action rifles for quite a few years. I absolutely LOVE them.
I don't have my book upstairs, but I think the 99E was pretty much the same as the 99EG, but the take-down version.
A couple of things that you need to be aware of with the takedowns...
The threads have a tendency to get looser and looser the more the gun is disassembled and reassembled.
Unlike takedowns by Winchester, there's no method of adjustment built in that keeps the lock-up tight when this happens.
One quick fix over the years was to peen the barrel threads so that they would engage tightly enough to take out any "slop." If this isn't done correctly, and it seldom was, the barrel will be misaligned, and essentially ruined. You can have the threads milled down, built up through welding, and milled to correct dimensions again, but this is damned expensive.
The takedowns are prone to siezing, or basically becoming welded together after years of being together. I've seen guns that show evidence of being taken apart with two monkey wrenches!
The rotary-spool magazine is a marvel of engineer. It's also a nightmare to put back together if you take it apart. You need to be an octopus. I had to give mine a thorough cleaning once. It took me 20 minutes to disassmeble the magazine, and over 4 hours to get it back together. I ended up making several wooden jigs that helped.
Finding a correct E version stock is probably going to be a bit on the difficult side. The new stocks won't, I don't believe, fit the older guns.
Finally, the .300 Sav. cartridge is a great little deer number, but it's not without it's peculiarities, as well. It has a very short neck, meaning that proper bullet tension is an absolute MUST or else you'll get bullet setback in the magazine.
Because of the short neck, and the relatively limited powder space, the heaviest bullets you normally see loading information for is 180-gr. But, in my opinion, this is really too heavy for this cartridge. The .300 Sav. absolutely SINGS, though, with bullets in the 150 to 165 gr. class.
Another feature of the .300 Sav. that can be something of a pain to deal with is the very sharp shoulder. Die adjustment is absolutely critical.
All in all, though, the .300 Sav. and the 99 rifle is a wonderful combination.
I don't have my book upstairs, but I think the 99E was pretty much the same as the 99EG, but the take-down version.
A couple of things that you need to be aware of with the takedowns...
The threads have a tendency to get looser and looser the more the gun is disassembled and reassembled.
Unlike takedowns by Winchester, there's no method of adjustment built in that keeps the lock-up tight when this happens.
One quick fix over the years was to peen the barrel threads so that they would engage tightly enough to take out any "slop." If this isn't done correctly, and it seldom was, the barrel will be misaligned, and essentially ruined. You can have the threads milled down, built up through welding, and milled to correct dimensions again, but this is damned expensive.
The takedowns are prone to siezing, or basically becoming welded together after years of being together. I've seen guns that show evidence of being taken apart with two monkey wrenches!
The rotary-spool magazine is a marvel of engineer. It's also a nightmare to put back together if you take it apart. You need to be an octopus. I had to give mine a thorough cleaning once. It took me 20 minutes to disassmeble the magazine, and over 4 hours to get it back together. I ended up making several wooden jigs that helped.
Finding a correct E version stock is probably going to be a bit on the difficult side. The new stocks won't, I don't believe, fit the older guns.
Finally, the .300 Sav. cartridge is a great little deer number, but it's not without it's peculiarities, as well. It has a very short neck, meaning that proper bullet tension is an absolute MUST or else you'll get bullet setback in the magazine.
Because of the short neck, and the relatively limited powder space, the heaviest bullets you normally see loading information for is 180-gr. But, in my opinion, this is really too heavy for this cartridge. The .300 Sav. absolutely SINGS, though, with bullets in the 150 to 165 gr. class.
Another feature of the .300 Sav. that can be something of a pain to deal with is the very sharp shoulder. Die adjustment is absolutely critical.
All in all, though, the .300 Sav. and the 99 rifle is a wonderful combination.
Thanks for the input,this particular rifle was made in 1927 as near as I can tell. The new stock may not really be necessary,the original is a victim of an amateur attempt to put on a recoil pad, maybe it can be saved. Sure like the older rifles,recently bought a 141A Remington in 35 Remington,too bad so many of the older catridges are obsolete. Melvin