I still sit here waiting on the UPS truck. The suspense is killing me. Full coverage engraving, large dedication oval, multi panel checkering. I believe it’s a Crescent Grade plus some checkering. Why is there not a large format- high quality color photograph book of the Savage 99? I’d put the high grades side by side to any Winchester or double gun out there. The workmanship is incredible... and still I wait.

That is a beauty! Any idea of the year it was made? .300 Savage?

A lot of graded 99s that I have seen have more relief carving done in the wood, and a lot strike me as gaudy, personally. This one is fantastic and is done just right. Again, in my opinion.

Lovely rifle. I always fancied a 99, but have never even seen one let alone handled one.

The engraving on Savage 1899/99 rifles is some of the finest and most delicate looking of all the old American lever guns! That's a gorgeous example of a very high end Savage!
I have a close friend whose collected Savage 1895/1899/99 for decades and has some engraved Savages in his collection. He told me nobody seems to know who Savage used for their engravers over the years they offered it? I talked with Bob Evens about the history of Savage engraving also, and he didn't know who they used either.
This is a picture I took of my friend's display at our recent collector show:

Wow! Thanks for posting this. I'd never seen a hi-grade 99...Geo

The primary Savage in house engraver from about 1899 to approx 1917 or so was Enoch Tue.
Some sources firmly plant his engraving services with Savage till 1929.
I believe he died in 1927 though.

Tue was born in England and learned his trade at EJ Churhills before coming to the USA.

A check with the Savage collectors for the straight scoop on Enoch's term w/ Savage will most likely straighten out the years he worked there.

There were several members of the Tue family also listed as 'engraver' in census reports. One, 'Harry' was Enoch's son (most likely, maybe a nephew) and sometimes assisted Enoch on some of the Savage projects.
Enoch freelansed engraved outside the factory as well.

Wm Gough engraved for Savage and did quite a number of the 'K' series Model 99 Savage rifles. These came to be after Savage took control of the AH Fox company.
Gough of course engraved for a number of companys and clients as well.

William King was Savage Arms wood carver and high grade checkering guy. Those early high grade Model 1899 and perhaps even the Model 1895 rifles are his work with the fancy carving and checkering patterns to go along with the engraving.

Enoch Tue is also given credit for many of the high grade Savage pistols and the deluxe models of the others in the Savage line.

Personally I think that though someone like Mr Tue or another top engraver at a company may be their 'Master',,too often collectors tend to tag every piece done during their tenure there as a personal piece of their work.
There're only so many hours in a day,,and no GraverMax back then.

Thanks for that information Kutter! I've heard of Enoch Tue, but didn't know he was doing Savage engraving. Can we assume the engraving for Savage was done at Tue's own shop, since he was doing engraving for others at that same period?

Congratulations on that 99! It looks far nicer in your photos than the pics that I saw in it's listing. Really sharp. That extra flourish of checkering behind the main panel of the grip reminds me of a 2nd gen Fox D-grade pattern. I've got to find the copy of Tue's obituary that I located years ago. There was no son listed in the obit.
Tom

I am no expert, but the Savage has always intrigued me. I have always invisioned it as a classy but serious big game gun.
Here is an AB grade with Upgraded wood and a crescent buttplate



And here is a neat one I never should have parted with. Flat mint .30-30 “Spiegel” gun.


A few more of this most recent Crescent Grade. A little oil and that stock will glow! Im sure glad I keep that Marbles sight laying around !

Savage 1899's and 99's are another favorite of mine, too. I own a baker's dozen, primarily takedowns, but none as fancy as these. My compliments to you!

There is a full color coffee table book dedicated to Savage lever guns, filled with excellent photography, well written prose, and detailed specs and identifiers. "The Savage 99 Rifle", by David Royal, 2016. Running $40 on Amazon at the moment. Highly recommended treatise. The sequel to this book will be dedicated to high grade and custom Savage lever guns, but won't be out for a while. The current book does view numerous high end guns as well though.

Maybe off topic, is there a gunsmith out there who specializes in upgrading M99 guns?

I have a good M99 which was my father’s and grandfather’s which I would consider investing into to upgrade.

Why would you want to remove your fathers and grandfathers history from the gun.

Beautiful 99's by the way.

You'll not recoup anything on that "investment". Leave it as is, just keep it functional, will have more value to you that way.

Indeed. While not as pleasing to a stranger's eye, to me that rifle would bespeak a multitude of family related stories- the likes of which a pristine high grade rifle couldn't necessarily.

I'm with others about leaving that kind of family history alone. If the gun was just purchased, and had no extra meaning to my family, I'd have no issue at all with making it my own.

There is a big difference in restoration and upgrading. If I had a quality gun like the Colonel's 99 with family history, I'd have no reluctance to have someone restore it to what it may have looked like when a loved one bought it new. On the other hand, my understanding of upgrading is taking a G grade Lefever and making a fake Optimus out of it. I suspect the poster was thinking restoration and typed upgrade?...Geo

Besides, it would likely be cheaper to buy a hi-grade than to make one out of a worn field gun.

Guns with history shouldn't be restored....if you only ever had a couple of guns and hunted with them and put Georges history on them you'd be okay with someone in your family erasing your history from the gun ?

Although there is a difference between a quality restoration, and making a gun into a higher level gun; neither should be done to a gun with family history. Whatever condition the gun is today, it's history and condition were put there by his family. I'd be very sad if I passed my rifles down to my children and they sent them out and had them spiffed up to look like new.
I've purchased a couple rifles with the specific intent of restoring them, or even salvaging the actions for a build. But discovered provenance unrelated to me, but historically significant. Once I realized they had history, I simply did what I call a "sympathetic restoration" on them. I fixed broken parts, and repaired metal issues, and chips in the stocks. Tried all I could to ensure they did not appear restored, and maintained all the normal wear they had when they came into my possession.
One of these old guns is a Rolling Block Sporting Rifle that belonged to an early Oregon Pioneer who had nearly 90 years of serving the early Oregon Territory government, and was born in Oregon when it wasn't a state. If I'd restored the gun it would simply be another nice old Rolling Block.