Case head separation in my Savage 99, how to get it out?

D

David Sinko

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
2,163
Reaction score
469
Location
Bethlehem, PA
I've been reloading for my Savage 99E .300 Savage since my high school days (close to 30 years now) and this afternoon I finally had my first case head separation. The problem is definitely tired brass. Lately I'd been using reformed .308 Winchester brass in this rifle but then I bought a SCAR 17 and suddenly the .308 Winchester brass is needed elsewhere. I went back to my old .300 Savage brass and one of them immediately separated at the head, leaving most of the case in the chamber. This is the first time I've had to deal with this in 30 years of reloading. Any Savage 99 specific suggestions? I'm going to try to find an oversize bore brush and attempt to pop it out first from the muzzle. If that doesn't work, I'll have to access the breech. I have never disassembled this rifle farther than the stock and forend, so I'm guessing I'll have to remove the stock and then the lever and bolt to be able to access the chamber. Any suggestions on how to remove this stubborn piece of brass?
 
Register to hide this ad
One method often used is to hold the barrel by the muzzle and rap the barrel near the broken case with a hard stick. I have done this quite often and it works about half the time. Try pushing an oversize brush down the bore. Last the is a surefire method that entails chamber casting metal. Kinda time consuming but a never fail method.
 
A stiff brass bore brush pushed through from the muzzle has always removed them for me so do that before worrying about trouble beyond what you actually have.

Back in the 1920s Jack O’Conner wrote about Savage 1899 & 99 bolts setting back a little resulting in short case life from head separations. Nothing has changed. Despite their faults a 99 in .250 Savage was one of O’Conner’s favorite deer rifles. I have the same perhaps irrational attraction to the old Savages, I just haven’t taken as many deer with mine as O’Conner did.
 
I think you can clear this without disassembly; insert a cleaning rod from the muzzle, and attach a NEW bronze .44 pistol brush thru the ejection port (screw the rod onto the brush). Pull the brush into the case body, and with out rotating the assembly, push the rod back into the breech with a thump from the heel of your hand. With luck, the bristles wil refuse to reverse, and will jam into the case, pushing it out into the breech. Has worked for me in a '92 Win.
Afterthought: be sure you screw the rod sections together tightly, but leave the brush a mite loose. Wouldn't do to leave a rod section attached to the separated case !
Larry
 
Last edited:
I took an old .45 bore brush and ran it through from the muzzle slowly. The case popped right out. Time to reevaluate my brass situation.

Actually, now that I think of it, I did experience a separation with my SCAR 17 and a piece of range brass that I had scavenged. Somehow both pieces came out of the chamber during extraction, causing a stoppage. So I didn't have to extricate anything.
 
Warren Sear said:
It is possible that you are over-sizing the brass. I suggest backing the lock ring off a half turn, and seeing if that makes a difference. You will need some new brass.
Click to expand...

This is good advise for rifles in general but be careful applying it to Savage 1899s and 99s. In these rifles chambering tight cases by squeezing the lever splits the top of the stock behind or around the tang. This is the reason so many 99s have wood splits in that area.

For the most part these are hunting rifles that come out of closets en mass every fall. If the barrels were not too hot some of mine have been astoundingly accurate but the reality is bolt actions work better for reloaders firing groups at the range.
 
Because of the same problem in a 7X30 Waters chambering in my TC, some years ago, when inspecting any brass before loading, I took a paper-clip and bent a 1/10th inch bend in the end and filed it sharp on the bent end. put that inside the empty case and drag the bent end up and down inside the base of the case and it there is any grooving inside that will cause a head separation it will feel like a canyon when you drag that point across it.
 
k22fan said:
This is good advise for rifles in general but be careful applying it to Savage 1899s and 99s. In these rifles chambering tight cases by squeezing the lever splits the top of the stock behind or around the tang. This is the reason so many 99s have wood splits in that area.

For the most part these are hunting rifles that come out of closets en mass every fall. If the barrels were not too hot some of mine have been astoundingly accurate but the reality is bolt actions work better for reloaders firing groups at the range.
Click to expand...
Why would you think the wood at the toe of the stock is also chipped in about half of the 99s you see? Everybody drop them or what? Tang cracks and toe chips are waaaaaay too common in these rifles.
 
I have not noticed Savage 99s having more toe chips than other rifles. Perhaps you are seeing the toe chips in 1899s. The wood in their toes is thin and comes down to a fairly fragile point. Combine that with the high number of hunting trips a typical 1899 has been on and some chipped toes are not too surprising.

It wasn't that long ago that most 1899s and 99s were afordable hunting rifles that a working fellow could accumulate and swap with other hobbyists. Then the Blue Book of Gun Values hired an expert to revamp their 1899 and 99 prices. He roughly tripled them. Ouch! Gun show wheeler dealers put every rusty one they could find out on their tables at prices that would have been considered absurd before that issue of the Blue Book was printed. That killed the days of nice $200 to $250 Savage 99 hunting rifles. It also got old 1899s with chipped toes out onto gun show tables.
 
k22fan said:
I have not noticed Savage 99s having more toe chips than other rifles. Perhaps you are seeing the toe chips in 1899s. The wood in their toes is thin and comes down to a fairly fragile point. Combine that with the high number of hunting trips a typical 1899 has been on and some chipped toes are not too surprising.

It wasn't that long ago that most 1899s and 99s were afordable hunting rifles that a working fellow could accumulate and swap with other hobbyists. Then the Blue Book of Gun Values hired an expert to revamp their 1899 and 99 prices. He roughly tripled them. Ouch! Gun show wheeler dealers put every rusty one they could find out on their tables at prices that would have been considered absurd before that issue of the Blue Book was printed. That killed the days of nice $200 to $250 Savage 99 hunting rifles. It also got old 1899s with chipped toes out onto gun show tables.
Click to expand...
You're correct. I was buying them at $150 a pop back before anybody around here knew what they were. The internet ruined that.
 
Your right it is not good to load for them to many times. I bought a bunch of new 300 savage brass off of Gun Broker a couple of years ago. It was very reasonable.

Backing the die off works fine in the 722's but in the 99 the I avoid it.
 
99s and now 722s. We are dating ourselves. Heck neither of them even take 30 round mags.
 
Years ago I used the bent paperclip inside the case to feel for the cracks and stretching but I never found anything, so I stopped doing it. Time to start doing that again.

Regarding cracked stocks, a few years ago I bought a really nice 99F .308 that looked very nice, only honest wear visible. The first time I took off the stock it cracked right down the tang. To this day I get sick when I think about it. I attempted to restock that rifle with a neat laminated wood stock set but after all the hours spent with fitting, the finished product wouldn't shoot worth a damn. I got 8" groups at 50 yards. I put the old wood back on and it went right back to shooting nice small groups. I could never figure it out.

My .300 Savage is a real workhorse and is flawlessly reliable, even with weird shaped pistol bullets that I load for groundhogs. But this deer season it has yet another challenger. I recently bought a nice new Rossi 92 .44 Magnum that has been very impressive so far. It will all come down to the sights and how well I can make the hits in low light. The Savage wears a Williams aperture sight with the aperture removed for ghost ring configuration and an XS flat top post sight with the white stripe up front. As far as iron sights go, I find this combination impossible to beat in low light.
 
Did the OP get it out?

I too used to uxe a paper clip the check for stretchec casss and quit. Now I keep them in the same box and add a date and reload count on the box.

I also quit full length resizing.

I have some 270 Win cases of my Dads that have been reloaded in excess of 10 times.

As for the chiped toe hijack, maybe it was from folks pounding the butt on the ground to remove a headless case....
 
A case separation is simply from excess working of the brass. That excess working is usually FL sizing, which in itself isn't self destructing. But combined with excess headspace in a particular rifle it is.
It could be a FL sizer & shellholder that are pushing the shoulder of the case back a bit too far causing the problem. Or a slightly generous spec chamber. Maybe a little of both.

But with careful adjustment of the FL sizer, the rounds can be taylored to the particular rifle so that back and forth working of the brass can be minimized. Firing ,which stretches it and it has to come from some where,,that somewhere is the case head area. when you FL size again you push the shoulder back into position but that brass flowed forward and the case head weakened a tiny bit. And again with each firing till it lets go.
Set the die to FL size and push the shoulder back just enough to make chambering the round an easy operation,,no more.
If the base/head of the case doesn't quite get deep enough into the FL die to be resized for easy chambering, run the brass into a 30-06 or some other deep FL sizer with the same .470 case head. Even a 45acp may work if it's a straight thru die. (assuming reloading the 300Sav)

1899/99s crack their stocks easily. The thru bolts get loose,,the top tang is attached to nothing inside,,it just overhangs out the back and acts like a wedge at times where the rear tip of it is inletted into the wood for about 3/8" w/ no fastener support.
The front area of that unsupported tang is the locking surface for the breach bolt.

The action can easily twist in the stock if things get loose. It's inletted deeply on both sides straight back and the wrist narrows quickly from the side panels.
Not having a top tang to bottom tang attachment for the drawbolt to attach to is a major fault in the design and the reason for the common cracked stock
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ghost Magnum
My new Savage Renegauge
Replies
0
Views
346
Ghost Magnum
Ghost Magnum
ENNE-FRAME
If things get bad and things get worse this is my plan. Please comment on my weapons and tell us yours
4 5 6
Replies
119
Views
3K
14daMoney
1
M
Out Of My Price Range….
2 3
Replies
42
Views
1K
Onomea
Onomea
B
Savage Model 1907
Replies
15
Views
515
turnerriver
turnerriver
Llance
Did I get it right???
Replies
9
Views
638
steelslaver
steelslaver

Latest posts

Back
Top