What's the minimum for safety and proper functioning in all respects?

John,

No way to answer this. There should be enough sear engagement, that when the weapons is slammed, dropped, used to break a fall, or otherwise jarred, that it holds 100 percent and not .001 less.

I would concentrate on reducuing the pull by reducing friction between the pieces so that they slide smoothly against each other rather than trying to reduce the engagement. Hunting weapons are subject to extreme conditions and rough handling and require a bit more engagement than one that is used only on targets.

Good luck,

Malm

Hone both pieces flat and smooth, you can cut a good deal off the top of the trigger side (forward piece), cut it square and flat...but remember it still needs a good deal of contact to be safe, it is touchy feely, I have got them really nice, but its good to have some replacement parts...if you can bounce the gun lightly off the floor and it holds then your probably OK...I have done enough of them that I have the feel for it, I think,but you never know with that one until you test it.

Malm & Ray,

Thanks for the replies. Someone has already worked on this one, the pull is very crisp, I haven't tried the bounce test but have discovered that the safety doesn't prevent firing and am trying to figure out if the reduced sear engagement is the cause, or if I should look to the safety itself.

John

John,

If there is play in the trigger when the safety in engaged, and the sear/hammer engagement has been reduced, then this will cause the gun to fire with the safety on. In this case I would look at all three items, sear, hammer and safety to spot the culprit...

Good luck,

Malm

John,

Have you pulled the stock and looked to see how much engagement there actually is when the weapon is cocked? Place the safety in the "on" position and see what happens when you pull the trigger. The safety should block the movement of the trigger or limit what movement there is to a very small amount, perhaps 1/32 of an inch or less.

I don't have a 99 in the shop so I can't tell you how much normal engagement there should be, but based on recent memory, I think there is quite a bit. Maybe even as much as 3/16 inch. Based on your description, I would guess the sear has been cut down a little too much.

The catalog I have shows the sear assembly for the Savage 99, to be a factory installed item only. If you need to replace the sear, or, sear bracket assy, try <www.e-gunparts.com> They may have something you can get. Depending on which model 99 you have, I have a sear bracket assy out of a Model 99 series C, that I would part with...

Good luck,

Malm

You can probably tig weld a little on the sear and reshape it if need be...If the safty won't work then you have another problem I suspect...The 99 is really simple to work on and not much you can do to ruin it, but you can make it dangerous...

Why don't you send it to Dennis Olson, plains Montana, 406-826-3790, he is really good with 99's or anything else that needs fixing...and he won't break the bank on you...