My brother gave me three of my dad's old rifles (he passed away 16yrs. ago) that have been at the back of his closet for many years:
[img]communities.msn.com/_Secure/0MwDNGSYRJaGpbUUlZyLiz8mFqbNZhCHTDDIgnoc0Gvc8!yyjdYgBv9XKv23ujvVmEihSsdZ!aLpZmkBq15J3nw/IMG_0024.jpg[/img]

The top one is a Savage 99 in .300 Savage.  The finish is pretty well gone and the forestock has a big chunk out of it but the action is still slick and the trigger feels great.  My dad added a peep site on the rifle.  This was before scopes were popular.

The middle one is a Remmington Model 81 which says "The Woodmaster" on it.  It is a semiauto and also is in .300 Savage.  It also has a barrel shroud which goes the length of the barrel giving it a bull barrel appearance.  The bolt was rusted open but eventually released with some Corrosion X.

I think those two rifles are well over 50 years old.

The last is my dad's Remmington 760 pump in .270.  My brother said my dad took well over a hundred deer with that rifle.  He quit hunting when I was very young.  The rifle was completely dry but the action still worked.  There is a chunk out of the forestock on the pump.  I guess my dad was rough on forestocks. Doubt I'll ever use it but I wanted for sentimental value.

My brother also gave us some old ammo in the original boxes and coolest of all were some Winchester Model 100 magazines.  I have been looking for a spare magazine for mine but the cheapest I've seen has been fifty bucks each.

I gave the guns a throrough soaking in Corrosion X and will try and clean them this week.  I'm going to take them to get checked out before I shoot em.

So, pretty cool for free, huh?

Ratters,
Tell ya what...I have a 99 in .308 Savage that was my grandfather's....I was the last one to shot it some 30 years ago...
I also have a Winchester Model 70 Featherwieght in .308 that was my father's.

I have alot of rifles, pistols but those 2 are my pets and the pride of my collection.

Karsten

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!!!

[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0OgAAAKwTKB7UoK3Py7xQMWlNcNUIEEkfy*bAdLrbBHjWM8IXJdxNkoAABRjJgds*s1r*TZF9B!xwLZkxSByf4yEXoVcQoemN/DSC00007.jpg[/img]

[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0OwAuGtYTgSjUoK3Py7xQMeXHAgXp7xmCozNKdWu!Sw2Pojk*OQOV9KFgdMqiJ5CQVOEvREJ3WDvJC5ED2VTwclSqwyuyhvMJ/DSC000010.jpg[/img]

Thanks guys.  And thanks for all the info Jim D., though your 99s are a mite prettier than my dads. [:)]  I always love the amount of resources this board has.  How is it finding ammo for your Savages?  Do you just reload? I haven't even started to look yet.  Your scope looks very cool.  Are the ejected shells able to miss it?

I love this board.  (Matt and ARLady got me all mushy [;)] )

I only handload, but then that's me. Federal, Remington, and Winchester all still produce ammunition for the .300 Savage, though you may have to order it from Graf's or Midsouth.

Yeah, everything ejects low enough on these 99s to clear a scope, but the Stith mounts are only getting more expensive by the day and I wouldn't even consider drilling ANY 99, especially a keepsake. You'll be surprised at the level of accuracy that can be achieved with your receiver sight.

Ratters -

those are BEGGING for a wall display set-up.

With a  little cleaning and restoration (you don't want to OVER restore them) and then [b]removing the firing pin or other parts to render them unuseable by criminals [/b] they'd look great hanging in a set over a fireplace or something.

Its a family heritage thing.

Guns that have family heritage or sentimental value are worth more than any amount of money.

However, there are some people that just don't care. My wife's grandfather passed away last year and he had a H&R .32 pistol and a Winchester model 37 single shot .20 guage.

Her grandmother asked me to sell them for her and I figured I should offer them to her brother thinking maybe he would like to have his grandfather's guns. He asked what they were worth and when I told him, he said "just sell them".

It's sad that he missed a chance to own something his grandfather hunted with just because they were not worth a fortune.