Savage Mod 1899 H

[Boerrancher]

I just picked up about a week ago a Mod 99H in 22 High Power. It was in great shape for being a bit over 100 years old, and a take down model to boot. It already looks nice sitting there in the safe next to the rest of my 99's. I would post a photo of it but I don't see the little image icon I use to click on to add a phot, so I guess the photo isn't going to happen until I figure out how to do this again. I guess that will teach me to take a break from the sight. Best wishesJoe

[No_1]

Welcome back Joe! It is best to use a photo hosting site then link the pictures here.

[OverMax]

Good little cartridge. Fast & flat and chambered in a lever action.~~~Lucky fellow you are to have found one..

[Shawlerbrook]

Can't beat my hometown made Savages, Good old Utica, NY !

[Boerrancher]

Thanks fellas, It seems to be a good shooter with the iron sights and S&B factory FMJ ammo. How good is yet to be determined, as I can't really see the rear sight. It sucks getting old. Oh well last night I mounted a Nikon 3x9x40 on it, and loaded up some BT spitzer polly-tipped bullets from Huntington Die, so once I zero the scope with the factory ammo I will start working up a load with the good bullets. Here are the photos.This is what it looks like with the scope on it. According to my old Lyman manual the Accuracy load for a 70 gr bullet was 25.3 grains of IMR3031, so that is where I am starting out with my first 3 rounds with the custom bullets. At $0.92 a piece I am not going to be doing much playing with this gun until I can find a cheaper source of projectiles. Best wishes, Joe

[richhodg66]

I have one of those, haven't worked with it much yet. The Hornady jacketed bullets I tried weren't great, I'm told they are a hair long for proper stabilization. I have heard the Sellier and Belot stuff is good ammo, but loaded a bit hot.

I did try cast in it initially, standard 225415s unsized were still a little too small, I'm going to try oversized cast in it and see how good a plinker it can be. Even with the undersized ones (cast of straight linotype) using six grains of Unique, it shot nice little groups at 25 yards with the open sights.

[northmn]

22 Savage typically used a 228 bullet. I believe they also were based on the 303 theory where they used an oversized bullet to be sqeezed down to give a little extra velocity? At one time they were considered something special with pictures of large game like tigers taken with them. Times ahve changed. Would be a fun rifle to play with.

DP

[ZmanWakeForest]

I parted ways with my 22HP a few years ago. I miss it every since, but it was replaced with a 303 and 250-3000! If you have trouble finding those .228 bullets, shoot me a PM. I have some around here somewhere if I can find them!

[Boerrancher]

Well here is the range report. With my initial load of 25.3 gr of 3031, shot 1.5 in at the widest point, on my 100 yd range. I kept bumping it up until I settled on 26.5 grains of 3031 and it was consistently shooting between 3/4 of an inch and 1 inch at 100 yds. Let's face it it is a light weight hunting rifle, not a bench rest target rifle and MOA is good enough. I will say the S&B factory ammo shoots like ****, about 4 inches at 100 yds. Oh well I only bought it for the brass anyway. It is a fun gun, but I really didn't buy it to shoot much. I bought it to add to my collection of Mod 99's. I would love to have a .284 win in a 99. I had one once and like a fool sold it to my best friend who kept bugging me about it. So if any of you folks find a 99 chambered in a .284 Win please let me know. Best wishes,Joe

[TXGunNut]

Good to see you around, Joe. Looks like you got a good-looking shooter but I think that comes with the territory on 99's.

[richhodg66]

A .284 one sat in a local shop a long time before someone bought it. I struggled over it a long time, but it was one of the detachable magazine ones and I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. The rotart mag is the best thing about the 99s and I have always wondered what Savage was thinking.

If I find two good ones, I'll let you know.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It is an extremely good rifle, and I do like the idea of its being in one of Savage's own cartridges. The .22 High Power with the right bullets about undoes any objections to a .22 centrefire on ordinary-sized deer. I don't believe it would be hard to make up a simpler and cheaper die than is needed for full bullet swaging, in order to enlarge cheaper .224 bullets. I think a powerful reloading press would do it.

I wouldn't relegate it to the cabinet on the basis of testing with just one type of ammunition. On a combination of another caliber, my loading and other people's hearsay, S&B brass might turn out better than their loaded cartridges.

[Boerrancher]

I wouldn't relegate it to the cabinet on the basis of testing with just one type of ammunition. On a combination of another caliber, my loading and other people's hearsay, S&B brass might turn out better than their loaded cartridges.

i like the S&B brass. It seems to be good brass. I just can't get their load FMJ ammo to shoot accurately. I will be using it to break up rocks on the hillside, and then reloading it.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Boerrancher]

A .284 one sat in a local shop a long time before someone bought it. I struggled over it a long time, but it was one of the detachable magazine ones and I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. The rotart mag is the best thing about the 99s and I have always wondered what Savage was thinking.

If I find two good ones, I'll let you know.

I would be happy with a C model 99 in a 284 Win. I have one with a rotary mag in a 6mm-284, that I need to shoot more. It's not a bad shooter, I do have ones that are better.

Best wishes,

Joe

[ammohead]

[IMG][/IMG]

I harvested this nice mulie in 2014 with my 99 in 284 win. Nope don't care to part with it.

[gnoahhh]

Over the last 10 years I've put around 5-6000 rounds through my three .22HP, all TD's, with two extra barrels making five tubes total. Any questions, give me a shout. You can learn from my mistakes.

One thing I will tell you is that I start working up 70 grain jacketed loads with 22 grains 3031 or 23 grains 4895, and usually stop long before I get to 26 grains. Accuracy is great across the board and brass lasts half again as long- an important concern there. My advice also is to grab .25-35 brass whenever you can, and my best brass is made from .30-30's, but is a real PIA to do. Actually, I studiously avoid S&B and Norma brass and ammo- it's loaded hot and when fired in an old stretchy 1899 brass comes out with two strikes against it for long case life, plus it never shoots as well as my handloads.

The main thing to consider though, is the slow rate of twist in the Savage .22HPs. 1-12" nominal twist is a tad slow to stabilize the Hornady 70 grain jacketed bullet. Those bullets are .850" long and need to be shortened to .700-.750" for optimal results. Folks who live at high altitudes report better luck though. Makes sense. Regardless, the shorter more round nosed 70 grain .228 jacketed bullets such as the discontinued Speer, old Sisks (be sure not to get the long heavy ones intended for .228 Ackley Magnum- they suck), RWS, Norma (pulled from factory ammo), S&B soft nose (pulled from factory ammo)- all work fine in the old Savages. In truth, just get a good bullet mold and call it a day, unless deer hunting is the goal. I draw the line at hunting deer with cast bullets of .22 caliber.

Buffalo Arms catalogs a nice range of .228 bullets from 55 to 70 grains that shoot nicely in the old Savages, but availability is spotty.

Favorite load for hunting: 70 grain Speer or RWS H-Mantle, 25 gr. H4895.
Favorite target/plinking/fun load: 60 grain Lyman/Ideal 228367, either 7grains Unique or 12 grains SR-4759 (as long as my supply holds out). I recently snagged a Heavy Metals mold that throws a .230 60 gr. FN bullet that holds great promise but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.