Where to find Savage 99 barrels?

[CARSON]

I have an old Savage 99 that my uncle gave me, but it is in 303 Savage. I was looking around for reloading supplies and found I might be better off going with a new, or newer, barrel. I am trying to find a barrel for it in 30-30, this should reduce the amount of work needed to make it feed properly. Does anyone know a source on the net where I can get hold a a 30-30 barrel for a 99.

Also, does anyone know another caliber that would feed properly in this rifle without gutting the entire thing?

 

[Mike Irwin]

The .303 and the .30-30 are so close in dimensions (but not interchangable) that I'm about 99.999999999999999999999999999% certain that the only thing you're going to need to do is run a .30-30 chambering reamer into the barrel to dress the dimensions a little bit, and then rebunt the caliber marking.


Quite frankly, though, I'm not sure I would rechamber a .303 until I checked on the value. Some of these early 1899s are bringing pretty high prices depending on the model and other options that are on it.

 

[Jim Watson]

It's that last .000000000000000000000000001 that'll get'cha every time.

The .303 Savage is larger than .30-30 in every dimension except the head-to-shoulder length, such as would be the headspace in a rimless caliber. A .30-30 reamer would not clean it up and .30-30 brass would have a hard time forming to fit. In particular, the head dimension is about .020" larger, which is an awful lot to ask .30-30 brass to expand... although I have read of it being done.

I would haunt the gunshows looking for old stock ammo. I recently sold off a deceased local shooter's gear for his widow. He liked 99s and we were lucky that he had 90 rounds of fairly fresh .303 to go with the rifle in that caliber. That would be a lifetime supply with careful handloading.

Buffalo Arms has brass, formed from heaven knows what, but they have a good reputation among BPCR shooters. It isn't cheap, $18 a box of 20, $75 a hundred, but still a lot less than a new barrel, dies are available, it uses standard .308" bullets, not .313" British, and how much are you going to shoot Unk's rifle, anyway?
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,108.html

 

[CARSON]

I take a lever with me every time I go to the range and will burn up 40-50 rounds just playing around. It is not in that great a shape and the rifling looks to be fairly rough, so it has no real collectors value, but I like the feel of the Savage better than my Winchester 94. I would rather dump the money into fitting this thing up to shoot for the 30-30, which I am already geared up for to reload, than have a gun I will not shoot. Also, I like a challenge.

 

[Smoke]

Why not rebarrel it in .300 Savage?

 

[CARSON]

Smoke,

I thought of that, but someone told me that I would have to modify the magazine, the extractor, and the bolt face also to get it to feed the 300 Savage. The 30-30 is almost identical to the 303 savage, so the action work would not be neccessary, just a new barrel

 

[Mike Irwin]

Depending on the age of the gun, that wouldn't be a very good idea.

When the .300 came along in 1921 Savage beefed up the frame to deal with the round, which given the standards of the day was very high intensity.

The .303 operates more in the .30-30 pressure level, which is significantly below that of the .300.

You could also rechamber it to .22 Savage High Power, but you'd run into even worse problems with bullets, brass, and loading data.

Two other cartridges that may be feasible and require virtually no modification would be the .32-40 and the .38-55. Both were standard Savage chamberings of the day.

 

[Clark]

I also have a 99 in 303S, that I am thinking of re barrelling.
I don't think that action strength is an issue, but that is my opinion.
I think that feeding from a rotary mag designed for 303S IS an issue.
That reduces the options.
I am looking at 30-30, 30-30AI, 25-35, and 25-35AI.

 

[Mike Irwin]

If you stick with the 4 calibers you've listed, the strength of the action won't be an issue.

If you jump from .303 Savage to .300 Savage, then I really think that action strength can become an issue.

You could also rechamber it for the .22 Savage High Power, and chamber it so that it uses .223 caliber bullets instead of the HPs .227 (which are becoming almost impossible to get).

 

[Jim K]

With the 99 though, you always run into the carrier (magazine "spool") problem with any caliber change. If you can buy one for the .30-30, great, but if they are not available, changing the .303S one could be a bear.

Jim

 

[Mike Irwin]

Jim,

I'm not 100% certain, but I think the spool for the .303, .30-30, .25-25, .38-55, .32-40, and possibly the .22 High Power are the same.

 

[Steven Mace]

Carson, have you tried talking to the people at the Small Arms Shop? They specialize in older Savage replacement parts. Hope this helps!

Steve Mace