Your 99 is a 99EG. That version was made from 1936 until 1960; I have two in .250-3000. Below is my 1950-vintage 99EG with a Stith mounted Weaver J2.5 as well as my 1899B in .32-40. I also have 99s in .303 Savage, .308, 7mm-08, and .30-30. Guess you could say I'm a 99 freak. They'll always be my first love over ARs. Anyway, it wasn't that scopes weren't popular then, 99s weren't factory D&T'd for them until the '50s (around 1957 for the 99EG). If you wanted an improvement over that crappy semi-buckhorn sight, you had to cough up the big money for a Stith mount and a pencil-thin scope of dubious reliability, get a receiver sight from Lyman or Redfield, or trust a gunsmith to drill a minimum of three perfectly aligned holes through the receiver of your prized 99 (I've seen more bad ones than I have good ones).
The Model 81 Remington was an improved/deluxe version of the Model 8 Remington, manufactured from 1935 until 1951. It's recoil operated, based on the same long-recoil principle as the Auto 5 Browning (of course designed by John M. Browning himself). Legendary Texas Ranger Frank Hamer used one in .35 Remington when he dispatched Bonnie and Clyde. One of my Dad's uncles carried a Model 8 deer hunting for many years (his grandsons still have it).
Enjoy the guns and take 'em to the range!!!
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