Model 99 Savage .243 First Impressions And Testing

Sadie firing her first shots with a spanking new to her .243 model 99 Savage.
shooting some groups with factory ammo, doing an assessment of the weapon, and collecting brass for hand loads.

[@RealTechZen]

I grew up in a gunsmithing family and culture that viewed the Savage 99 as the pinnacle of hunting rifles. One thing that was a sort of family secret is that the metallurgy of the barrels normally brings the groupings tighter when the barrel warms up. We always expected the first shot or 2 from a cold barrel to be a bit of a flyer, but each gun had its consistent pattern as to where the cold flyer would go. You just had to learn it and adapt, or keep the barrel warming in the sunlight.

[@ranchodeluxe1]

What a great rifle and caliber. If you remove the butt stock and use a little 120 grit sandpaper to relieve the area around the tang a bit, it helps to alleviate that cracking. The tang acts like a splitting wedge with the maul being recoil. I have several of these rifles and shoot them quite a bit. The Savage barrels and actions were some of the finest examples of American craftsmanship ever.

[@aarronricheson3882]

You will never regret that choice. Fine old school sporting rifle.

[@timberfallingcouple]

We've got a load for it now too! 87 grain vmax over 40.5 grains of CFE223. Chronograph reads 3050 out of the short little barrel, and shoots about an inch and a half. Way better than the factory stuff!

[@deanmackley159]

As a range officer I notice Sadie has her finger OFF the trigger until she is ready to shoot. Great saftey and control

[@dennispeltier6142]

Happy anniversary and Sadie's smile classic. That model besides its chambering has a fore-end schnabel. Nice

[@michaeldickerson873]

I have a later model 99 which is .243 and has tang safety and a gold plated trigger. Same era as yours. I love ALL Savage 99s with the scnoebel forearm. Have 30-06 with real fancy wood after market stock, .300 Savage, and a .250-300 for a fa

[@nmelkhunter1]

Those are very neat rifles. My neighbor has a 99 in 243 that shoots right at an inch using 100 grain Sierra Gamekings. I believe he uses IMR 4350 and CCI primers. He killed a 77” pronghorn buck at 225 yards this past August in NE New Mexico using that rifle.

[@krisswegemer1163]

My first high powered rifle was a model 99 in .358 Win. Loved that gun and have loved m99's ever since. Beautiful gun you have there.

[@timberfallingcouple]

358 winchester is such a cool cartridge! I love old lever guns

[@lurebenson7722]

@@timberfallingcouple Any of the rifles ever chambered in 358 win are good as gold when up for sale they sell so fast. Right now, in a Cabala's in Tigard Oregon is a very rare Winchester Model 88 Lever gun in 358 win so if you want it Cabala's will transfer the gun to any of the company stores. I looked it over so I can say it is in good shape with normal wear on the stock and the lever has been wore some for bluing. One model of the AR 10 upper I build, and sell is in the 358 win because the old cartridge is so popular and 308 and 30-06 - 270 win - 280 - 25-06 brass is easy converted to 358-win brass.

[@timberfallingcouple]

I happen to have a model88 in 243 already. And as cool as the old beast is, I don't have any use for a .358. They're a cool old cartridge, but not Omething I'll ever need. But if you see good deals let me know I really appreciate that!!

[@timberfallingcouple]

As far as resizing brass, necking up a little bit is about the extent of my skills. I take 270 brass up to 30-06 pretty often because I pick up a lot of 270 brass at the range

[@timberfallingcouple]

But anything more than that is beyond the scope of what I even want to have tools for bolted to my bench. I live in a tiny little hole in the wall, and space is pretty limited so another device is just a bigger space investment than it is money.

[@freeborn288]

My wife inherited her granddads belongings years ago. Among them was a model 99 250 Savage, she still has it, and what a great little rifle it is. On another note, I noticed both your and Sadie’s grip on the rifle. While shooting small calibers it don’t much matter, but if you shoot a magnum rifle with the same grip, that thumb might get your nose. You might try keeping the thumb on the palm side of the stock, kinda pointing forward. Just speaking from experience!!! Lol Anyway thanks for sharing another good range day.

[@timberfallingcouple]

250 is such a neat cartridge. And the parent to one of the deadliest cases ever brought to call, 22-250! There was a nice 250 at that gun store, and also a couple 300 savages. It hurt me to pass up that 250, but 243 the ammo and brass availability, I had to do it. That plus the availability of light bullets that I'm familiar with. You know, Sadie might have to adopt your program, but I've personally tried placing my thumb along the stock [for accuracy purposes, my bench rest buddy told me to try it] but the light little rifles recoiled so wildly that my groups suffered and I went back to the hammer grip and everything tightened back up. I'm going to post a video with my 308 load development here soon and I'll show you some of that.

[@lurebenson7722]

in the Savage 99s the rarest ones are in 250-300 & 284 win & 358 win . So, you have one of the rare ones. It puzzles me when all of these new cartridges are on necked down or up or smaller 308 case design why the 250 Savage is always overlooked? The other now fad is shooting heavy bullets well the 250 Savage can shoot heaver bullets than the 243 .

[@lurebenson7722]

@@timberfallingcouple You are a re loader so used 243 - 260 - 7mm-08 - 308 to size down to make 250 Savage loaded ammo. You also can use 30-06 and once the 250 Savage brass is made use a case neck thinner to reduce neck thickness - I use a Forester case neck thinner. loading the 250 Savage using the 120 grain Barns TSX really brings the 250 Savage into a real deer killer. I build and sell AR 10 uppers so one I build many of is in the 250 Savage. These AR 10 uppers in 250 Savage using a Pac Nor Super match 22 inch barrel are extreme accurate and in the auto loader recoil is almost not felt.

[@timberfallingcouple]

@@lurebenson7722 I'll pass that info along to my dad. He has the old 250-3000 now, and he has been having a hard time finding brass.

[@lurebenson7722]

@@timberfallingcouple Try also 22-250 brass because 250 savage is the same cartridge just neck up to 25 cal. This would be the easiest to do because neck 22-250 won't need the case necks thinned. Using the 250 Savage sizing die the neck up might be wise to go 24 cal then run in the 250 Savage die going is steps to increases neck size not to split cases. It would be wise to anneal also after resizing and don't do annealing like idiots do on KZbin heat and not deprive of oxygen - drop casings in water to cool is the proper way to anneal and renew cartridges from the neck to just slightly below the neck shoulder to heat. If you have RCBS die you can use any RCBS expander in any RSCB sizing die to do the step up in calibers. The 250 Savage is the parent cartridge of the 22-250. Just unscrew the expander shaft nut holding the expander shaft then put any of the expander nut and expander ball and shaft back in to neck up cartridges. Even the data on the 22-250 between 250 Savage shows one has a 28-degree shoulder and the other as a 30-degree shoulder so who cares when resizing and firing the cartridge it will blow out to the chamber shape. 22-250 now isn't in any shortage at least here in the Pacific NW. I am an advance reloader since 1976 and custom rifle builder with even doing AR 10 uppers for sale in cambering's of - 22-6mm Rem - 250 Savage -- 6mm-284 win - 6.5x50 Jap - 6.5-284 Norma - 358 win - 6.5 WSM --- 7mm WSM - 300 WSM --- 325 WSM --- 358 WSM and a dangerous game AR 10 upper in 375 -300 WSM .

[@ellsworthcrawford2074]

Great find congratulations to light of a bullet for the twist of the barrel 85 and heavier should group better still plenty good enough to put meat on the table

[@timberfallingcouple]

That's what I was thinking too! Next time she's our, I've got a load developed with an 87 grain slug that shoots about 2" which is probably the best I can do with a 2x powered scope.

[@jackbower8671]

Brother has one in .300 Savage. I just cleaned and oiled it. They're definitely gems

[@timberfallingcouple]

Dude they're just so pretty. One of the old timers had one, a 1951 at the range. Said his Dad bought it new in 51. He hadn't seen his dad in over 30 years and he held that rifle like he was shaking his dad's hand. Pretty special, these old guns

[@Jeff-sl8xz]

​I've got a old model 99 savage in the 250-300 it's a takedown made in 1928​each click on the scope is a quarter inch at a 100 yards@@timberfallingcouple

[@funkysawmanwright5077]

Those savage 99 are fine lever guns. I remembered some of them had a counter that told you how many round were left

[@timberfallingcouple]

This particular one does have a round counter. It doesn't exactly fit the window square, but it's legible

[@marktalley9251]

​@@timberfallingcoupleYou can adjust the counter! Two screws on the left side! Go on Google and watch video! It took me 3 times to get mine right! You will know when it hits home! Good luck and not hard to do!

[@savagelevers1094]

Very nice! You got a good rifle for a very reasonable price. I can help you with the model and date range of the gun: It's a Model 99A (version 2). Savage introduced this version of the 99A in 1971, and it was made up through 1982. If yours has a 20" barrel, then it's 1971 to 1975, a 22" barrel would be later 1975 and later. Very nifty rifles, and it looks like you still have the original scope on it? Your grouping issue could be related to a 1970's or earlier scope.. never know.

[@timberfallingcouple]

I'm going to come back to you this weekend and get some information. Yes it is the original scope, but with the retention springs on the outside of the screws like they are, I'm not very worried about them, they are stiff. I've got it down to about an inch and a half with the 40.5 grains of CFE223. I think that will be good enough. I think the biggest issue is that it's a 2 power scope, and the crosshairs cover the x ring of a target. But, really no complaints. It isn't a target rifle! It's plenty for deer and coyotes. I want to say it's a 20 inch barreled one. And the bs website I ran said 71, but might not be accurate. Let me come at you again this weekend! Thank you!!

[@savagelevers1094]

​@@timberfallingcouple, 1971 would be serial number A667xxx to A949xxx - so first year of production. Nice! And agree, 1.5" with a 2x scope is perfectly legit. I was thinking it was a 4x. You're set for fall!

[@darkrevenger04]

You will enjoy using that for deer! I have that same rifle in same caliber with extra mag for it that has treated me well for Whitetail with 95GR or 100Gr. There is a button on the right side to drop the magazine on the C series which your isn't while mine is.

[@totljag1]

She sure can shoot ! Awsome job !

[@gunboom]

Have Sako Finnwolf 243 and 308 Win..great Lever guns. Get some snap caps instead of dry-firing that rifle.

[@sammartinez8084]

This is a great looking rifle 💪💪😻👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@williamkirby-wt7su]

Try the 90gr Speer bullet. Its great for deer and was made for slower twist rifles like the Savage.

[@valerierichard7550]

Very nice rifle. I reload my 300 Savage with 130 grain ttsx bullet and 44. 5 grains of Leverevolutio powder. It group 1 MOA.

[@timberfallingcouple]

We just switched it up this year from 87 grain v-max to 85 grain Sierra spitzers. I think they're going to do well on deer. That 87 grain Vmax did really well also last year, but I had a hard time finding them for a while so I bought some really old bullets from an old reloading store across the valley.

[@johnblackbird7523]

Very nice

[@joshuatoler1965]

i have one in .250-3000 very nice gun but ammo is very expensive and hard to find.

[@WalterWild2]

I have a 336 made in 48 and this is no less sweet

[@williamgaines9784]

Lever gun with tang safety is perfect for ambidextrous use.

[@timberfallingcouple]

Oh absolutely!! And she just roasted her first Buck ever with it TODAY!!

[@jessealvarado4319]

Nice work Sadie!

[@timberfallingcouple]

Thank you Jesse! Pretty stoked to get these groups a little tighter and get my first buck this season 😊

[@lurebenson7722]

Speaking from experience never shoot lead core bullets for game and the 243 is a meat grinder and blood shot maker using lead core bullets. Buy the Barns 85 to 95 TSX then kill game faster and zero meat loss. The last deer I shot was with a 24 cal Speer Grand Slam 100 grain so when the deer hide was skinned off the deer had a 4-inch going in hold and 8-inch exit hole then the coyotes got 3/4 of the deer blood shot meat.

[@seantbr2019]

I like the shot bags for the rest

[@georgekasza7295]

If you don't mind telling me what you paid for that gorgeous rifle.

[@timberfallingcouple]

700 dollars (plus state and county sales tax)

[@georgekasza7295]

Thanks, there's one at my local shop in 300 savage for $ 750 might have to grab it.

[@timberfallingcouple]

@georgekasza7295 this particular shop had several in 300 savage 250-3000 and the one in .243. .300 Savage is one of the finest cartridges ever invented and was absolutely without a doubt designed around this exact rifle. Excellent choice. Brass and ammo availability was a deciding factor for me. Hard to find .300 savage ammo in my neck of the woods, but goddamn they're good rifles and a great cartridge. I don't know a ton about these things, I know know how much I like them and what I paid seemed fair to me. 750 sounds like a damn fair price, but I sure as hell am no expert on 99s.

[@georgekasza7295]

Thanks ,they have 5 boxes in stock and I could reload if I could find the dies.

[@timberfallingcouple]

@georgekasza7295 absolutely can! I know for a fact RCBS still makes dies for that one!

[@jonlennon3348]

I own and have owned many 99's and all shoot sub minute of angle.

[@timberfallingcouple]

Well this one is a long squawk from sub MOA, ass with the others I've handled. You've been very fortunate. Any bolt that locks up in the rear I think you're pretty fortunate to shoot anywhere near an inch. That's a long way for recoil to travel to the locking lugs. But maybe with some more load development. We are almost out of bullets and I think I'm going to play with some CX Monolithic copper bullets.

[@JamesJones-cx5pk]

Put your stock in a vise and drill a small hole (1/8) through the crack. Glue/epoxy a 1/8 dowel in there. After sanding you wont even see it. Problem solved. 👍👍

[@timberfallingcouple]

Hey there's a damn fine fix!! Thank you I like that a ton!

[@timberfallingcouple]

I could do it with ebony or black plastic and it would look like the ebony dowels on the old model 70

[@outinthesticks1035]

GOod way to start , but it will continue to crack if it's Caused by poor bedding . Get someone with some experience to check AZ and glass bed the action if need be

[@timberfallingcouple]

@outinthesticks1035 seems like it might be. I've seen quite a handful of those 99s with cracked rear stocks. But if anything I'd probably try to solve it myself before I went too crazy. Can't be too hard to bed a rear only buttock if I had to figure it out on the fly

[@theguyinmaine]

Doesn't look refinished. Rare caliber and straight stock. It's hard to find one without a crack or repair, it's a 1895,1899,99 thing. Value is up there on that rifle.

[@timberfallingcouple]

Well that is heartening news. I really love that rifle and so does she

[@jeffdiefenderfer4677]

Numrich gun parts might have a replacement stock for that

[@timberfallingcouple]

My friend also directed me to Boyd's, who has a nice walnut option for it

[@lurebenson7722]

@@timberfallingcouple Boyd's is always the first option looking for new stocks and from Boyd's the buyer has the option to make choices for finish and checkering or laser graphics done on the stock and chose length of pull and type of recoil pads. I've done allot of business with Boyd's stocks for custom rifles I have built. I like all the options Boyd's give you to design your own rifle stock.

[@kenadams3951]

1955

[@nickchernoby1508]

Hold that gun sand bag rest cause problems and work that lever like you mean it

[@timberfallingcouple]

No!!!!!! Rest that gun on a rock solid rest and see what your loads do after you make changes especially a full tear down and gunsmithing change that affects bolt lock up!! And work that lever smooth and grab my piece of brass and don't bounce shit off of everything on the whole bench and the neighbor's, besides!!

[@bigdaddy-fk5bi]

P robably bought at sears...

[@SublimeTime1979]

Garbage remington corelokts.. As previously mentioned go with Barnes. I did and was 1/2 moa at 100.

[@bigdaddy-fk5bi]

hahaha, telling her to watch her fundementals, i teach police officers that cant hit the ground, even if i pointed at it..

[@Fireworxs2012]

That is NOT a 1971 Savage 99.

[@timberfallingcouple]

Please enlighten me. As far as I knew the A71 meand 1971 vintage, but if you know something we don't, I'd love to know

[@Fireworxs2012]

@@timberfallingcouple*Savage eliminated the round counter widow in 1960. The straight grip was eliminated earlier than that. The tang safety, although not 100%, is another tip off. Without knowing the boss code, seeing that it's a .243, I'm guessing somewhere between 1955 & 1960...Of course it is possible that it was a special order by someone. I don't know if Savage did special orders in the 1970's, but they do now and have for a couple of decades, so that's always a possibility. The boss code should tell you when it was made, providing you have an accurate code list to correlate the code with*

[@timberfallingcouple]

I would be curious if the savagelevers guy or you is more correct. I don't know enough on the subject other than the A71 model and serial start, but I would like to provide you with the full serial number if you know how to research this, although I don't know if boss code and serial number are not the same thing

[@Fireworxs2012]

@@timberfallingcouple*The Boss Code and the Serial Number are NOT the same thing*

[@timberfallingcouple]

I've been wondering about that for a long time now. I punched in the numbers on some savage99 website and it told me 1971 so teach me