I have a Grey Rat Savage 99 in 303 and I'm tired of the reloading hassle for 303. I'd like to convert it to something I can shoot regularly. Anybody have any suggestions?

Are your tired of trying to find components, or just tired of reloading altogether? If components is the problem, I suggest trying some of the new Jamison brass. It works beautifully in my .303 Savage.

Next, is your gun a takedown? (I assume it is, but some fair number of the .303's weren't...)

Of course, the easiest conversions would be to something using approximately the same case rim diameter and about the same length of cartridge...like the 30-30, 25-35, .32-40, or even the .38-55. The only one of those for which it is easy to get factory ammo everywhere is the .30-30, of course. The .38-55 might also take some opening of the front of the magazine spool, which is a touchy job at best.

The .250 savage and .300 Savage could be done, but you might have to make some changes both in the extractor and the magazine spool.

Of course, you could always go for some of the wildcats, like the 219 Improved Zipper, or the .22/30-30, or the 7m/m Int-R. All of those would require handloading though. You could also make the 7mm Waters work fairly easily.

Whatever you do, I suggest that you DON'T THROW AWAY your current barrel. Someday you might very well want to put it back in its original form (or your kids might).

I got a 1907 303 Sav with a box shells for $76, but the bore is rotten.

I shot some 30-30 in it, but I couldn't hit anything.

I think it is going to become a 25/35.

I have a 99H barrel band carbine that came to me as a D&T grey rat 303 Savage that has been rechambered to 307 Winchester. I don't know if I'd want to do this conversion with a pre-WW1 1899, but I feel safe firing factory ammo in this 1930s vintage 99.

Jeff

And the rotary mag feeds .307?

It required a little work with a Dremel Tool to get the 307 cartridges to lay properly, but it isn't too hard to modify a brass rotor once you get the hang of it. Of course, I didn't do the modification, the guy with the hang of it did!

I have a box full of 1899 and 99 odds & ends, so coming up with another rotor, if the grinding had gone wrong, wouldn't have been a problem.

Jeff

I can get a VZ24 to feed 300 Winmag when upside down, but I am afraid to cut into a rotary mag spindle.

The steel in the older 99's is not strong enough to rechamber to a modern round like the .307. You can get brass from
Graf amd Sons that is correctly headstamped for a reasonale price but they are out of it at the moment. Norma also makes 303 brass which you can get at Huntingtons.
These are great guns and are starting to get collectable, I would either keep it as is or sell it and get a newer 99 in 300 Sav or 308Win.

The 99H that I converted from 303 Savage to 307 Winchester was made in 1938, using the same receivers that Savage used to assemble 250-3000s and 300s, so I'm not worried about the strength issue. When it got rechambered, back in 1993/1994, there wasn't any good source of cheap 303 Savage brass and the remaining factory ammo was too valuable to waste.

While I wouldn't recommend a 303 Savage to 307 Winchester conversion of a non-bubba'd rifle, or a rifle made before WW1, I don't think that it is an unsafe conversion of a post WW1 rifle that is in good, but bubba'd, condition. A bubba'd 99 that you can't shoot seems like a waste of $$ and rack space to me. If 99s aren't either collectable or shootable what good are they unless they have some sentimental value to the owner?

Jeff

With .303 components again available, why not take your favorite handload to one of the commercial cartridge reloaders and have them crank out a few thousand rounds for you on their automated machines? It would probably cost less than a conversion plus the factory ammo for your new chambering.

If a conversion has your fancy, I don't think the .38-55 family (.30 WCF, etc.) will work so nicely, since the .303 has a larger base diameter, requiring a new barrel. If the barrel cost is not an issue, the 7.62x39 ammo is certainly cheap enough, but the pressure might be a tad high. With a new barrel, you could convert to .30-30, and separate rotors might be available.

quote:

Originally posted by asdf:

If a conversion has your fancy, I don't think the .38-55 family (.30 WCF, etc.) will work so nicely, since the .303 has a larger base diameter, requiring a new barrel. If the barrel cost is not an issue, the 7.62x39 ammo is certainly cheap enough, but the pressure might be a tad high. With a new barrel, you could convert to .30-30, and separate rotors might be available.

I don't believe you will find a new rotor necessary, or that you would have any need to modify the current rotor, if you convert to one of the .30-30 family of cartridges. Though the .303 Savage cartridge base IS slightly larger than the .30-30 family, it is not nearly so much larger as the .303 British is. You would need a new barrel whether or not you needed to do anything with the rotor.

You likely WOULD have some rather interesting times trying to get the 7.62x39 to feed though, and almost certainly would both have to buy another rotor AND to modify it to get it to work reliably with that chambering.

I still recommend you just buy Jamison brass, and load up whatever size batch you want of the original .303 Savage chambering. Despite your rough bore, it might shoot surprisingly well.

Good luck whatever you do.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Duc:
I have a Grey Rat Savage 99 in 303 and I'm tired of the reloading hassle for 303. I'd like to convert it to something I can shoot regularly. Anybody have any suggestions?

If you change it to almost anything else, the chance of it feeding properly is near zero. And all of the people who knew how to make a Savage 1899 rotary magazine work are long dead.

I suggest either keeping it a .303, or selling it and buying what you really want.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
[QUOTE] And all of the people who knew how to make a Savage 1899 rotary magazine work are long dead.

.

Most of us are retired, but we are not all dead yet.

It is a skill that can be acquired. Henry Cheatam had never worked on a 99 but built me a 3 barrel set and explained how each cartridge was a little different and the little follower on the side had to be modified to make them all work.
An interesting piece. I guess I'll leave it alone. I can reload if Grafs gets some more brass. I have a nice tang signted 1938 vintage I bought from the original owner.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:

quote:

Originally posted by Dr. Duc:
I have a Grey Rat Savage 99 in 303 and I'm tired of the reloading hassle for 303. I'd like to convert it to something I can shoot regularly. Anybody have any suggestions?

If you change it to almost anything else, the chance of it feeding properly is near zero. And all of the people who knew how to make a Savage 1899 rotary magazine work are long dead.

I suggest either keeping it a .303, or selling it and buying what you really want.

500G,

Does that include 303Sav to 25-35?