Savage 99: The Non-Traditional American Lever Action

By Kristin Alberts

This Savage Model 99 example from the Guns.com warehouse is chambered in .250-3000. It’s a good example of the design, which is commonly seen in well-loved yet completely serviceable condition. (Photo: Guns.com Warehouse)
Few things are as American as the lever action rifle, a major design offering from the U.S. to the greater firearms world. 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.
The Savage Model 99
Arthur Savage was an inventor and man of the world, creating things from railroad and streetcar lines to naval torpedoes. In the midst of it all was born his design for a rotary magazine lever action rifle, and the rest is history. Savage saw the shortcomings of contemporary lever actions and set about to improve the platform.
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.

The Ninety-Nine’s, manufactured for nearly a century, were chambered in 15 different calibers. Four of those were Savage’s

Source: Guns.com