Savage 99 rotary magazine

[Texas by God]

I was brought a Savage .308 99E with a feeding problem. It is the hardwood stocked model with a rotary magazine ( no cartridge counter). It doesn't present the round high enough to run into the chamber unless the mag is full of cartridges. The spring seems weak or perhaps it has slipped.
I'm seeking advice, experience, tricks to get it going again. I have the JB Wood disassembly manual and I can modify a screwdriver bit for the spanner tool.
Thanks and Happy New Year!

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[cwtebay]

This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but it helped me a great deal with what NOT to do when disassembling and managing the rotary tensioner.
https://youtu.be/oXerR6eDwOA

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[richhodg66]

You take off the forend and there's a big screw that you use to adjust the tension on the magazine spring, I know I have read how to do it but can't remember where.

[Texas by God]

That's what I'm hoping - that I can just adjust it for more tension without disassembly.
Thanks, gentlemen.

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[Green Frog]

I'm wondering whether somebody has gone before you, disassembling then reassembling it incorrectly. It is also important that you have the spindle for the proper caliber... you can put any of them in about any of the 99s, but the wrong caliber spindle will not present the cartridge correctly. BTW, I've seen spindles in brass and in some white metal, but never one without the markings to count rounds. That also makes me suspicious of your spindle.

Froggie

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I worked on some of these in the distant past, somewhat foggy now, but it seems to me that if you disassemble one you have to pre-wind it before reassembly.

DG

[pietro]

.

https://www.gunboards.com/threads/retiming-m99-savage-rotary-magazine-platform.212003/#post-1661289

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXerR6eDwOA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyvTwuVeqUM

[Dimner]

I own a 99, and mine was kinda weak/stiff in rotation to begin with. It would not push up a round to feed. It is a 1907 1899 takedown in 303 savage. Turns out my issue was just years of gunk in the system. I dont know what all the grime was from, but I was able to clean and clean and clean with out needing to disassemble. Probably not the same issue you are dealing with. but I hear horror stories about re assembly of these mags.

I was able to clean it with a mountain of ripped t-shirts, long qtips, denatured alcholol and Kroil. Using tweezers and blunt dental picks. After the deep clean it was back to being a nice and zippy rotary mag. It wasn't hard at all, just took a while until the cloths would come out of the mag clean.

[2152hq]

Take the small screw out of the frame that is just back of the front edge of the frame. That screw intersects the rotary in one of 4 cutouts along it's circumference. You will see the 4 relief cuts once the assembly is out of the rifle.
Using the screwdriver/spanner to back off the screw slightly makes it easier to turn the screw and remove it.
Once the screw is out, the rotary mag will 'unwind'..don't be upset by this as you will wind it back up upon install.

Pull the mag assembly straight out to the front. They can be a little stubborn if they've been in there a while.
Nothing will drop off or fly apart.

You can take the assembly down further by knocking out a small cross pin and removing the rotor and the small torsion spring inside but I don't recommend it and it's rarely needed.

Clean and lube the assembly. Clean and lube the inside of the frame where it rides.

Take a look at the cartridge stop in the frame and make sure it's not bent or chewed up. The cart stop is pinned to the right inside of the ejection port .
Often this stamped steel part shows damage from leveraging against it with screwdrivers and such to try and get the rotor to move, clear jams and other feeding problems.

With the rotory mag out you can remove it if you need to by punching the two pins you see on the frame flat along the ejection port.
Punch them 'down' and free . Retrieve the pins and pull the cart stop from the frame.
Do any work needed on the cart stop and replace. Then replace the pins from the top of the holes in the frame/ejection port.

When replaceing the rotary mag assembly simply drop it back into the frame. The round axle on the rear of the assembly must sit into the hole in the frame down in there. Sometimes takes a bit of juggling to get it to fit but when seated it'll sit with no interferrence.

Now take your spanner and turn the spanner nut counterclockwise to back the rotor up against the cart stop.
At the point where the rotor stops moving and the spring starts to compress,, turn the spanner nut 1/2 to 3/4 more turn and hold it there.

Now take the frame screw you removed and try to place it through the frame an engage one of the cuts on the outside of the rotor.
At this point you will have to most likely carefully turn the spanner just a little one way or the other while pushing on the screw. When the two line up the frame screw will slide into place and capture the rotary mag assembly right there with that spring tension. You can let go of the spanner screwdriver in front.

Before you finish off turning the frame screw the rest of the way into the frame, try loading the magazine with 5 rds and then functioning them through just to see that you indeed have enough (or perhaps too much!) spring tension set up.
The 99 will allow you to lever the rd's out of the mag but not chamber them all the way, then eject them,,so there's no chance of firing them off. Dummy rd's are a better choice but....

If the spring tension is too much, or too little, engage the spanner once again to hold the mag position and then remove the frame screw.
Now increase or decrease the tension by 1/4 turn as needed for your situation.
Partially Re-insert the frame screw and try the above function test again.

Once reliable, run that frame screw all the way home and reassemble the rifle with forend.

Here's some pics of a 99 rotary mag disassembled.
https://i.ibb.co/qxPsdXD/MVC-036F.jpg (https://ibb.co/nR5cbZw)
Assembly out and you can see the relief cutouts that the frame screw engages
This magazine was extremely dirty, jammed with solidified Linseed oil., and the rotor banged up and bent from attempts to free it.

https://i.ibb.co/sjMwYv3/MVC-038F.jpg (https://ibb.co/gyBTKMg)
Simple 'Spanner' made from a screwdriver used to wind and unwind the rotary mag spring.

https://i.ibb.co/sgG6qJz/MVC-039F.jpg (https://ibb.co/mRwX4Fg)
The fins and edges can be rather thin and fragile, so it doesn't take much to bend them

https://i.ibb.co/v3gmj9G/MVC-056F.jpg (https://ibb.co/sKkQV7G)
Spanner engaging nut in face of mag assembly.
Actually this is first step in taking mag rotor apart also.

https://i.ibb.co/5rQLYNY/MVC-055F.jpg (https://ibb.co/Pc2gT7T)
If you remove the 'nut' this is what you have. The end of the torsion spring is poking thru the steel cap for engagement


https://i.ibb.co/cgC3CPg/MVC-044F.jpg (https://ibb.co/K0LhLY0)
You simply pull the steel cap off and the torsion spring is left inside the rotor shaft along with the steel shaft.
The opposite end of that torsion spring sits in a cut out in the side of the hole in the shaft.
The back end of the steel shaft forms the bearing for support in the frame.

https://i.ibb.co/c3yt6DH/MVC-037F.jpg (https://ibb.co/Pjr4cwn)
rotor assembly in pieces.

[cwtebay]

Take the small screw out of the frame that is just back of the front edge of the frame. That screw intersects the rotary in one of 4 cutouts along it's circumference. You will see the 4 relief cuts once the assembly is out of the rifle.
Using the screwdriver/spanner to back off the screw slightly makes it easier to turn the screw and remove it.
Once the screw is out, the rotary mag will 'unwind'..don't be upset by this as you will wind it back up upon install.

Pull the mag assembly straight out to the front. They can be a little stubborn if they've been in there a while.
Nothing will drop off or fly apart.

You can take the assembly down further by knocking out a small cross pin and removing the rotor and the small torsion spring inside but I don't recommend it and it's rarely needed.

Clean and lube the assembly. Clean and lube the inside of the frame where it rides.

Take a look at the cartridge stop in the frame and make sure it's not bent or chewed up. The cart stop is pinned to the right inside of the ejection port .
Often this stamped steel part shows damage from leveraging against it with screwdrivers and such to try and get the rotor to move, clear jams and other feeding problems.

With the rotory mag out you can remove it if you need to by punching the two pins you see on the frame flat along the ejection port.
Punch them 'down' and free . Retrieve the pins and pull the cart stop from the frame.
Do any work needed on the cart stop and replace. Then replace the pins from the top of the holes in the frame/ejection port.

When replaceing the rotary mag assembly simply drop it back into the frame. The round axle on the rear of the assembly must sit into the hole in the frame down in there. Sometimes takes a bit of juggling to get it to fit but when seated it'll sit with no interferrence.

Now take your spanner and turn the spanner nut counterclockwise to back the rotor up against the cart stop.
At the point where the rotor stops moving and the spring starts to compress,, turn the spanner nut 1/2 to 3/4 more turn and hold it there.

Now take the frame screw you removed and try to place it through the frame an engage one of the cuts on the outside of the rotor.
At this point you will have to most likely carefully turn the spanner just a little one way or the other while pushing on the screw. When the two line up the frame screw will slide into place and capture the rotary mag assembly right there with that spring tension. You can let go of the spanner screwdriver in front.

Before you finish off turning the frame screw the rest of the way into the frame, try loading the magazine with 5 rds and then functioning them through just to see that you indeed have enough (or perhaps too much!) spring tension set up.
The 99 will allow you to lever the rd's out of the mag but not chamber them all the way, then eject them,,so there's no chance of firing them off. Dummy rd's are a better choice but....

If the spring tension is too much, or too little, engage the spanner once again to hold the mag position and then remove the frame screw.
Now increase or decrease the tension by 1/4 turn as needed for your situation.
Partially Re-insert the frame screw and try the above function test again.

Once reliable, run that frame screw all the way home and reassemble the rifle with forend.

Here's some pics of a 99 rotary mag disassembled.
https://i.ibb.co/qxPsdXD/MVC-036F.jpg (https://ibb.co/nR5cbZw)
Assembly out and you can see the relief cutouts that the frame screw engages
This magazine was extremely dirty, jammed with solidified Linseed oil., and the rotor banged up and bent from attempts to free it.

https://i.ibb.co/sjMwYv3/MVC-038F.jpg (https://ibb.co/gyBTKMg)
Simple 'Spanner' made from a screwdriver used to wind and unwind the rotary mag spring.

https://i.ibb.co/sgG6qJz/MVC-039F.jpg (https://ibb.co/mRwX4Fg)
The fins and edges can be rather thin and fragile, so it doesn't take much to bend them

https://i.ibb.co/v3gmj9G/MVC-056F.jpg (https://ibb.co/sKkQV7G)
Spanner engaging nut in face of mag assembly.
Actually this is first step in taking mag rotor apart also.

https://i.ibb.co/5rQLYNY/MVC-055F.jpg (https://ibb.co/Pc2gT7T)
If you remove the 'nut' this is what you have. The end of the torsion spring is poking thru the steel cap for engagement


https://i.ibb.co/cgC3CPg/MVC-044F.jpg (https://ibb.co/K0LhLY0)
You simply pull the steel cap off and the torsion spring is left inside the rotor shaft along with the steel shaft.
The opposite end of that torsion spring sits in a cut out in the side of the hole in the shaft.
The back end of the steel shaft forms the bearing for support in the frame.

https://i.ibb.co/c3yt6DH/MVC-037F.jpg (https://ibb.co/Pjr4cwn)
rotor assembly in pieces.Now THAT is a thorough explanation! Thank you for posting this.

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[gnoahhh]

Excellent tutorial!

But you don't have to remove the rotor or mess with the special spanner unless you're doing a deep cleaning. Just remove the anchor screw from the LH side of the receiver and reach into the rotor with a finger or a pencil and push it around far enough to induce more tension on the spring, and then re-insert the anchor screw.

[Texas by God]

That's why I appreciate this forum. I removed the assembly to inspect it; all clean and good. The rotor on this late model 99 does not have round count numbers nor does the reciever have a window. I put it back in, wound it and tried and rewound it a few times, then called it good as it holds and feeds five rounds perfectly. The ammo provided by the owner (Federal factory with a small hp bullet) was actually a but long for the magazine, so I traded out Hornady Whitetail 150 gr ammo for them. It is my brother's gun and he always uses factory ammo. Except for the reduced .375 H&H loads that I make for him. He likes those.
This 99 has the best trigger of all the 99s that I have fired, except the doggy old 1899 .250- 3000 i once had( looked like hell but shot heavenly).
Again, Gracias- Mi Manos!
He has a Scimitar Oryx drawn hunt coming up, and he can't decide between his .270, 7mm mag, or .375h&h. Maybe this will complicate his choice[emoji16].

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