re-bbl options for a 99

[mike in co]

guys i have a 1950 99 in 300 savage in my sights. it is ok except for a poor bore.

what are my options if i want to shoot this ?

any chance there are nos(new , old stock) bbls out there ?

a source for new 99 bbl's ?

how hard to re-bbl at home ?
i'm headed over to gun parts corp to see what they have(online)

thanks
mike

[missionary5155]

There is the re-line option then you have all sorts of caliber options.. I would serious like a 99 in 38-55.

[Pepe Ray]

A cautionary note.
At the time that the .308Win was first chambered in the 99, the receiver needed to be slightly modified to accept the longer OAL of that ctg. Sooo-until the 99C was created you'll find rifles in .308 and .300Sav that can be used with ctgs of .308Win, Max length. This makes the idea of re chambering or re barreling with a few more cartridges to choose from.
However, I don't know the Ser# breakoff point.
Also, don't forget that the spool mag. is a lot more expensive to modify should the case shape be different.
Good luck'
Pepe Ray

[fourarmed]

I'd do a lot of shooting to make sure the present bore is hopeless before I considered anything else. Bobbing it a half-inch and recrowning can sometimes work wonders. Rebarreling or reboring can run into considerable money. On one that old, I'm betting that reboring to .358 is not an option. If I were faced with rebarreling one, it would definitely be to .250-3000.

[Bret4207]

358! Oh yeah! For that matter, relining back to 300 Savage is good too. Like 4armed said, clean it up and see if it won't shoot first.

[C A Plater]

http://www.savagerepairs.com/

[mike in co]

http://www.savagerepairs.com/

newer guns only on bbls available. 243 and 308. v thread on guns over 1.000.000 sn

alternate is guns part has a bunch of used bbls. some in each thread design. and yes 300 sav is one.

how hard to change from a 330 sav to something based on a 308 case ?

mike in co

[onceabull]

Mike: your receiver was made before the change to allow 308 W.(& 284 W.) cartridges to be chambered in the Sav.99..I'd wager trying to modify your receiver and getting the correct internal parts would be substantially more expensive than finding a decent used 308.. Saw
three of those which looked to be fine "hunter" grade rifles for less than $600 at our local show this wk'end..passed them because already long on better examples,and not enough room and/or allotted time left to expect market rate of return on investment. A query on the "savage collectors" forum @ 24hrcampfire likely would generate a comprehensive explanation as to the changes made when Savage begin making 308 W mdl.99's..I'd get an appropriate threaded 300 Sav.barrel from the people at Numrich while they still have some,if it were my decision to make...Onceabull

[mike in co]

onceabull,
yes i was hoping to do an orginal cartridge for the model yr, but do not know when or what was done . numrich/gunspartcorp does have some correct yr used 300 sav bbls. still waiting on a reply to my offer. think i'll clean look and then make up my mind to shoot or replace.

being used bbls, me thinks i will get an inspection period from gunparts.

thanks
guys

mike

[HeavyMetal]

The 99 has got to be the easiest lever gun to re barrel!

Several guys re bore the original barrel to a larger caliber, check gum list and shotgun news for advertising.

The 308 win was actually a refinement of the 300 savage by the milatary in the 50's. so any decent 300 should be able to go to a 308. The 308 was added to the 99 line in 1957 or so.

Were I to stumble across a decent 99 with a questionable barrel and 300 savage chambering 3 re barrels would come to mind 1 250-3000 2. 22-250 3 308 win. I would also consider the 375 win as well. If I found a 30-30 99 I think I'd go for the 7-30 waters or 307 win.

Just some random ideas to give you food for thought!

[ammohead]

Mike,

Pepe Ray is correct about older 99 recievers not handling cases over 2.600" You can stretch it a bit but not to 2.800" for the 308. I learned this the hard way some years back. I had Dick Nickel rebore a older 300 sav to 308. At full length they simply won't fit in the magazine, or eject when chambered and not fired. You can use it as a single shot, or it works excellent if you limit yourself to round nose bullets seated to 2.600". Good luck.

ammohead

[Bullshop]

Not to derail your thread here but thought some one here might like to know that we have a 99a FS. We can get it to most points south for $450.00 It is in very nice shape.
Please pm me if interested.
BIC/BS

[mike in co]

daniel....post the caliber...

for the rest, i have a 99 in 308, and with the other issues, if i get this i'll stick with 300 savage, and just try to up grade the bbl if necessay.

thanks
mike in co

[Bullshop]

Oh my now dont I feel silly! Sorry fellows, its a 308 win.
BIC/BS

[Pepe Ray]

Ammohead;
Thanks for the confirmation. The point that I was hoping to make is that at some point in time Sav was making Both 300's & 308's in the spool magazine receiver at the same time, Therefore either would be OK for a rebbl/rechamber to a 308 class ctg. But Just grabbing a 300Sav may not work. One would need the serial #'s of when the transition took place before risking an investment, and I don't have that information. Nor do I know where or how to get it.
Pepe Ray

[Pepe Ray]

Also!!!
The fact that has been ignored is the discussion of altering cartridge chambering in Sav.99's is that the spool receiver was a unique feature and part of the expensive machining that caused the M99 to be phased out. Your not going to rebbl a 30-30 to a 38-55 unless you can find a spool or have one machined.$$$$$$$
Good Luck. Pepe Ray

[bobk]

Mike,
You pull the barrel, I might be interested in it. I'm thinking of a rebore project. I have a 7MM-08 barrel, but it won't fit my old 99. either.

Bob K

[HeavyMetal]

for those looking for informaton on the 99's please check out: The Ninety-Nine this was written by D.P. Murray and covers early information up to about 1985.

The change made in the 99's to accomadate the 243, 308 and 358 was done about serial number 900,000 / 1954 so if Mike's 300 was made after 1954 good chance he can convert the longer cartridge if he wants to.

Since his original post says it's a 1950 model I'd go with a rebarrel to 250- 3000.

One note I will pass along to Mike, the book says guns in the 800,000 serial number range are quite rare! If you have one of these you might want to re bore rather than lose the markings on the barrel IDing the gun.

[MtGun44]

What about a wildcat .358-.300Sav, .338-300 Sav, a .32-300 Sav
or 8mm-300 Sav? Just rebore the barrel, keep the markings and any
appearance consistent with the age and get a shooter for a reasonable
price plus a set of custom dies.

Bill

[mike in co]

just for the record, i made an offer on the rifle, but no reply from the owner...still waiting.

mike

[9.3X62AL]

Mike--

The 300 Savage is no slouch as a hunting caliber. It lacks the panache of the 308 or 30-06, but was loaded at the outset to equal the WWI-level 30-06 ballistics--the 150 grain bullet at 2700 FPS. That sort of performance will make venison quite readily, and a 180 grain Partition at 2450 FPS or so would do for elk, I should think.

[mike in co]

semi good news today, my offer was accepted, did the paperwork and the colo background system went down!!! just got called and the background went thru, now just have to pick it up....i guess this means i otta keep that 300 savage brass i was gonna sell at the gun show this week end......think i have a lee loader in 300 sav or i'm back to looking for dies.

the owner said best was 3" at 100, typical was 6". i'm thinking cut and recrown.....if it was ever cleaned it was from the muzzle......
mike in co

[Bassleg]

Marlin just came out with a 338 marlin Express that looks mighty good to me try and rechamber for that it puts out 200 grainer out at 2565 f.p.s.

info found on Page 130 in the new < THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO HORNADY>

[mike in co]

let this be a warning to any and all of you:
don't try selling a gun with a dirty bbl!

i just paid $200 for a 1950 savage 99 in 300 savage.
excellent blue on all but the lever, which is case colored on the inner, but well worn on the outside.
funky stock, amature re finish ?( i'm sure the gun has been re-blued)

but the two bills was my offer because when i looked down the bbl, it was lumpy...not smooth at all. it was based on the high probability of needing a bbl.( see how i starter this thread)

got it home ran a couple of patches thru it to see just how bad it was. the first thing i noticed was how smooth and even the patches went thru.

i'm not done cleaning, but the this bbl looks very good for its age. yes there is some lite pitting in the bbl, but lite.....small spots here and there... will have to shoot this thing to see whats going on.

but it aint a 200 dollar gun.......
i guess some people just should not own such nice things...
mike in co

[HeavyMetal]

Way to go!

With luck this barrel will clean up!

I have never fire lapped a barrel but if the spots of rust are not gone by the time you get a nice looking barrel you can try it.

If the case hardening on the lever is the only cosmetic issue consider yourself lucky!

Most of the "huntin" 99's have the owners palm and finger prints rusted into the reciever!

As soon as you shoot it let us know how it turned out!

[JDL]

Nice snag!! Clean the barrel and run a few jackets through her to see how she groups. My brother has a .250 that has a pitted barrel which I shot it once for group last year and it went into 8/10 of an inch. C.E. Harris wrote that pitted barrels often shot good but, needed cleaning more regular.
JDL

[mike in co]

lots of copper, clearly defined lands and grooves...still cleaning......
working a gun show this weekend.....will get to clean it a bit every eve.


mike in co

[Three44s]

Those 99's are great!

I bought one in .243 (a rotary) and gladly paid the asking price ..... $225 w/ a Weaver 4X .....!

Three 44s

[HeavyMetal]

O.K. What happened to it?

Will the barrel clean up or what!

[mike in co]

well i think i'm done cleaning.
the surfaces of the lands and grooves have some marks....sorta like light rust. removed all copper, and then used some jb bore paste on a tight wrapped patch. the bbl actually looks very good. well defined lands and grooves. it is not rough....a patch pushes thru very smoothly.

its winter and i do not know when it will get shot. waiting on a lee loader to show up , then some new brass and........well since it has a nice blue job...i sent the stock to ben to clean up for me.

who knows i may actually post a pic some day.

mike in co

[HeavyMetal]

The marks are probabley "stains" from past rusting, I've seen steel do this before. It's unsightly but doesn't seem to be any more than that in most case's.

Shooting it, now that it's clean, my reduce that even more so way to go!

Looking forward to a shooting report in May.

[mike in co]

ben is done with the stock and pics look great! its in the mail and i'll have it soon.

i'll get some pics, and try to get them posted.

mike in co

[9.3X62AL]

Good news all around, Mike! I'm sure that between your cleaning and Ben's craftsmanship the value of that rifle has been enhanced several times over.

Love it when a plan comes together.

[mike in co]

the stock got here today...
our FRIENDS at the post office did everything they good to destroy ben's work, but his packaging won out. the box was compressed, and water damaged....but nothing got thru to the stock!
assembled...looks great...
i'll see if i can get some pics posted this week but i am working back to back gunshows and prepping brass when not sleeping!

mike in co