Savage 99A .308 Questions

[Pisgah]

I am in possession of a near-mint Savage 99A in .308 Winchester. A good friend owns this rifle and wants to sell it. He has named what I consider to be a reasonable, though not cheap, price for it, and loaned it to me for a few days to check it out. It has a 20" barrel, folding leaf rear sight, and Weaver sight base blocks are installed. The stock grip is straight, the forend has the schnabel tip. If you look at this gun from 2 feet way, you'd swear it was new out of the box. Very plain overall, with the exception of the gorgeous casehardened lever, this rifle is real class all the way -- the wonderful spool magazine, the cartidge counter, the brass cocking indicator. I am leaning strongly towards a purchase.

I have a question, though, for any 99A aficiandos out there. This rifle has a professionally-installed Pachmayr White Line recoil pad -- a good thing, as even with the pad the recoil is stout! Were these ever factory issued with these pads? If this is an add-on, as I suspect, I'm wondering if the stock has been cut or the pad just put on the full-length stock. As close as I can measure, the LOP is 13.5", including the 7/8" pad. Don't know if it helps or not, but the SN range is B637XXX.

It seems there ave not been a lot of these sold on Gunbroker lately, but those seem to have sold for $450-480. Is that about par for y'all's necks of the woods?

Thanks in adance for any info you may have.

[mescalero1]

Pisgah,
That is disturbing about the recoil being stout.
I have a .358 Winchester that I got at my gunsmiths cleanout,
( Savage 99 ) have not assembled it yet.
One would think .358 Win. would be more robust than .308 Win.
Are you recoil sensitive?
Why do you feel it is ( stout )?

[Pisgah]

No, I'm pretty recoil-tolerant. I really think it is the stock shape -- straight grip, lots of drop in the buttstock (designed for iron sights), pretty narrow butt. I have a slick, svelte, downright elegant 98 Mauser sporter of apparent European origin chambered in .30-06 that is probably 1/2 pound lighter than this rifle nd has a steel buttplate, and it is much more comfortable to shoot. Still, it's not too stout for me to bear. I do think, though, that if I buy it a replacement Sorbothane pad will be #1on my list of things to do. My previous shooting experience with a 99 was several years back with a friend's 99 in .300 Savage. A bit more tolerable, but still a lively gun to shoot (and a tackdriver).

[Bear 45/70]

I've never heard of a straight grip Savage 99. How about a picture or two.

[Pisgah]

I'll try to take a few snaps tomorrow.

[mescalero1]

Bear 45-70,
Really. I have seen more of those than the pistol grip version.

[tman]

my 99a .308 kicks more than a 308 should also, + 1 on the stock design being the problem.

[Hobie]

I like mine but shooting it much hasn't been possible due to time. Depending on how you're built, the stock design does seem to slightly attentuate recoil. No, the butt pad was not factory.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/ ... 210004.jpg

[Pisgah]

Nice rifle, Hobie. What receiver sight is that? And, what is the length of pull on that stock?

[Buffboy]

The 308 does get your attention without a recoil pad, the straight stock rifles more so than the pistol grip version. AFAIK the 99 was never available with a factory pad.

Generally, longer length of pull means less felt recoil but then it also means a straighter(less muzzle rise) recoil pulse so that may be what you are feeling. My wife's 300 Savage has the straight grip and while not punishing IMO (it's about the same as her 35 Remington 336) you know it's gone off.

[TNBigBore]

Your 99A rifle was made in the 1970s. I have owned them in 250, 300 and 308. The 308 did kick noticeably harder than the 300 for some reason. They are neat rifles in a great configuration, but lack some of the attention to detail found on the older, premil rifles. Still they are wonderful hunting rifles.

If the buttstock still has a slight curvature at the base of the aftermarket pad then it might not have been cut. If the edge is straight then it has been cut. All 1970s 99A rifles had a semicurved metal buttplate.

[Old Ironsights]

My first hunt was with a 99E in .308

If I lived where I could use it... and had job to afford it, I'd want it...

[Pisgah]

Here's a picture of the subject rifle.



I'm 100% convinced the pad is not original. But, as I'd hate to give up the recoil-dampening effect, I think my first step if I buy this will be to procure a slightly thinner Sorbathane pad, as the current LOP is just a hair too long for my perfect comfort. As has been pointed out, a too-long stock can enhance felt recoil, so this might go a ways toward taming things a tad. If I get that far, it'll be nice to have the perfectly-fitted Pachmayr pad as a model for fitting the new one.

TNBigbore, I note the term "premil" in your post. In my online readings, I have encountered the word numerous times, but for a Savage newbie like me it's meaning is a mystery. What does it refer to?

And, just hypothetically -- how many would be tempted at a price of $400?

[Hobie]

Nice rifle, Hobie. What receiver sight is that? And, what is the length of pull on that stock?

Why, that's a Williams Foolproof! (of course) LOP is, IIRC 13-1/4".

[TNBigBore]

Here's a picture of the subject rifle.



I'm 100% convinced the pad is not original. But, as I'd hate to give up the recoil-dampening effect, I think my first step if I buy this will be to procure a slightly thinner Sorbathane pad, as the current LOP is just a hair too long for my perfect comfort. As has been pointed out, a too-long stock can enhance felt recoil, so this might go a ways toward taming things a tad. If I get that far, it'll be nice to have the perfectly-fitted Pachmayr pad as a model for fitting the new one.

TNBigbore, I note the term "premil" in your post. In my online readings, I have encountered the word numerous times, but for a Savage newbie like me it's meaning is a mystery. What does it refer to?

And, just hypothetically -- how many would be tempted at a price of $400?

I would gladly buy it for $400 any time. It is a nice looking rifle, but the stock has definitely been cut based on the straight line instead of curved.

Premil, just means having a serial# below 1 million. Premil Savage 99 rifles were made in Chicopee Falls, MA and Utica, NY and are of a generally higher quality than the more recent rifles. The fit and finish was better and they had things like brass rotary magazines, lever mounted safety, hand checkered walnut stocks, slightly better triggers etc. This is not to say that the postmil guns are of poor quality. They are not. I hope that answers your question.

[Pisgah]

Thanks, TNBB. That clears up some things. True, this vintage of 99A falls below older ones in attention to detail, but there's no disputing this one shows a level of quality that's hard to find these days at a reasonable price.

Speaking of which (surprise, surprise!) I closed the deal on this one today at lunch -- $400 plus a Whopper combo.

[t.r.]

That looks just like the resurrected 99A of 1971 - 1974. When it was re-introduced, I recall a flurry of articles about this 99A in 250-3000 chambering. A better deer rifle was never made.

In my opinion, (anyone is allowed to disagree politely, please) the .308 is too heavy a cartridge for deer sized beasts. Even way out there beyond the 300 yard milestone, meat damage is significant. I prefer .308 for elk and wild boar but I've taken many deer with it as well. This older B & W photo was taken in Napa County, California in 1993. Beleive it or not, this little 120 lb coastal blacktail buck is BIG for the region!

My 99 Savage always seemed to have more muzzle jump than actual recoil. So I sent my rifle to the kind folks at MAGNA-PORT in Michigan. They cut odd-shaped polygon slots near the muzzle which eliminate muzzle jump but DOES NOT affect accuracy nor produce ear shattering blast. As I recall, cost was about $125. or so in late 1990's.

Good hunting to you.
TR

[Old Ironsights]

The mulie doe I shot with a .308 at about oh, 30 yds, had almost no meat damage and just a small hole on both sides.

Lungs & heart were pretty much jellied though. Boom Flop.

"Too much gun"? maybe, especially at that range, but it really didn't hurt the meat.

[Pisgah]

If you say, "The .308 is heavier than it needs to be for deer", I will agree 100%. But, to my mind, "too heavy" really doesn't apply until you go above the .270/.30-06 category -- and plenty of nimrods around here do.

I work part-time fill-in at our local gun-'n'-pawn, and the stream of .270, .300, and 7mm mags of various iterations sold out of there is ridiculous. A true giant of a deer around here might hit, say, 240 pounds, and to get a shot over 200 yards is rare, indeed. Many people can't judge range well enough to know the difference between 100 yards and 400. I once made a nice shot at 220 yards in front of witnesses. Before I took the shot, they all warned me that it was too far, but I judged it as less than 250. Afterwards, even after we walked over to retrieve the deer, the other fellows were swearing they'd witnessed a 400+ yard shot. I think a lot of the magnum mania comes from this characteristic.

I practice range estimation all the time. And when the shot comes, whether I am shooting a .30-30 or a .30-06, I aim to place the bullet for both a fast kill and minimal meat damage.

[tman]

I like mine but shooting it much hasn't been possible due to time. Depending on how you're built, the stock design does seem to slightly attentuate recoil. No, the butt pad was not factory.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/ ... 210004.jpg

HOBIE, mines a dead ringer for yours. it has the same beautiful wood. mines an accurate, great handling rifle. i own a old blr .308 which is shorter and lighter and the felt recoil is notatibly less.

[Pisgah]

Hobie, does that Foolproof work OK with your rifle's original front sight? Looks like it would, and not require a new, higher front.

[Hobie]

To FINALLY answer the question, the FP works fine with the factory front sight.

[damienph]

Tempted at $400? For me, it would be a done deal at $400!

[Alan Wood]

As for the recoil question lets just say that when I test shot my 99e in 308 one of my coworkers was left with a strong impression about it's recoil. Asked me some months later if I had a recoil pad on it.
Alan Wood

[Hobie]

Recoil is noticeable but hardly terrible. The .250 Savage IS noticeably lighter recoiling.