The hammerless, rotary magazine design of the Savage quickly won the hearts of American hunters and shooters, proven by the 99’s near-century-long production run. 22 Savage Hi-Power–better known to our European counterparts as the 5.6x52R–was an ahead-of-it’s time heavy-varmint, light-bigger-game round that remains incredibly popular across the ocean. A few of the most popular calibers were the original. The Savage 99 has a track record of success as a blue-collar hunter’s rifle, and as such, the majority of the calibers were ideal for harvesting the gamut of North American game. Though Arthur Savage himself moved on from his firearms factory to pursue a sundry of other ventures from orange growing to radial tire patenting, the Model 99 would remain by far his greatest testament with over a million rifles produced in nearly a century’s time. If those improvements were not enough, Savage also incorporated an angled side-eject that was a more friendly alternative to top ejecting lever actions, especially as the use of scopes was embraced by hunters.įollowing proof of concept with a short Marlin production, Savage opened the doors on his own factory in Utica, New York and commenced building the Model 1899. This, in turn, allowed the use of a much heavier bolt, which gave the 99 the ability to safely handle higher pressure smokeless cartridges than comparable lever actions of the time. In addition to building a better mousetrap in terms of the magazine style when compared to Winchester and Marlin, Savage also did away with the external hammer in exchange for his patented hammerless, striker-fired action. Pictured here is a takedown Hi Power, takedown. Four of those were Savage’s own chamberings.

The Ninety-Nine’s, manufactured for nearly a century, were chambered in 15 different calibers. Where traditional lever actions were limited in their use of spitzer-tipped centerfire rounds in a tubular magazine due to dangers of accidental detonation, the Savage 99’s rotary internal design solved that problem and allowed the use of more accurate bullets. Savage saw the shortcomings of contemporary lever actions and set about to improve the platform. In the midst of it all was born his design for a rotary magazine lever action rifle, and the rest is history. The Savage Model 99Īrthur Savage was an inventor and man of the world, creating things from railroad and streetcar lines to naval torpedoes. While the names Winchester and Marlin are more quickly associated with the platform, none may be more endeared in the hearts of American hunters than the Model 99 from Savage Arms. (Photo: Warehouse)įew things are as American as the lever action rifle, a major design offering from the U.S. It’s a good example of the design, which is commonly seen in well-loved yet completely serviceable condition. This Savage Model 99 example from the warehouse is chambered in.

Savage 99 year of manufacture