Rotary magazine Savage 99

T

Tom Savage

Inactive
I recently found out that my Savage 99 in .308 caliber would not accept cartridges with the recommended minimum overall length recommended for most of the loadings with Barnes bullets, 2.800 inches. The maximum overall length of a .308 Winchester round is listed as 2.810. I opened up the length of the spool by .020 by machining the aft face of the front of the aluminum spool, and now the 2.800 inch rounds will cycle properly. Has anyone had this problem, and if so how was it addressed?
 
In Gunsmithing school they told us " Never mess with the adjustment spring on the 99 rotary mags !!! ":rolleyes:
 
"In Gunsmithing school they told us " Never mess with the adjustment spring on the 99 rotary mags !!!"

Yeah. He's not talking about that.

Are you sure it was overall length and not the bullet's shape?
 
I can not use 160 grain bullets in my 99' chambered in .260 Remington. I use 140 grain Corlokts. Try using bullets that fit.
 
I"m fortunate to have 3 of them lever rifle myself. Just to give you some idea of their age. All have brass spools.
Had a couple problems pop up concerning 99s spools over the years. A broken spool spring once and the need to re-tighten another rifles spool spring do to its slipping spools slotted center nut.
Never shot Barnes thru those rifles or any of my rifles for that matter. I guess you have to do what you have to do too accommodate a 308 tipped with Barnes apparently. As read your rifle works as it should and no harm that you know of was done to its cartridge spool itself so Congratulations Sir on your tweaking skills._:)
Now all you need is something to shoot at this Fall.:D
 
Spool modification

My first "real" rifle was a 99 in 300 Savage, I wish I could get it back. It had a brass spool and rounds indicator.
I thought hard and long before taking a tool to the spool, but after studying how it works and why it wasn't, felt comfortable in doing it.
I have read numerous posts on not dismantling the rotary feed, but in actuality, it is incredibly simple to work on and adjust. The only really noteworthy thing to remember is that the spindle has a reverse thread, and one cannot use vise grips to hold the aft end of the spindle while removing the stamped steel spring retainer. The spring tension must be adjusted to reliably rotate the fully loaded spool against the drag of the cartridges on the inside of the receiver, but this is a simple trial and error procedure requiring only a few minutes.
As to "using the right bullets" I felt that any round manufactured to the specifications of that round should be able to be used. Sometimes one may not know where his next bullet is coming from.
 
That max OAL is about the heaviest bullet, but it's not exact. A 208 A-Max, for example, has an OAL of 2.820". Barnes says 2.715" for their 220 RN. In any case, you use the OAL that fits the mag, not what a manual says.
Barnes solid copper bullets are longer than lead cored bullets of the same weight due to the difference in mass. The simplest solution is to not use solid copper bullets.
 
Bullet Minimum OAL

While it is true that the heavier bullets tend to be the longest, there are a great number of exceptions. According to my reloading data,almost every powder recommended for use with a 168 grain jacketed bullet has a min. OAL of 2.800. It has a great deal to do with the case volume,and the type of powder,and its burning characteristics. My reasoning was simply that as the maximum OAL as spec'ed for the .308 Winchester was 2.810, my rifle should be able to use any round loaded per the powder manufacturers recommendation and meeting the dimension limits. I did not want to find myself in a situation where do to unforseen circumstances I had to use whatever was available,and have a firearm that would jam if a loading was attempted. By studying the design of the rotary magazine and understanding why it was not working as designed,a minor change,.020, corrected,rather than avoided the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top