For about 25 years I have wanted to take a Savage 99 and rebarrel it to .250 Improved x 6.5 (aka the 6.5 Creedmoor before there was such a thing). Today I found a 1965-vintage 99F in .308 in excellent refinished condition at a price I could not walk away from. Turning it into a 6.5 Creedmoor should be a simple rebarrel. So, how hard is it to rebarrel a Savage 99 and what is involved?

No different than any other rifle really. You have a barrel to copy, and the gunsmith will do that. Square threads, so a tool will probably need to be ground for those.

There are a couple of slots to cut at the breechface. One is for the cartridge stop and the other is the extractor.

Dovetail for the rear sight, and dovetail for the forearm hanger.

Jeremy

The ones I have made barrels for have V threads; they changed them in 1960 or so. And if you have one with the rotary magazine, they are cartridge specific, although the creed moor will probably work in a 308.

Good to know. The two that I have torn down were square, but they were also 1920's vintage. I've never taken apart my newer rifles.

If he's sticking to a .250 Savage donor, and just necks that up, that rotor should be fine.

Nunrich has .250, and .308 rotors.

Jeremy

I wouldn't bet on it; the 6.5 is an improved 250; no taper. Not totally sure as I have no 99s left here.

Dave: Does that 99 have the traditional rotary magazine? (Never saw one that didn't, but maybe...)

Anyway, could there be feeding issues?

Duane, they had clip fed models, the 99 & 99DE from 1965 to at least 1985.

Weren't those detachable mag rifles model C?

Yes, I have two clip rifles and they are 99C's. One from 1967 and the other from 1994.

For $40 you can try the .308 rotor and see if the feeding is OK. Not my area of expertise. I'm a try shit until it works kind of guy.

Jeremy

I have wondered about rebarreling an early 50's 99 I have to the Creedmoor as well. It's a 300 Savage, rotary mag. Bought it very right and it might make a fun conversion. Same concern about the rotary mag working properly however.

quote:

Does that 99 have the traditional rotary magazine? (Never saw one that didn't, but maybe...)

Anyway, could there be feeding issues?

Good question, but you should know I am a bit of a studier when it comes to such things. I found several online posts about this conversion, all of which claimed that it would work with a .308 rotor. I then looked at the respective cartridge dimensions before going down this road, and was about 90% sure it would work. After buying the rifle, I bought a box of cheap factory Creedmoor ammo to confirm feeding. The Creedmoor won't fully enter a .308 chamber, but goes far enough to check feeding, which as best as I can tell, is as reliable as it is using .308 ammo.

At this point I am about 99% certain that this can be done with a simple rebarrel. My next step is to pull the existing barrel and send it off to a barrel maker so that I can duplicate the contour. I plan to use bullets in the 120 to 140-grain range, so will be using a 1:8 twist, which seems to be the most versatile for that general range, while also allowing for heavier bullets.

Why not a 260 Rem? You know that will work with a 308 rotor and in a 99 Savage will do exactly what the 6.5 Creedmore will do.

As Duane says, "if a man wants a green suit you make him a green suit." I want a green suit and I am confident that it will or can relatively easily be made to fit.

quote:

Originally posted by thirdbite:
Why not a 260 Rem? You know that will work with a 308 rotor and in a 99 Savage will do exactly what the 6.5 Creedmore will do.

Except fit in 308 mag confines with longer modern bullets, this is where the CM shines. IMHO

Just to offer a quick bit of advice . I have re barreled quite a few Savage 99 rifles and the advice is for the gunsmith to turn a snug fitting steel plug to fit in place of the rotor . These actions are very easy to crush in that area with the action wrench . Have fun you can do it . Jim

I have a 1963 99F that I had rebarreled to 338/284. I sent the original barrel to PacNor to duplicate the factory barrel contour. They did a really good job and should have the dimensions on file. Unfortunately, I do not know when they will reopen.

The 99's made before the 308 series of cartridges have a different rotor and cartridge cutoff so the overall length that will fit in the magazine is considerably shorter than the later rifles originally chambered for 308 series cartridges.

Bison-j, thanks for the tip on the rotor, I have heard that the action is easy to tweak if you are not careful.

Ive played with 99s my whole life and talk about problems, those rotors can give one gray hair..The only smith I know that has proven himself a 99 expert to me is Dennis Olson, he can do that well indeed..Been my salvation on 99 conversions to feed..and he can cut a rotor to fit if he has too..but he apparently has lots of parts..You can buy used rotors but nobody knows what they fit and I ended up with a shoebox full of those so I sold them at a gun show..They have no markings and the sellers say oh yeah it will fit!! beware.

The mod. 99F of the 1950 to about 1960 maybe 64 is the best 99 ever. The .250-3000, 358, and the rarest of all the .284 bring big bucks and lately the .308 and 243 have gone up in price and are on the move..I would hesitate to mess with a good one..BTW if you do the modification Id like to have the old barrel if your a mind to sell it..