Savage model 99F, made in 1963, 308 feeding problems.

The Gman

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Missouri
It appears that bolt does retract far enough back in the receiver to allow next round to elevate high enough to allow bolt to chamber that round.
Is there an adjustment to fix this problem?
 
My brother had one a long time ago and if I remember correctly there isn't any adjustment for that. To be fair, he never had that problem, so I might not know about it.

Now that I read my reply, I can see that it's not the most helpful one...
 
No, there’s no adjustment. Honestly, it’s not really much to go on. Need to see it happen, or at least get a better explanation.

Are you saying the fireard case ejects, but it won’t load the next round? Or it would at all from the magazine?
 
Has it been thoroughly cleaned? It has a rotary magazine, right? There is one thing with those. Not so much an adjustment, but the rotary mag spring needs to be set precisely.

Sorry, but we really just need more information. There are simply too many individual elements which can cause a problem.
 
No, there’s no adjustment. Honestly, it’s not really much to go on. Need to see it happen, or at least get a better explanation.

Are you saying the fireard case ejects, but it won’t load the next round? Or it would at all from the magazine?
The fired round ejected ok, but the next round comes up at an angle with the bottom side of the bolt holds the primer end of the round down and won’t let it elevate so the bolt can pick it up and chamber it.
I have been working on it today and yesterday. There is a small part called the “Breech bolt stop”. It stops the bolt carrier assembly from coming back to far. I think a person could file off some of the material on this part to let the bolt recess farther back into the receiver and allow the round to raise up in front of the bolt so it can be chambered. I was going to my gunsmith this afternoon to have him look at it and get his opinion on this course of action before I proceed. I bought this gun used at auction and didn’t have time to mess with it before I was deployed to Iraq in 2005. It has been in the safe for awhile. There is also an adjustment on the carrier spring inside carrier of the magazine well. This spring gets week over time, but you can adjust the tension on it. There are videos on YouTube that show you the tools you need and how to do accomplish that procedure. I have done that.
 
I've found my 99F in .308 is very, very sensitive to OAL length of spitzer-type bullets, or anything loaded long, for that matter. You really have to ram them back into the rear of the magazine to get them to feed right if you are approaching max OAL.
 
Thanks to all who replied to my thread about the feeding problems with my Savage 99F in 308.
Problem has been identified and repaired. I took the scope off so I could watch the action and chamber. I noticed that the primer end of the cartridge was being held down by the bottom side of the bolt which should have traveled farther back inside the rear of the receiver. There is a" breech bolt stop" that the bolt carrier stops against. My thought was to remove some of the material with a file or grinder to allow the bolt to move farther back and allow the rear of the cartridge to fully clear the rotary magazine. I took it to my gunsmith today for a second opinion and he agreed with my thought. One screw holds the "breech bolt stop" in position in the rear of the receiver. We removed it and slowly over time removed material from the front of the stop until the rounds started to elevate out of the magazine correctly. Feeding function was restored. We both kept examining the "breech bolt stop" and concurred that it was a had made part by a former owner that had probably lost the small part and used a file or other tools to make another stop. It was just a little too long. I will go online and order the correct part from Savage, Midwest Gun Works, or Jack First. We had previously put a couple of turns on the "carrier spring" found inside the "rotary carrier" to put a little more tension on it to bring the rounds up better.
Again thanks for all the help and inquires. The Gman
 

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