Help with Savage 99 30-30

[380AUTO]

Hello, I’m in need of some advice. I recently picked up another savage 99 takedown in 30-30. The barrel is pretty loose to the receiver and as expected no matter what load I try the accuracy resembles more of a shotgun pattern spreading over a foot shot to shot. Has anyone else had this same problem and found a solution? I was thinking of tig welding the barrel to the receiver as I never plan on using the take down feature anyway. Thanks for the help!

[beltfed]

There are ways to tighten up the barrel into the receiver short of
ruining the rifle by tig welding...
A person can shim the barrel shoulder. I use brass shim stock available at better
hardware stores or Brownells.
And use blue locktite.on the threads
beltfed/arnie

[pertnear]

It was common to have the early 99 take-down barrels "pinned" to the receiver. I had one in .250 that was pinned but it is long gone so I have nothing to show you how it was done.

[ulav8r]

Tighten the threads by peening with a purpose made chisel, working them toward the muzzle. Use light taps, working from the breech forward. Start at the beginning of the thread and work along it continuously, may take several goes but try it for fit after each pass. Move just a little at a time to avoid damaging the threads. A 1/4" square lathe tool bit with one end ground back 60 degrees is the chisel to use. A 4 ounce hammer is all that is needed.

Work from o

[380AUTO]

That sounds like a pretty neat fix. I’d imagine it’s like the barrel on an old pinned and recessed Smith and Wesson

[380AUTO]

Tighten the threads by peening with a purpose made chisel, working them toward the muzzle. Use light taps, working from the breech forward. Start at the beginning of the thread and work along it continuously, may take several goes but try it for fit after each pass. Move just a little at a time to avoid damaging the threads. A 1/4" square lathe tool bit with one end ground back 60 degrees is the chisel to use. A 4 ounce hammer is all that is needed.

Work from o


Ill try and give it a shot hopefully I don’t ruin anything can’t get any worse I suppose

[380AUTO]

There are ways to tighten up the barrel into the receiver short of
ruining the rifle by tig welding...
A person can shim the barrel shoulder. I use brass shim stock available at better
hardware stores or Brownells.
And use blue locktite.on the threads
beltfed/arnie

Thank you Arnie I will definitely look into that I’m hoping to use this rifle to take a buck sometime in the near future

[MaLar]

Tighten the threads by peening with a purpose made chisel, working them toward the muzzle. Use light taps, working from the breech forward. Start at the beginning of the thread and work along it continuously, may take several goes but try it for fit after each pass. Move just a little at a time to avoid damaging the threads. A 1/4" square lathe tool bit with one end ground back 60 degrees is the chisel to use. A 4 ounce hammer is all that is needed.

Work from o

This is how to do it right.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Peening the threads is the way to go. Very, very light hammer, punch/chisel ground for the job and lots of patience. Go slow, lots of screwing... to check the fit of course.

[gnoahhh]

I wonder if someone stuck the wrong barrel in the receiver during its life. Peening the threads is good- I've done it too. "Loose" threads aren't necessarily a bad thing though.

The thing is with these rifles is the barrel must bear tightly at two points- the interface with the the front of the receiver, and the back of the breech end against the abutment (kind of a C-ring) at the rear of the receiver ring. The threads aren't terribly tight to begin with, but if the barrel bears snuggly and simultaneously at those two points, all is well. I've had loosey-goosey threads in takedowns that shot just fine- but the barrels got snug at the moment of final torque that brought together those two contact points. (As long as it indexes at the same time also.) Kind of tricky to make all that happen at once.

After the TD barrel is firmly locked in place after going through all that, you gotta check headspace.

At the factory, Savage 99's were chambered and barreled first. Then they went to the final assembly stations where guys tried and fitted various length bolts until they found one that gave good headspace. The assemblers had bins of bolts that varied as much as over .030" in overall length. It was cheaper for them to take that approach than to meticulously maintain really tight tolerances in the manufacturing processes up to that point. That's why today we who play with these things keep a supply of spare/used bolts on hand to overcome the all-to-common headspace issues of takedown Savage M1899's and 99's that have been messed with.

[Norske]

When you've fixed the barrel, test the fore end extension that fits into the receiver. It shouldn't bind, so sand if needed. Secondly, when shooting off any kind of rest, set the receiver on the rest. Unless you use a rolled up sleeping bag for the rest, then almost any part of the rifle can be on that soft rest.

[beltfed]

380Auto,
Your and other stories about loose barrels on Savage 99 TDs,
makes me very thankful that my 1932 built Sav 99 250 is tight as can be
and it shoots sub minute with 117 gr Hornady RN bullets.
I am about to go to some cast boolits to exercise it more.
beltfed/arnie

[1Hawkeye]

I zeroed a 99 td in .250 savage for a guy one time. The barrel was almost floppy in the reciever so I thought it's not gonna shoot and have headspace I was wrong on both counts. Off bags that rifle was shooting 5 shots at 100 yds into quarter size groups.

[Ruts]

Mine would shoot 8 inches different in elevation at 100 depending if I shot offhand holding the receiver or off a rest just in front of it. I found I could wobble the barrel just a bit. The wear had made it so that the barrel needed to be turned just a bit tighter in but the key on the forend wouldn't let it. I filed one side of the key so the barrel would rotate that much more and locktighted it in with red lock tight gel. It shoots good now. I don't know if I could ever get that lock tight out to fix it properly. The sight still seems vertical. I don't see how peening the threads is going to land your barrel on the receiver where it's supposed to be it seems to me it would stop your barrel shaking but it would still be out in space

[jaguarxk120]

I have a question, when was this rifle made? I have checked several of my Gun Digest's and
could not find a caliber listing for a Savage 99 in 30-30.

[swheeler]

probably a 303 Savage ;-)

[jaguarxk120]

If it is a 303 Savage, the chamber is larger than a 30-30's.
The 30-30 will chamber and fire but chances are bullets will spray all over the place.
Reloads on fired brass should be OK.

[skeettx]

Yes Savage 99s WERE made in 30-30
Was yours drilled and tapped for a scope mount?

Mike

[gnoahhh]

Goodness yes, 99's were made in .30-30. Fewer and fewer over the years up until WWII.

[380AUTO]

I have a question, when was this rifle made? I have checked several of my Gun Digest's and
could not find a caliber listing for a Savage 99 in 30-30.


It was made in 1930

[380AUTO]

Yes Savage 99s WERE made in 30-30
Was yours drilled and tapped for a scope mount?

Mike

Hey Mike thanks for the response. It is actually only drilled and tapped for a period correct Lyman tang sight

[380AUTO]

Thanks everyone for the responses I will most likely drop the rifle off at the gunsmiths it’s a nice old rifle in good shape and considering it more I feel like it deserves a proper fix.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Marble's has a current production tang sight for the 99 with the lever safety that is drilled and tapped. There are also Lyman, Redfield and Williams receiver sights that properly fit the factory D&T screw holes on the top of the receiver behind the cocking indicator. The current production Williams receiver sight does NOT fit the tang screw holes. It is made for the rear scope mount holes on the later models, particularly those with the safety on the top. There are quite a few Savage 99's in 30-30, I have at least three, maybe 4 or 6?

[ericp]

The above advice on peening the threads is the best approach. I had a takedown 99 with 22 Highpower, 32-40, and 30-30 barrels. Had to do it to the 32-40 and 30-30 barrels. Take your time and check often.


Eric

[ascast]

You might try shimming the barrel on the front. It,s a common enough practice. You may have to take off some material as it's difficult to make really thin shims.
I have a 30-30 '99 also.

[ascast]

ps The Utica plant burned a couple weeks ago. I work about a block away. Good pics, search web for "Charlestown Mall fire"