Help With A Savage 99

[LRB]

   I have a Savage 99 in Savage 250 cal. When firing, the lever drops a little, and the bolt unlocks and drops a little also. The gun is in excellent condition with some case colors still in the lever, and maybe 80% original blue. Serial is 246xxx. Fired casing of factory Winchester show a flattened primer, with some cratering. Remington ammo shows very little of these, but also causes the bolt to release, and the lever drops. I am thinking excessive head space. What do you think??

[gunnut69]

I certainly would check the headspace before firing any further. I've not seen one do this before so don't have any practical advice for you. The 99 is quite strong but I have heard of them being overloaded.. My own 99 in 250-3000  is a takedown and in quite nice shape. It'll stay under the proverbial inch at 100 with the 100 grain hirnaday and a fairly mild load of 3031.. Also check the rar of the actions ejection port. It should not be damaged. The bolt locks on this surface at the rear of the port and if damaged it might alter headspace or cause the action to unlock on firing.. This is a dangerous situation and must be replaired before this gun is used further!! You might also check the cam surface where the lever connects with the rear of the bolt. If worn it may not raise the bolt high enough to properly lock and headspace the action..

[LRB]

  Something I forgot to mention. The bolt is noticably harder to lever closed than any other 99 I have ever handled. The final seating of the bolt requires a hard squeeze on the lever whether acually loading a round, or just dry cycling.

[Rangr44]

It surely sounds like something's stretched or bent.
 
I'd advise you to not fire it, before a qualified gunsmith (not an AR parts-changer) checks it out.
 
.

[gunnut69]

That is a very bad sign. It sounds as if the cam surface on the lever that locks the bolt into position (closed) has been camaged or perhaps just bent. This beans the bolt is not completely locked when the gun fires!! This could lead to serious injuries..and damaged to the gun that might get very expensive. This gun must be checked by a reputeable gunsmith prioor to ANY further use..

[LRB]

  I will take a look at cam and see if there is any obvious damage. Thankyou fot the info.

[Frank46]

Some of the early 99's would suffer cracks in the corners of the mortise at the back end where the bolt rises up and locks into place. Do not know which serial numbers or ranges of serial numbers this was supposed to happen or when it had been corrected. Something else to maybe consider. Frank

[LRB]

  The cresent cam arm was bent. I straightened it, and now it seems ok. I test fired three rounds, Winchester factory loaded, and it worked as it should. I will fire a few more though. Thanks for all the input.

[gunnut69]

That cam should not be easily bent.. I'd get the rifle checked by a competant smith asap... As to the frame cracking, the only ones I heard of was the earliest 99's with a square rear on the bolt. It was later changed to a rounded rear only the bolt and it's cut in the action and the problems went away...