A hammerless lever-action years ahead of its time, the Model 99 was available at various times with either a straight or curved grip. There was a takedown model as well. It’s lifespan stretched from 1899 to 1998 — exactly 99 years — which befits its model designation. Over the course of its production lifetime, it was chambered in .303 Savage, .32-40 Winchester, .30-30 Winchester, .25-35 Winchester, .250 Savage (also known as the .250/3000 because of the muzzle velocity it could achieve with light bullets), .22 Savage Hi-Power, .22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester, .38-55 Winchester, .375 Winchester and even .410 shotgun.

My grandpa’s rifle has the tapered forend with the Schnabel-type tip that only adds to the visually perfect profile. It’s got a decent trigger, only a little stiff, and some years ago I added a scope without a bell objective so I wouldn’t have to remove the rear buckhorn sight.

With a rotary magazine, the Model 99 Savage was and remains a classic. In later models, designers replaced the rotary magazine with a detachable box magazine then replaced the tapered forend with a bulkier forend. I prefer the rotary magazine because it allowed a counter to be added and one could see at a glance through a slot in the lower left-front of the receiver how many cartridges were.