Shot my buck last year with a hand me down m99 300 Savage with a Weaver 4x. 193 yards offhand, one shot. Went 30 feet and nose dived. Only shot it a half dozen times to check the zero at a hundred.Im with the 2 nods for the Savage 99 myself, I love levers, always have. I know you’re leaning toward open sights, but my favorite “traditional” rifle is my grandfathers Savage 99 built in 1947 in .300 Savage with an original Weaver K2.5 on top, it’s the only rifle other than my own M70 7mm-08 I’ve shot deer with