Savage 99A in .250-3000 - Stock Upgrade
A year and a half ago, I found one of my "grail" guns and bought a barely-used Savage 99A in the classic and venerable .250-3000, aka 250 Savage chambering. Fast forward to last fall, and it became the first-ever deer gun for me where I saw my bullet impact the "exact hair" that I was aiming at, as its mild-mannered (at least on MY end...) recoil allowed me to see the shot impact through the scope.
https://i.imgur.com/sgx58Mm.jpg
3 Things were learned by me carrying the rifle last season...
(1) I love hunting with the 250 Savage in a handy yet effective rifle like the 99A!
(2) I didn't like the "orange" tones of the stock... Not at all!
(3) The dang thing was too "slippery"! I needed some grip...
So I set about to change #2 and #3 this winter...
First of all, the orange tones had to go -- so I stripped it, stained it with walnut, and then refinished it as noted on this image. I was really happy with the color change:
https://i.imgur.com/nVQPfEl.jpg
Then I looked at images of many factory-checkered 99s. but none were what I wanted -- or could afford (those fancy wrap-around, fleur-de-lis patterns like some have). So instead, I modified the checkering pattern from my older 300 Savage 99, which had factory checkering on it. As you can see, I wanted the grip's checkering to better fit the "acorn" raised panel before the receiver, and I also wanted "more grip" back closer to the action, as that is how I hold the gun while shooting. These are the patterns I sent to my selected shop:
https://i.imgur.com/BoN90Bj.jpg
Without any further adieu, this is what just came back to me yesterday! (Showing you the before & after...)
https://i.imgur.com/R9S2Uow.jpg
Finally, here's an image showing the before & after of the entire rifle in a woods setting:
https://i.imgur.com/HVCSV9m.jpg
Tim at Classic Checkering (click for link) did what I think is a terrific job on the checkering, and he was very easy and pleasant to work with too. I was also pleased with his pricing and turnaround time. He'd done the checkering on my twin's CPA/Stevens Schuetzen stock, so based on what I saw on that gun, it was very easy for me to select him for this job.
Overall, I am thrilled with how this project turned out.
Some may say "Nice, but any collector value was ruined..." -- and to that I'd say "phooey"!!! I'm a hunter and she's a shooter, and she'll be going back out into the Maine woods with me for as long as I can still see & walk, and she won't be collecting dust in the back of a safe somewhere. And at least now, I'm much less likely to drop her by adding some gripable surface area to the stock, and she's much more pleasing for me to admire while I'm waiting on a big 'ol buck to appear. :wink:
I don't want to wish my life away, but gee... I can't wait until the deer season opener!
Old No7
