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Really glad to be back, L.

I crave a Savage 99, and am saddened that they are no longer made. The .300 has a phenominal reputation in the hands of real country boys...men who really, really hunt. These are the guys who also use the .257 Roberts...and whose Pappys probably trained them on the .32-20!

Muttly really want one of those too.

Our Poster may not know (YET!) that the .30-30 is the first really successful smokeless powder round...I think first offered with a lead bullet (a beautiful thing)...and "has killed more deer than any other cartridge"...which always hungry Muttlys really appreciate. Under-powered by today's standards...but the sweetest and most useful package that there is...and fast-shooting when the chips are down. I'd just hate to face a southern wild boar with one...but it beats not making it up the tree while shouting last words. May buy a second or two. Muttly grateful for small favors. Which brings us to "the venerable and oh-so-proven .45-70," with which boar can be HUNTED...and deer dropped handily. A short barrelled Marlin is amazingly handy in the deep, thick woods, and with 300gr. bullets, flat shooting enough, certainly. It has a wonderful reputation, can use lighter "Cowboy" rounds, and should generally keep you out of the swamps chasing wounded whatever-it-is, since it doesn't need expansion to do the work.