Savage 99 good, but not John Browning good!

[andym79]

Hi guys, I do a bit of hunting and a lot of competition shooting with lever actions.

For the last 7 years I have used mostly Winchesters and occasionally Marlins for both purposes.
The Marlins have been okay and the Winchesters flawless, so long as I work the lever hard and all the way (hence John Browning designed it!)

All of his designs seems to have been so far ahead of the time and so reliable. I got a couple of 99s a while back and was pretty excited to be able to use a lever gun that looked so modern even though it was old in its design and allowed me to use pointy bullets in both cases and a modern cartridge in one of them.

Anyway after them being safe queens for a while, I took the 308 version out pig hunting, I thought it would be so much better, boy was I wrong, I hit one and when for a follow up shot on another and the round didn't chamber it didn't line up right. With a bit of wiggling of the bolt it did, but the moment was lost. With the mob of pigs gone I mess about with it and the Savage was only chambering successfully about 2/3 of the time, unless the lever was moved very slowly and deliberately and the bolt was move a little forward and the back again. As it was the first time I had used one for a magazine fed shot I was surprised and very disappointed: needless to say my 94 in 356w or 30-30 will once again be the go to gun. The 99 in 308, is from the 70s and little used or worn, it loads smooth the bolt and lever work fine it just doesn't always line the case up right!

I also have one from the 20s in 22HP, which I tried the other week in a competition, well I need hands stronger than a gorillas to try and load the magazine, but just about managed to get five in there, only 1 on the 5 fed fine, the others didn't come close.

After getting home I went through many thread and discovered spring tension in the rotary magazine often causes problems with loading and or feeding from the magazine. So I adjusted the tension, a pretty easy task and had it loading like butter, but then it would feed none successfully, I added a bit of tension so that you only had to bruise your index finger or thumb to load it and didn't need a spare gorilla, and I was back to a 20% success rate for chambering!

I put it back in the safe and though to myself how much better would a modern style L\lever action designed by John Browning have worked? Oh wait the 1895, It looks ugly and I never even seen one for sale except a single rifle in 405 for $4500 (that was two years back and the same rifle is still for sale at the same shop for $3500), but I bet like all of his designs they feed flawless.

So know I am wondering should I keep them as curiosities of a lever action ahead of its time but not very reliable, sell them for what I paid and replace them with BLRs or sell and and just enjoys the Winchesters and Marlins and use lesser bullets.

Mr Savage you did okay but Mr Browning you made most others flunk the curve!

I guess sales of 94s and 336s vs 99 say a lot.

[M-Tecs]

I have three 99's. Other than one walking point of impact when it gets hot I have had zero issues with them. They have been more reliable for me than my Winchesters or Marlins.

[Texas by God]

You should try your guns out before you compete or hunt. The doggiest 1899 I've owned still fed fine. I've had 1899s in .22HP, 250-3000, and 30-30 as well as a 99 in .300 Savage. The HP was a rock thrower accuracy wise; the others were fine. All had smooth actions. Smoother than my old 94 Win or Marlin 336. I like the handiness of those two so they are my levers- but much respect for the 99!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Drm50]

I have had quite a few 99s, mostly older models and the bulk of them were 303sav & 300 Sav. And a few 250/3000s. Never had feed problems with any of them and they all shot reasonably well once you found the load. I had some of the later models with tank safety & hard wood stock in 308 and
they were junk. Didn't feel like the old ones. Still never had failure to feed with them. I just bought a
1950 99eg in 250 and it is smooth operating.

[HangFireW8]

The 308 99 was not an original Savage design. Also yours is broken.

The rest... your opinion.

[andym79]

The 308 99 was not an original Savage design. Also yours is broken.

The rest... your opinion.

Why do say broken? It at least works 2/3 of the time, I think perhaps the 22hp is broken as it seems to feed 1/5 time and is hard as hell to load.

Forget that Winchesters and Marlins maybe better feeders, what can be done to fix the 22HP as magazine spring tensions isn't doing the job?

A new cartridge guide? New auto stop? New magazine?

[pietro]

, what can be done to fix the 22HP as magazine spring tensions isn't doing the job?

A new cartridge guide? New auto stop? New magazine?

Adjust the magazine's spring tension.

http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...ine-Adjustment


.

[andym79]

Any way on a more positive note, after 2 hours in the shed with the 22HP, I stripped it all down, de-greased it all, then hit every part up with WD40, rinsed the parts off reassembled and put more oil in the action than they have drilled in Saudi!

I spent a further hour tweaking the tension to this setting and then that and another and so on, until I found one that should promise. I had about 100 rounds of original 22HP factory stuff and cycled that it was a hit and miss with feeding about 50%. I loaded up 6 dummies with only 55 grain bullets not the 70s so COL was a bit shorter. I worked them through about 50 times and slowly it went from finding the chamber sometimes, to more often to 80% of the time. At present with 55 grains or 70s seated deep the 99 22HP will do 4 of 5, it keeps falling down on the last in and first out, no matter how I line it up in the top of the carrier; but if I had to pick one that was hard it would always be that first one out, because before I take a shot I can wiggle the lever a bit to get the first cartridge in okay, but I need the follow ups to feed flawlessly.

I will take it out soon and see if it does good with live ammo and not just dummies.

It seems in the case of the 22HP at least that a combination of crude, a bit of Bubba in the past and a temperamental design that the magazine just wouldn't feed, I am hopeful however that if its kept clean bare the 1st round out it will fail rarely rather than most of the time.

As to the 308W as the magazine loads and unloads smooth I would rather not fiddle about with it, so I think I will experiment with the COL.

[beltfed]

I am on my third Savage 99. First one, a 1938 production Deluxe Light Wt takedown 30-30.
Fed just fine. But sold it as I found it difficult location of that right side safety next to the lever
since I shoot left handed and had to turn the rifle on its side to reach the safety to take it off
when deer hunting.
Second one a 1951 250, also ran well. It was really nice, but HEAVY full sized rifle for a light ctg.
Sold it to a collector
Last Fall picked up a 1932 production deluxe Lightwt 99 again in 250. Just still intrigued with that caliber
Old hunting rifle. Paul Jaeger scope mount system, Leo 2-7 on it
Shoots very well with 100 gr loads, feeds just fine.
Still an issue with the right handed safety location, but just had to have it to play with the 250 cal again.
It was cheap, what with the scope mount, so no collector hardly looked at it at the gun show. But
I feel its still classic with that period Paul Jaeger mount, and a good accurate deer rifle.
beltfed/arnie

[Tatume]

My first Savage Model 99 was chambered for 308 Winchester. Loaded at 2.8" overall, cartridges just barely fit; any longer and the magazine would not rotate. Then I borrowed a friends 300 Savage Model 99. What a difference! Cartridges fit easily, even if they were a tad over the 2.6" nominal OAL. The 300 Savage has a tiny bit more taper too, and feeds and extracts nicely.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I have a bunch of 99's, 303's, 300's, 308's,358's, 243's, 284's and 30-30's. All the rotary magazine work very well while a couple 99C's (removable magazine) are not as smooth but are reliable. Your 99's are not properly adjusted, the spring tension of the carrier, the cartridge guide or the automatic cutoff can all be 'not quite right'. I've got a bunch of Marlins and a couple Winchesters including a 71 .348, none are quite as slick as the rotary magazine 99's. I've also got a few BLR's, but they have proven unreliable when conditions get difficult, frozen firing pins in sleet and freezing rain, dropped magazines dumping all the cartridges into snow or dirt, my wife has a BLR 358 she refuses to carry and prefers her Savage 99 358. She doesn't like the Marlins because she occasionally has broken a nail loading them. With the 308's, I have found that most surplus ammo or 7.62x51 spec military ammo is just a touch long in most of my 308's, with 2.78 COL the absolute max in any of mine.

[Drm50]

I would guess a 99 with problems was from somebody being into it that didn't know what they were
doing. Guns do break and wear out but 99s were a well made rifles and even the last ones that didn't have the fit and finish of the old models had very little problems. I have been around hunting camps
and was in business selling guns for years. When I think back to lever jamming problems Marlin is what pops up in my mind and most of them were late production from mid 80s on up. A lot of hunting rifles have never been stripped and cleaned. Most of the older rifles have been shot very little. They came from a time when they were only used for hunting and most didn't see 20rds a year.
That doesn't mean they don't have 75years worth of crud in action, reguardless of bore and finish.

[atr]

I have a 99C in .308....late 60's vintage.
It has always worked perfectly, however I did discover that it had a tight chamber. Also, if when resizing the brass you pushed the shoulder back to far you would get miss-fires. I also found that the rifle preferred resizing the brass full length.

[Dan Cash]

Mr Savage you did okay but Mr Browning you made most others flunk the curve!

I guess sales of 94s and 336s vs 99 say a lot.

Sounds like you got a couple rifles tuned up by Bubba. I have 2 99s, both of which function without problems and are as satisfying as my two Win 95s. Only thing the 95s have on them is more powerful cartridges and better triggers..

[Texas by God]

That .22 HP acts like it has the wrong rotor in it. Get those guns fixed then reassess the Savage 99. Or borrow a working one. The cock on closing feature helps the primary extraction- just like a Lee.

[6.5 CM]

GEE I feel so sorry for the OP I'll give him 100 bucks for each of his pieces of garbage.

Seriously, I've owned/own a dozen plus 99s and never had any of the problems he mentions.

As for John Browning well the OP is welcome to his open top, no scope, gas in your face lever guns. FHI, John had nothing to do with BLR which is a club compared to a 99 and butt ugly to boot.

As someone here once noted: "There are people who can break an anvil!"

Who would want this when you could have a BLR ? LOL !!!

[6.5 CM]

The minute the OP said he let WD40 in the same room with any gun, the real problem became clear.

[T.R.]

I experienced the same chambering issue with my 99C. A local smith fixed it for me. Turned out to be a problem with the magazine and easily repaired.

TR

[6.5 CM]

The 99C is the horror show with the detach mag. His are rotary mags.

[gnoahhh]

I've owned dozens of 99's with nary a hiccup from any of them. Something I can't say about the Winchesters and Marlins that've passed through my hands.

WD-40- wrong. It could be that a previous owner flushed it out with that gun poison and you are now dealing with shellac in all the little hidey holes.

Wrong rotor/improperly tensioned- quite possible.

Could be a previous owner got creative with the cartridge guides, or installed wrong ones. That would bear looking into too.

Don't sell the Savage lever gun short. It far outclasses the Winlins IMO.

Some of my most accurate 1899's were/are .22 HiPowers. Something's rotten in Denmark if one won't shoot well.