That bubba was my dad. And I love the treatment he gave this .243 in the early 60's. Just like I do now, in the 50's and 60's my dad would trade guns back and forth between him and his buddies. This 1955 Savage .243 Featherwieght made the rounds. My dad carved the stock and refinished it when he had it, traded it to his really good freind, and then was given the gun by his widow when he died. His name was Babe Crabtree. He was a great guy. My dad took me to work a couple times and Babe took me out in his bobtail delivering freight around Oakland. I was around nine. Babe wouldn't smoke cigars. He chewed on them and cut the soggy ends off with scissors he carried in his top shirt pocket. This was the first centerfire rifle I ever shot and I was amazed how little recoil it had. But that's what the .243 is all about isn't it? I put the Lyman peep on it. Bought it off a Savage in a pawn shop for $20.
Take a trip down memory lane with me and take a look how "bubba" can get it right sometimes. Rest in peace Dad and Babe. And I hope in heaven deer season never closes.

Bubba did a very nice job, to me that looks a lot nicer than some of the lazer carved stocks on some of the newer guns. I have never owned a 99 Savage but my cousin had one back in the 50's in .300 Sav. and he really liked it. A great looking .243 and one to keep. Jeff

That's just wonderful.

A feller named Babe Crabtree just about has to be one of the good guys.

Gorgeous!!!!

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

Thats some very tasteful wood carving by your father.
Now we know where you got your talents from. Thanks for sharing that one with us.

I have a Savage with the same sight. No carving though.
Very nice job.

He was. He was very fat with a crew cut. We were up in the hills in the North Cal coast mountains out of "Anapolis" (Long name, spot in the road) once at a camp around 1968 (I was 11). My dad and these guys were in their early 40's. Babe had a brother named Orry who would feed his dog by opening a dog food can on both ends, push the dog food out, and that can shaped chunck of dogfood would hit the ground and roll pickin'up dirt and twigs and that dog would gobble it up, dirt and all. I died laughing at that. Another one of those guys was a gunsmith of sorts and we went to his house in Santa rosa. He had a gunroom under his house and right there on his wall was a BAR! My favorite show was Combat so i knew a BAR when I saw one! This guy had two daughters that cooked for logging crews. He said their names were "Pretty Good" and "Little Better". The older I got, thinkin' back, the more twisted that sounded.
BTW. Thanks, Moosedog. My dad turned me on to leather work. He carved wood like you wouldn't believe.

Absolutely beautiful, and a wonderful reminder of your Dad and a close friend. The 99 is a beautiful gun in its own right, a true classic, and your Dad's very artistic carving elevates it into a higher realm. I'm something of a nut for 99s, and I really appreciate your posting those photos.

Sorry, but there is just nothing "Bubba" about that. That is the fine hand crafted work of a very good artisan. I hope you have deserving kin to pass that down to some day.

Nice carving on your model 99, a true classic. I enjoyed the story telling part of this post to. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

I know it's not really "bubbafied". I was just trying for a catchy thread title. My dad was a great woodcarver. He used to carve wood chains out of pine, using a scalpel for the tiny links. He'd carve balls in cages within the chain links. The Savage is his best stock carving and my son will get that...eventually. Here's my dad's wood chain carvings when they hung in his house. He made that shark out of driftwood, and that pig on the bottom that my brother tried to steal from my sister (yeah, 'nother story there).

I hang out on the Savage collectors' forum on the 24 Hour Campfire, and those fellers are real hard on any bubbification of a 99, but all but a couple of the real hard cases would drool over that one.

The stock carving reminds me of that done by Boers on some of their M-95 Mausers.

Great story and nice heirloom.I remember watching COMBAT and was it Vic Morrow?

Yep. He carried a Thompson.
Texas Star. The carvings on those Boer Mausers kind of remind me of pawn shop engraving by Wolf & Klar. Those rifles are shootable folk art.

Very well done and makes it unique. BTW,the guy who carried the BAR on Combat was called Caje,IIRC. I'm sure somebody will take the time to look it up.
f.t.

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I didn't mean to come across as defensive or anything. The words lose the tone in the print that my eyes are still expressing the awe at the work. I have never seen wood chains that small. Your dad did some very impressive work in his day. I have thought before it's too bad we don't have a working man art museum where works like this could be displayed for everyone's viewing pleasure. His work would more than qualify in my book.

Dad's gun........priceless

beautiful carving very beautiful

Very nice carving, and as always it is the stories behind the gun that are so fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

Wouldn't mind hearing about the pig.

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1601 (ret)

Maxim, I thank you on the old man's behalf. I'm glad to see his stuff appreciated here. This is the type of art that you see on Antique Roadshow in the folk art catagory. His chains got so small the tip of a scalpel couldn't get in there, and that was the end of that chain. I have his carving tools. Maybe, just maybe, I'll see what each blade does. Then after that I'll tackle brain surgery!
Thanks again.

What a beautiful job he did on that rifle! The story about the dog food can brought back childhood memories too, my dad used to do the very same thing with his old chow dog, open both ends of the can and push it out with one end. Sometimes it never hit the ground! Thanks for the memory.

When I hear that "the stock has been tastefully carved", my palms get sweaty and I feel a bit nauseous. Generally, it is because the "artist" has clawed up a stock with his interpretation of some antlered beast. The carving performed by your father, on the other hand, is very tasteful and was performed, in my opinion, by a true artist.

Very nice and what a piece of family history! My father, was a a DDS and an MD with a wonderful talent, as an artist, for painting. Unfortunately, he fancied himself, at one point, an "engraver".

The National Postal Meter M1 carbine that I retain, displays some of his "engraving". Although it is only his initials and last name, his talent has devalued the rifle to anyone but me. I have to admit that I smile every time I look at his "work". Luckily, he gave up his quest to be a master engraver, just like he gave up the desire to be my personal barber but, that my friends is a story for another day. Thank God he was not a surgeon!

I actually hid the engraving tool for several years and he forgot about it until I had gone to college. Strange, it didn't seem to work anymore!