Saw a nice (looking) straight grip 1925 Savage 99 in 250-3k this weekend. Owere had 7 - 99's on his table. When I ask questions and a seller plays dumb I walk away.

My question is how screwed up could a Takedown be? If the headspace is out can they be repaired (for less then replacement value).

Check to see if the barrel is loose when assembled. If it is pass on it. I've heard of thin circular shims being used between the barrel and receiver to tighten them up. You can also use a shim and crush fit the barrel and make it a non- takedown.

You can bump the threads up to tighten them up. Adding a shim between the receiver and barrel shoulder will increase headspace. Regards, Bill.

quote:

posted 12 March 2018 06:33 Hide Post
You can bump the threads up to tighten them up. Adding a shim between the receiver and barrel shoulder will increase headspace. Regards, Bill.

How do you bump the threads?

I have always used a shaped chisel or punch. The tool is ground to match the radius of the tenon and shaped so that it matches up to the face of the thread. Then you work your way around the thread; tapping as you go. You are really kind of bending or tipping the square thread so that contact is more toward the top of the thread since you can't move the root of the thread without starting to sheer the thread. One can tighten the thread significantly but the fit is not ideal and too many remove/replace cycles will loosen the thread. Nonetheless, this is a long-used and established method of tightening a thread.
A somewhat more elegant solution is to turn the tenon down and re-thread with a fine vee thread then make a sleeve which is thread on the ID to fit the tenon and threaded on the OD to fit the receiver. This sleeve can then be adjusted to index and tighten the barrel (much like the sleeve on the barrel of a Model 12 Winchester shotgun).
If the barrel is just a tiny bit loose, I'll bump the threads. If the barrel is grossly loose and the owner wants to spend the money, I'll do the sleeve. Regards, Bill

I didn't say this because it's a cheaterers way of doing it. NOT CRICKET AT ALL ! But the threads on the barrel extension can be tinned to take the slop out. Heat it up with a torch, apply acid or rosin and then coat it with tin solder. While it's still sweating, hit it with the air compressor or wire brush to drive off the excess tin, let it cool and screw it on. If you're careful you won't even affect the bluing.

But I never said this ! ! ! ! It's Bubba gunsmithing.

M1 Garand barrels that did not torque up to spec were rolled with a smooth faced roll, next to the receiver in a lathe, to increase the removal torque.

Bumping threads! Whooda thunka!
Might be able to do this buy running the lathe in reverse and pushing the other side of the thread with the back side of the threading tool. Might want to flip the compound 180 degrees and use motor oil.

There's usually more to it than that. If you look closely at a takedown barrel it is intended to have its breech end hit the C-ring in the receiver simultaneously when the barrel face contacts the face of the receiver. If someone sticks a non-original barrel on one those two conditions usually aren't met- and with the newest takedown 99 now being around 80 years old now, a lot can have happened to it in its lifetime. If both conditions are met then it doesn't matter if the threads are a little worn, it'll still be rigid and shoot well. (Those threads had a lot of extra tolerance in them from new anyway, so as to facilitate takedown.) It certainly can't hurt to bump up the threads though. (The Savage guys I know simply use a small ball peen hammer to good safe effect.) But, if one or the other of the barrel seating protocols isn't met, no matter how tight you make the threads (leaving them hand tighten-able) it probably won't shoot worth a tinker's dam. If it's the gun's original barrel, the odds of headspace being ok is pretty good, if the barrel was swapped out then all bets are off. (Proper headspace at the factory was achieved at the assembly benches where guys mixed and matched bolts until good headspace was found. Bolts were made in lengths that varied as much as .030" for that reason, and barrels were chamber reamed to a standard before being screwed on and sent to final assembly. This I got from an old guy who worked there as an inspector.) As with any old used gun, it pays to gauge headspace before firing it.

I have a very early Model 99 Savage in .22 Savage High Power, which was ooriginally configured as a take down model. Somewhere along the way, the barrel was firmly fixed to the receiver and the take down feature was eliminated.

Col. Townsend Whelen talks about having a Model 99 belonging to him converted in this way, but he does not elaborate on how it was done and none of the period books on gunsmithing in my library refer to it either. Col.Whelen's rifle was converted by Niedner to .250-3000 Savage from .303 Savage. It is pictured and described in the book Mr. Rifleman.

I should think that the job would not be too difficult, however.

For the price of a 250-3000 TD I might be worried. For the price of the one I saw this might be a good alternative.

quote:

Originally posted by xausa:
I have a very early Model 99 Savage in .22 Savage High Power, which was ooriginally configured as a take down model. Somewhere along the way, the barrel was firmly fixed to the receiver and the take down feature was eliminated.

Col. Townsend Whelen talks about having a Model 99 belonging to him converted in this way, but he does not elaborate on how it was done and none of the period books on gunsmithing in my library refer to it either. Col.Whelen's rifle was converted by Niedner to .250-3000 Savage from .303 Savage. It is pictured and described Mr. Rifleman.

in the book

I should think that the job would not be too difficult, however.

I have seen the slack taken completely out of mod. 99s by cutting 2 or 3 holes in the plate, the a strong spring and ball. I guess it worked. I shot a take down 1886 45-90 so done by the late Tony Barnes of Twin Falls and the gun shot inch groups with irons at 100 yards with about any load..Tony had a habit of fixing anything to perfection, if not he burned it!

that said, I would not buy a Savage 99 that wasn't in at least 80% condition and tight..junk is junk in any junk condition, especially in guns.

So I bought a 250S go-no-go set for next time.

Head space isn't a problem, you can actually fire form headspace out on a Savage or Winchester, or you can set it back and fix it...if the bore is worthy of a repair, but its expensive and folly to try and make a silk purse from a sows ear IMO...

I wouldn't toss good money after bad, I would spend that money on a better Savage 99..you can always get your money back or even double your money back in many cases, with a good clean 99 especially in 250-3000, a good investment.