Savage 99 fail to fire

[joemac]

My wife's grandfather gave me a Savage 99F in .300. Story was it was in a fire and had no stocks. Had been sitting in a garage for a long time. It had some rust and has some bad pitting but I don't think it was in a fire. All the springs still have tension and there is blue left but heavily worn. I've seen metal that comes out of a fire and this has no resemblance to that. I restocked it and went to fire it but it wont fire. I get very light primer strikes, not enough to ignite. I tried three or four, and decided to call it. Are there known wear parts on these rifles? I'd love to have this as a usable shooter, maybe even have it refinished someday.

[mikein]

I would suggest that, if you've cleaned it and lubricated it quite well, it may be time to take it to a gunsmith and have the action torn down and examined. Sounds like it's had a hard life, and there's no telling what kind of crud has built up inside the receiver over the years. If you're real handy with tools, you may be able to take it apart, clean it up, and reassemble it; but you do have to know what you're doing and what you're looking at once you've got it apart!

[Mad Dog]

You can get at about 95% of the internal parts in a 99 just by having the buttstock off and if he replaced the wood already I'm pretty sure he's oiled and cleaned as much as he can already. I'd hazard a guess it's the hammer spring, can't see it being anything else if it's hitting the primer.

I'd also make **** sure it hasn't been in a fire like you think cause if it was there is a chance that the heat weakened the steel and then your looking at losing a hand if the gun does fire. Just my .2, hate to see anything happen to a fellow Savage nut.

[joemac]

I've had it all the way down to component parts. Is the hammer spring the long one one that rides over the firing pin shaft or the little tiny one that sits under it at the rear edge? Those things I can replace, other than that it's going to have to go to a smith. I'm wondering if the rear of the breech block has worn. Read a little about that problem. Even in battery I feel like it could lock up tighter. How common is this?

[Mad Dog]

The long one that rides on the firing pin.

Not common at all.

[joemac]

Okay, thanks. I looked it up anyway. The tiny one is called the retractor spring, which I found NOS. Do you know if the Wolff hammer spring will work? It says M99 and 358. But when I search for Savage M358 it only comes up with M99 in 358Win. Really hoping that this old rifle will shoot. Here is what it looks like. Don't mind my shadetree stock refinish. I'm not proud of it but not ready to put any more money in it before I know it will function.

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/josephm8777/IMG_20150109_1242012522_zps0cba212e.jpg
http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/josephm8777/IMG_20150109_124046409_zpsf8efff83.jpg
http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/josephm8777/1c8a1d97-ed7c-4ba2-b8b6-0a1647c6214d_zpsb637f35c.jpg
http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt18/josephm8777/3c0573bd-54cd-4fd0-b156-d255c2148502_zpsaaabd9f2.jpg

[joemac]

Also, I bought a Schnable forend as my replacement but the stock forend was 9 1/2". Is there a known source for a forend this size? I bought this set from Gunstocksinc.com but I don't see that they have that length. They have an 8 1/2" and also a ginger groove type that looks like it could be the right length. Is there a way to determine the correct forend? This is a 99F.

[Mad Dog]

Tough one, you've got a pre-mil F, serial is most likely late 700's or 900,000. This is when they were cut checkered, after the 1,000,000 mark they made the same stock for a year or two and then went to press checkered. Cheaper looking but will still fit.

The problem you have but looks like you've already fitted it was that the F and the DL had that rear sight boss (the big bulge where the rear dovetail was cut), the other models didn't have that. I'd keep my eyes open on Ebay or Gunbroker for an F stock set, if your in no rush cause it may take a bit for one to turn up.

It really does look like it's been rode hard but hey I've shot worse, it's probably in better condition than some of the old 1895's I own but the old 303 Sav isn't packing as much heat as the 300 does either.

[Tommy]

Just a thought< something real basic you can do your self and see if it works. Sometimes too much oil can cause the action and strikers to not move fast enough.(very much so if it's cold) Take it apart to the point where you can spray it down with brake cleaner(it will evaporate and leave clean metal) apply it so can see it dripping off the parts and then let it sit awhile. It won't hurt anything but if your beasty was simply slowed by too much of a good thing you will know right off the bat. Once you have your results(hopefully positive) apply less oil and enjoy. If not, it won't be too much for a gunsmith to figure it out and see that it's safe.

Have a good day and enjoy the rifle. Good luck!