Savage 99C cycling ussues

[subparsam]

Hi all, I've been having issues with this 99C in 308 that I picked up. When using factory ammo the mouth of the case gets hung up on the edge of the chamber as I load it from the magazine (1st picture). If I cycle the lever fast and hard it doesn't get caught but the case does get damaged. I've managed to avoid this issue with handloads by chamfering the outside edge of the mouth and then putting a light crimp on it (2nd picture), but I am wondering if there is a way to properly fix this.

Another issue that I have been having is that my handloads seem to be under speed and over pressure. I started with the beginning recommended charge from the Lyman 50th edition and right away my primers were cratering and also imprinting the bolt face. I then started with the Hornady recommended starting charge which is quite a bit lower and that is when I found that my speeds were quite a bit slower than the manuals as well. And as I worked up the load my speeds were still low and my primers started to crater again. Right now I am not sure where to proceed with this gun, is it just a soft primer or likely another issue.
The components I am using: Hornady 150gr Interlock, Varget powder, federal cases and Unis Ginex Campro LR primers.

Any help with these issues is appreciated.
Cheers!


https://i.ibb.co/WkB4xMC/PXL-20240321-174401601.jpg (https://ibb.co/T4Pxv7y)
https://i.ibb.co/mBRJqR8/PXL-20240321-175818751.jpg (https://ibb.co/7zSvWS4)

[99lover]

For some reason can't see your pics.

[subparsam]

Thanks for letting me know. I believe it is fixed now

[99lover]

For the feeding issue try another magazine. That type problem more than likely is a magazine issue. Has this gun been re barreled? Can you identify the area of the chamber that is catching? Maybe all you need is to lightly polish the edge that is catching.
For your loads post some pictures of the primers. Depending on how your cases look you might need to check the head space checked. Hard to say without seeing your problem. Under speed and over pressure does not compute. Do you have a case gauge? I would be interested in how a fired case fits in a 308 case gauge.

[J.Baker]

I'd have to concur with 99Lover above - start with verifying the chamber and headspace with proper gauges, and I'd also recommend a chamber casting to see if there's something in the throat/lead in area that could be causing the pressure to spike.

As for the mouth of the chamber being sharp and catching the mouth of the case, that's an easy fix in just knocking off that sharp edge with some fine grit emery cloth.

[99lover]

Wish the op would send some more data. We might could get to the bottom of his problem.