The prices I have been seeing in Virginia are way higher than the one you folks have been mentioning, especially for the pre-war guns. Even the newer guns in decent hunting condition are running upwards of $400, and it's been years since I have seen a .358 or .284 for sale.

There are a great number of variations in the 99, and collector value varies with age, model, caliber, and most importantly, condition. The .300 is usually the most common, so there's no premium for this caliber, but other features of your rifle may make it more desirable than average, depending on who's looking and what they're needing for their personal collection. It seems that the 99 has a fairly large and growing collector community.

I'm not a 99 collector, but when I was offered a .300 made in 1939 mounted with an original Kollmorgen Bear Cub scope for $275, even though it showed some bit of use, I bought it. My reasoning was that whatever some old boy paid for it in 1939, knowing those times and conditions, that $275 was a helluva lot less to me today.

I finally got around to shooting it day before yesterday for the first time. The old Kollmorgen is hazy, but both shots at 100 yards were covered by the 2-minute dot, so I can't find much to complain about in that. I think I'll take it out and shoot a meat doe with it now that the season is about to end.