The Gun Blogs

I noticed that Jeff Cooper was recently extolling the Savage Model 99. (You'll have to scroll for it). Here's a picture I found on the internet, it isn't the exact variation I'm talking about but it gives you a good idea. (I don't have it on hand to photograph).

My dad grew up in a family where there wasn't much "big" game hunting. They had a .22 or two, and feasted frequently on rabbits and squirrels, but as far as I know they never moved up to deer and the like. When he did first begin deer hunting, he did so with a borrowed 8mm Mauser.

When he finally scraped enough money together to purchase his own deer gun, he chose a Savage Model 99 in .243 Winchester. Although he bought a Remington 7mm Magnum many years later, the Savage has always remained his favorite deer gun, and he has taken many whitetails with it through the decades. It has also proven to be the fatal hammer for a number of coyotes. I have taken a few whitetails with it, myself. Once, nearing the end of what had been, for me, a fruitless deer season, I even barked a squirrel with it.

An excellently accurate and very handy rifle. Unfortunately, I have just read that Savage stopped making them in 1999 (I didn't know they had been discontinued). If you run into a used one and it appeals to you, I don't think you can go wrong with adding it to your collection. A number of calibers were chambered for it, but in my experience the most commonly found are .243 and .308.

Some newer models were made with a removable magazine, but the older models (such as my dad's) have a built-in magazine. You open the action and push them in from the top. The .243 version holds 5 rounds in the magazine, if I remember correctly. It does not have an external hammer like the classic lever gun, but does have a safety which both prevents firing and locks the lever closed.

I also spent one very enjoyable day at our private, homemade rifle range putting about 30 rounds through the barrel, first to sight in a new scope, and then just to punch a ragged hole in the target 100 yards away. Just for fun, not because it was necessary or anything. This rifle probably holds its high place in my heart because it was the first centerfire rifle I ever shot.

Crossposted from Blogonomicon, with some minor editing. I just registered and wanted to post something. I hope I got all the formatting right.