In early June 1977, I made my first trip to northern Saskatchewan’s Lake Besnard. We stayed at Besnard Lake Lodge where we were guided by Miles Rat, a Cree Indian. I learned my way around the lake on that first trip, and well into the 1990’s friends and I made annual trips to Besnard with its thriving population of walleyes and northern pike.

Many of those trips were made in Gene Kisch’s old school bus, and as you read today’s column, I’ll be back on Besnard with Gene, his son, grandson, and great grandsons. Based on a fair number of Canadian fishing trips, I’d call Besnard one of North America’s best, drive to, pull your own boat, and camp in the provincial camp ground trips available. It’s as good as the more expensive fly-in camps.

Years ago the Reader’s Digest ran a “Most Unforgettable Character” feature. Making that choice would have been easy for me. 53 years ago I knocked on the door of a Corson County ranch to seek hunting permission. An old cowboy, a first generation homesteader named Lewis Schmidt, answered the door. We became close friends, and his view of life in general, his philosophies, and his values have been dear to me since. Perhaps he filled a void left by a grandfather I never had. I don’t know, but I loved that old cowboy.

In visiting Lemmon, South Dakota’s Grand River Museum last month, I was pleased to find Lewie’s saddle, as well as his Model 1899B Savage lever-action .30-30, on display. Lew, carrying that same rifle, and I roamed his prairie years ago, and the gun was meaningful to me – so much so that I hunted for and eventually found an 1899B Savage of my own. When I mentioned seeing Lew’s rifle to his grandson, I was told that Lew once apologized for not buying a Winchester. Lew made the right decision 110 years ago and I’ll tell you why. Arthur Savage’s Model 99 was decades ahead of both Winchester and Marlin.

Both the Marlins and Winchesters of the time had tubular magazines beneath the barrel. In a tube magazine, the nose of one cartridge rested against the primer of the cartridge in front of it. This spelled potential danger, and in Winchesters and Marlins, only flat or round-nosed ammo could be used. The box magazine in the receiver of the Savage Model 99 could accommodate the more aerodynamic spritzer or pointed bullets.

The 2nd major advantage of the Model 99 Savage was side ejection. While the Marlins also featured side ejection, the iconic Model 94 Winchester didn’t. Side ejection was a huge advantage when it came to mounting a scope.

During the 1890’s, modern smokeless powder slowly replaced black powder. Winchester’s Model 1894 lever-action rifle was introduced in the smokeless .30-30 round, but it was also chambered in the archaic .25-35 WCF (Winchester Center Fire), .32-40 WCF, and .38-55 WCF black powder loads. Marlin’s Model 1895 rifle was chambered in .33 WCF, .38-55 WCF, .40-65 WCF, .40-70 WCF, .40-82 WCF, .45-70 Government, and .45-90. All but the .33 WCF were black powder loads. Marlin and Winchester were slow to recognize the superiority of smokeless powder.

Although Arthur Savage’s Model 1899 was introduced in the .25-35 WCF, .32-40 WCF, and .38-55 WCF black powder cartridges, he added the smokeless powder .30-30 WCF and .303 Savage smokeless powder rounds to his rifle’s offerings. In 1912 the Model 99 Savage offered Charles Newton’s .22 High Power – our first high velocity varmint cartridge. The Model 99 Savage took a giant leap in 1915 with the introduction of the .250 Savage cartridge – the first cartridge to reach a muzzle velocity of 3000 feet per second! Savage renamed the round the .250-3000. In 1920 the Model 99 introduced the .300 Savage cartridge that would one day rival the .308 Winchester cartridge as well as the .30-06.

Arthur Savage was born in Kingston, Jamaica and educated in Great Britain and the United States. He homesteaded in Australia where he developed the largest cattle ranch in the country. From there he bought a Jamaican coffee/banana plantation before moving his family to Utica, New York. Here he established the Savage Arms Company while inventing what became the Model 1899 Savage lever-action rifle. A creative genius, he also invented the radial tire as well as the Savage-Halpine torpedo that was adopted by the Brazilian Navy. Production of the Model 99 rifle ceased in 1997. Model 99’s are good property and very desirable rifles.

See you next week.