Savage lever action rifle

[abunaitoo]

Friend has a Savage lever action rifle that looks like a Model 99.
Only thing is it has no removable magazine.
Is it still a 99, or another model????
Other than the caliber, 22 High Power, it's in good to very good condition.

Shells seem easy enough to form.
Dies kind of expensive.
Bullets, as far as I can find, are only made by Hornady.
But I can always cast some thing for it.

[dragon813gt]

All Savage 99 variants, except C, have a non removable magazine.

[richhodg66]

All Savage 99 variants, except C, have a non removable magazine.

I never understood why Savage ever thought about trying that clip fed version, the rotary mag was one of the best things about the 99.

For brass, all you need to do is run .25-35 brass through a .22 HP sizer. There are other bullets available besides Hornady and Sellier and Belot sells factory ammo under the European designation for the cartridge.

I cast some Ideal 225415s and shot them unsized through mine with 6 grains of Unique just for a plinking load and it worked fine. They were a little undersize, but I cast them hard and only shot those light loads. I need to get back to working with that rifle.

[M-Tecs]

Lots of info here http://www.savage99.com/index.php

The removable magazine 99's are the only ones I have no desire to own. I agree that the rotary mag was one of the best things about the 99.

[Artful]

I think the removeable magazines were in response to other newer Lever action rifles
like Winchester 88 or Sako Finnwolf, which sold as a feature the ability to swap out magazines
or unload quickly.

[TXGunNut]

Sounds like fun, I'm just beginning to appreciate the 99's and rapidly becoming a fan of the 99 and the Savage cartridges. Not much on the 22 even though it has a very interesting history. Once you have a set of dies and a good mould it should make an excellent plinker or small to medium game hunting rifle.
I don't know how much the dies are but they usually look pretty cheap when compared to factory ammo.

[FergusonTO35]

Ruger has certainly been a fan of rotary mags. They even use one on the low priced Ruger American.

[Scharfschuetze]

My two cents on the advent of the removable magazine 99s is that it was cost cutting on the part of Savage. The Savage rotary magazine was a machinist's delight, but had to be timed and fitted much more closely than the box magazine that replaced it. Look at some of those box mag fed 99s and you'll also see pressed in checkering, and lower quality wood than the earlier 99s with the rotary magazines.

Savage followed the same trail that Winchester did in the 60s, but while we identify Winchesters as either Pre-64 or Post-63 rifles, I don't think that we have a similar term for Savage made rifles; although one would probably be apropos.

Speaking of old rotary magazine Savage 99s in 22 Savage High-Power, I shot a fine boar in Australia with one while there on R&R from Vietnam.

[Artful]

I'll grant you there was a quality drop as the Savage 99 aged and the tooling worn out and the market changed to bolt action rifle as preference. But I think the entire arms market suffered from bean counter cutbacks.
Look at Colt, Marlin, Remington, etc - it wasn't just Winchester and Savage.

[pietro]

.

Many Savage leverguns have it's "model" (F, EG, R, etc, etc) stamped into the front face of the action, visible via removing the forend wood.

Two-letter models (like "EG") will have one letter stamped on each side of the rotary magazine's axle hub; one-letter models will be stamped on only one side (obviously).

Some models, like the early "A" or "B", have the model letter inscribed (roll-marked) into the upper LH side of the receiver ring - often hidden by aftermarket scope bases.

Model 99's made from 1949 to 1970 should have a Lever Boss Code (LBC) stamped there with the Savage Letter Code for the rifle's DOM.

The European designation for the .22 Hi-Power ( .22 IMP) is "5.6x52R" - while it was a variation based on the .25-35 case, the parent case is the .30-30, which would need further step like forming in steps & inside neck reaming, to make .22 IMP cases.

When the IMP was first introduced, Savage heavily advertized & demonstrated the new cartirdge's ability to take game as large as African Elephants.




.

[Artful]

.
The European designation for the .22 Hi-Power ( .22 IMP) is "5.6x52R" - while it was a variation based on the .25-35 case, the parent case is the .30-30, which would need further step like forming in steps & inside neck reaming, to make .22 IMP cases.

When the IMP was first introduced, Savage heavily advertized & demonstrated the new cartirdge's ability to take game as large as African Elephants.
.

One important thing about the .22 Savage Hi Power (IMP) is that it's a .228 bore NOT a .224 bore.

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.22+Savage+Hi+Power.html

[Roundball]

One of the more grandiose local firearms stores was going belly up years ago. All bullets were on sale including the .228 Hornady's. We had customers come into our store wondering why their 22-250's suddenly starting blowing primers. These guys had taken advantage of the sale bullets. Personally, I have 310 dies for the IMP but no rifle. Just have one of those 99 take downs in 250 Savage.

[Harry O]

I used to own one in that same caliber that was a takedown model. It was inaccurate, even though there appeared to be no play in the heavy (square) interrupted threads on the barrel. I took it to a gunsmith and he said that nothing could be done. Unless it was a fixed barrel, I would pass on it.

Even if it has a fixed barrel, you might want to read Ken Waters' article on the .22 Savage High-Power in his "Pet Loads" book before taking the plunge. The last paragraph in the article says, "With close observation and careful handling, the .22 Savage High-Power can furnish both pleasurable and accurate shooting performance. It is NOT, however, a good choice for the casual handloader."

The emphasis on the word NOT is his, not mine. I think he was being charitable. My reloading experience matched his right down the line. I certainly won't own another one.

BTW, I ended up trading the rifle for a Judson Supercharger for the 1200cc VW Bug, which I owned at the time. I had a lot more fun with that than I did with the gun. Top speed was 92mph. With it, I went through many speed traps on the Interstate (particularly in Illinois), but was never stopped. I think they thought that it was an error in their equipment.

[gnoahhh]

I have been playing with Savage .22 HPs for a lot of years now. I average probably in excess of a thousand shots a year with two rifles and four barrels (they're all takedowns). 85% of my shooting with the HP is with cast bullets, mostly Ideal #228367.

A couple of observations. One, it is no more difficult to load for than any other cartridge. I don't know where Ken Waters got the idea that it isn't. The most difficult thing to overcome is finding proper sized bullets. Hornady makes one, the .228 70 grain spire point. Buffalo Arms sells a slew of different weight .228's and of course there are cast bullets. Hornady bullets shoot like cr*p for me. That is due to their length, not weight. The old Savages were rifled 1-12" rate of twist which is too slow for that bullet. The cure is to remove some of the nose. (I made a file trim die for that purpose.) After that they shoot beautifully.

The other thing is brass. The European brass (5.6x52R) is ok but expensive, and doesn't last long in my rifles. The head diameters are a few thousandths undersize compared to our .25-35 and .30-30 brass and therein lies the fault. It's way simpler (and cheaper) to simply use .25-35 brass and be done with it. One trip into a .22HP sizer and voilà, a .22HP case. .30-30 brass can be used to make .22HP's too, but is admittedly a mild PIA.

Keep loads light with jacketed bullets and brass will last as long as with any other cartridge in a lever action. I shoot 21-23 grains 3031, and 22-24 grains of 4895 when the max is like 26-28 grains. Better accuracy to boot, and stuff still dies when shot with them. 7 grains Unique + the 60grain 228367 cast at bhn 10 is fun, accurate, a good small game/turkey load, and brass lasts indefinitely.

To say the .22 High Power is one of my all time favorites would be putting it mildly.


P.S. Then there's the Marciante Blue Streak- A wildcat from the 1940's based on the .22 HiPower. Body blown out and sharp shoulder moved forward it rivaled the .220 Swift for "hotness". (Al Marciante observed some of his bullets vaporizing in flight, leaving a blue-gray streak of tracer- hence the moniker.)

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I have never seen or shot the 22 HP but I do know the model 99 with a receiver sight is one of the finest carrying and shooting rifles my skinny little fingers have ever wrapped around. I remember some old Michigan corn cruncher hunters that would chuckle every time some other lever flipper would brag about his rifle or caliber. They would say something like "how many times you shot a 303 or 300 Savage into a deer young-un ?". Carrying a Winchester 92 comes close, the Marlin 94 about the same but neither has ever fired a cartridge like those Savage rounds. A 1894 Winchester in any caliber is just a shadow. They just do not shuck a round like that fine rotary magazine.
I like all lever rifles (well nearly) but the Savage 99 "new comer" is one fine rifle.
Mike in Peru

[El Bango]

Is this a factory variant? I didn't think Savage built the 22hi-power in the 99c version. The cartridge was obsolete 40 years before the introduction of the c model, no?

[gnoahhh]

Right. The C was never offered in .22HP. The round was obsolete before WWII and American factories quit making the ammo two generations ago. Savage hasn't chambered a rifle for it in at least 80 years now.

As for takedown 1899s and 99s being less accurate than solid frame rifles, that hasn't been my experience at all. Every rifle is a law unto itself and the takedowns just need the same experimentation to find their best loads as any other rifle. If one has been in the possession of a horny-handed individual who mistreated it and bollixed up the threads, then all bets are off. Dismantle them only when necessary, keep the threads lightly greased, and un-do them gently and things will stay tight forever.

[starmac]

The op's is not a c model.