Savage 99 Rejuvenation

[Good Cheer]

Acquired a savaged 99 years ago. Butt stock was a mess, ugly carvings and abused. The bore was badly pitted. The exterior of the receiver was sadly neglected and pitted. Perfect cast boolit project gun.
Well, just put the replacement butt stock on order.
Now I'm gonna have to decide on a cartridge. Considering a 358 with an elongated neck to provide a little more coverage for lube grooves but still let you use standard length cases and jacketed if you wanted to.
Is there a better cartridge for the 99?

[Ben]

I'm a big fan of the 358 Win. Here is some good reading for you :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=60124

http://www.chuckhawks.com/358Win_mystery.htm

[pietro]

Cartridge selection will be limited by the action length (inside), since the Savage 99 wasn't made long enough for the .308 family of cartridges (.243, .308, .358, etc) until 1957.

All detachable mag 99's qualify, but if it's a rotary mag gun, the cartridge chosen must also be compatible with the mag rotor unless a single-shot rifle is wanted.

.

[excess650]

What caliber did it start out as? Rotary or box magazine?

My own favorite cast bullet rifle started out as a Model 1899A Short Rifle AKA Saddle Gun, in 30-30. It had been used but not abused, but its accuracy didn't thrill me. I really liked the way it handled with the 22" medium weight barrel, so off it went for a rebore. It came back chambered 38-55 with 1-12" twist. I modified the rotor and internal magazine well to feed the almost straight cartridges.

My preference is to the rotary magazine rifles with safety at the lever. As interesting as the takedowns are, the solid frame rifles are better.

[Good Cheer]

It's a 308 right now.
To all, a question. A 308 rotary will need to be modified to work with 358?

[HeavyMetal]

Just took a peek at my gun parts catlog #9

This may be outdated but it still shows 99 rotors in stock both 308 and 358 are listed

Think I'd make a call and see if the still had a 358 rotor if thats the plan with your 99

No barrels listed by the way so either a rebore or a custom barrel are needed Price will be about the same.

[ammohead]

you will probably need to modify the spool to get it to take 358 cartridges. If you take a dremel with a sanding drum close to the correct diameter you should be able to open up the part of the spool where the neck and bullet come to rest. This is doable...I have done it. Just be careful and don't rush it. The rest of the spool will be correct as a 358 is just a 308 necked out.

ammohead

[Good Cheer]

Thanks for the info fellas.

Hey Heavy Metal, who's catalog are you looking in?

[C A Plater]

He's probably looking at Gun Part Company (http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=961)/Numerich Arms for the parts.

[silverbuzzard]

do a .358 Winchester with 20 inch barrel ORRRRRR
My buddies here in Indiana shoot a 35 caliber and the case is a 223 WSSM
They have a place in Utah make the barrel[ for ENcores ] but he makes others.

The ballistics are the same as a 358 Winchester but its short enough [under 1.6 inch] to make legal for Indiana deer hunting . Its quite an amazing cartridge

[old turtle]

Call me crazy or old fashion (many do) but my brother has a 99 in 300 Savage which shoots very well. If you wish to play with a case this one is excellent for cast boolits due to its sharp shoulder and reduced volume. You could use 308 brass to make it with a longer neck if you wish. It could be opened up to a 35 cal. The 99 is an excellent rifle action. The older the better.

[9.3X62AL]

Just a thought here......there's not one thing wrong with leaving that 99 in 308. That would be my route, I believe. 308s WORK.

[Good Cheer]

Just a thought here......there's not one thing wrong with leaving that 99 in 308. That would be my route, I believe. 308s WORK.

The bore is badly sadly pitted. This one is gonna be a rework. Just can't come up with a cartridge that would be better than the 358 unless I spring for a custom reamer and loading dies. Always wanted to try a 8mm-308 with a longer neck. Always thought that the gap between the 308 and 358 needed to be filled.

Concerning the 99 in 308 and 300. Both make the 99 one of the most versatile rifles going. Whether you're chunkin' wheel weight plinkers at bunnies and squirrels or big'uns at big game, it just about does it all. My dad long ago dubbed his 99DL in 300 Savage as Ol' Nevermiss. Took deer and elk with it.

[rintinglen]

If cast boolits are in the mix then I think that the .358 is the best choice, but I'm the curious type and might be inclined to try a 338 Federal instead, just for something different.
I had a 358 Savage about 20 years ago that shot pretty well with Lyman 358-156 boolits in the 1800 fps range. I believe the charge was 15 grains of Unique, but I can not say for sure. I eventually sold it to buy something else that I wanted more.
and then wished I hadn't.

[HeavyMetal]

Yep Numrich ak Gun Pats catlog # 29

They got a web site so goggle them about the spool for the 358 they had both the spool nd spool asymbly both under 30 bucks!

At least in my catlog that may be different now I think mine is about 2 ys old??

[Ron.D]

Not at all sure it would require anything other than a 358 barrel. I had a 99E in
.308 with a rotary magazine and had it rebored to .358. No other alterations were needed and it feeds just fine. Ron.D

[Good Cheer]

Just got back home from a business trip and still figuring on the rejuvenation project. That 338 Federal is really looking good except for being (yeck!) not being designed for cast boolits. It may be possible to lengthen the neck, make them from 30-06 cases and correct the factory mistake. Gonna get a set of .338 dies and see how it works.

[excess650]

There is a lot more 35cal stuff out there to experiment with, so I would forgo the .338. If you use 30-06 cases as the basis, you may need to inside neck ream or turn the ODs. Using 8x57mm brass might work better as its halfway between the 308 and 30-06 lengthwise. Its also less neck expansion than going up from 30cal, although I've had some 9x57 split on the first firing because I didn't anneal.

Your original barrel could be rebored if it isn't so ugly that you can't stand it. JES does rebore/rechamber in 35cal and up for $225-$250 including return shipping, IIRC.

[justingrosche]

This is my 300 Sav project.

[justingrosche]

my Savage project

[jmsj]

justingrosche,
Looks good. Where did buy that stock from?

[richhodg66]

Wow, where did you find that laminate stock? That is way cool.

I love '99s, and have had my old .300 out a couple of times this deer season, but haven't gotten to shoot one with it yet.

I think one in .358 would be great. I don't have much else to add, but I'll be watching this thread to see how it goes.

[Good Cheer]

my Savage project

Very nice.
Where did you get the stock from?

[Good Cheer]

Just put the 338 dies on order. Going to try out the 30-06 brass for making cases with necks approximately two boolit diameters in length. The part to be looked at very closely will be how to arrange the cylindrical portion of the throat leading into the rifling. If done right it would handle cast lubed, paper patched and jacketed just fine.
Now to find the standard chamber dimensions...

[Good Cheer]

Got the SAAMI drawing. There's no cylindrical alignment length between the case mouth and rifling. Expected something, but for the standard manufacturing of rifles reckon not.

[justingrosche]

I got the stock from here. Great folks to deal with.http://www.gunstocksinc.com
The inlet was about 80% and the exterior was just roughed in.

[Good Cheer]

The big brown truck just dropped off the dies. Yeehah!

[Good Cheer]

Finally got a chance to try the 30-06 brass.
The .338Fed dies will work for any neck length.
So, the question is one of whether or not to worry with compatability with store bought copper thingies or just stick with real boolits. The longer configuration has some interesting possibilities for totally protected paper patches in a 99.

[Good Cheer]

Got the replacement butt stock. Pieces are coming together.

Looks like the compatibility will not be a problem until the neck length exceeds 1.6x bore diameter. Then it would be a matter of which store bought copper thingie is used.
The price on .338 slugs make me ask if I would ever shoot one.

Putting .340" bands on a heavy 30cal mold makes a lot more sense (and cents) and would let the bearing length be precisely controlled. Available molds generally have short groove diameter bodies and long noses, just the wrong design for this cartridge. This .338 lever action hunting rifle is going to use heavy boolits that are as soft as it can handle.

[Good Cheer]

Getting there...here's the sketch sent to the smith to check on feasibility with available tooling.
May go for 1.5 x bullet diameter instead of 1.6.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/338Fed16BDNeck.jpg