To drill and tap or not drill and tap?

That is the question.

I am new to the forum, but this isn't a what model do I have or how much is it worth question.

I have the common M 99 in .300 Savage, early 50's. There are some wear marks on the receiver so the rifle is not in pristine condition. I have suspicion it may have been reblued at some point because a) lever shows no case hardening and b) the wording on the barrel is not sharp and crisp.

Based on the how common the model is and the fact that I believe the rifle was reblued, is there any reason I should not drill and tap for a scope? I do plan to hunt white tails in the PA mountains with the rifle. If I don't scope it, I will probably do barrel mounted Skinner sights since I can't see paying so much for a tang sight. Anyone have any advice against the Skinner sight on a M 99?


thanks for the sanity check.

Up to you really.

Your right if there is no collector value in it then by all means drill it. Or if you want to pass on the drilling you can always go with a set of Stith mounts but if you don't like the price of tang sights you sure as hell won't like the price of Stith sets.