New to me 99 EG 300 Savage
I just picked up a 1951 99 EG in 300 Savage in pretty good shape with 3 boxes of Remington ammo. I am wondering about the collectability of these. It appears to of had the stock shortened and it had an ancient recoil pad on it that was hard and brittle with age. I removed it and put a slip on limbsaver pad for the time being. I've read these were common rifles and of not too significant collector's value.
I'm thinking of having it drilled and tapped for weaver scope bases and am wondering which bases will fit it.
It has the tapped holes for the peep sight but with my old nearsighted eyes I need a scope to able to hit anything much past 50-75 yards and also like the early morning and late evening light gathering ability of a scope. Iron sights get pretty useless in first and last 30 minutes of shooting time. Anyways I like my levers and want to hunt with them and currently have 3 Marlins and 2 Henry's and a pre-64 Winchester 94 32Spl. My Marlin 308MX is my go to deer killer and this Savage had about the same performance.
Anyways am I committing a mortal sin by tapping this Savage for scope bases?
PS I gave $400 for the rifle and ammo.
Scope mounting options - D&T, Stith, Lightfoot
A 99EG in 300 savage was my first 99; it's a great hunting rifle. You are correct, a 99EG in .300 Savage in one of the most common 99s. IMO $400 with 3 boxes of shells gets you a really nice hunting rifle. In addition to the D&Ting option, there are two other mount options than can be used to mount a scope, both utilize the rear sight dovetail and the two rear tang sight screws. The older, vintage approach is a Stith mount, which is limited to specific vintage era scopes tailored to the mount. You see these listed once in awhile on ebay and Gunbroker. The second is a "Lightfoot" mount currently built by a fellow out in California. First pic is a 1946 99EG with a Stith mount and a very early Weaver K4; 2nd is a 1950 99EG with a Lightfoot mount and a 1" Leupold. Hope this helps.
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/y...h20and20K4.jpg
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/y...G/IMG_0412.jpg