I am gathering some shadetree engineering ideas about building a wildcat Savage 99.
I know historically they are a "weak" action due to the heel of the bolt locking up against the rear of the action, and being held there by the camming of the lever. There is no redundant locking mechanism, so if the bolt is pushed back by case pressure the world goes dark for the shooter.
The pressure applied to the bolt seems like it could be roughly gauged by felt recoil. The 99 has been chambered in some real shoulder thumpers; 358 win, 284 win, even 38-55 way back in pre-heat treating days.
I'm imagining a high pressure, low recoil round like 25wssm wouldn't be over powering the 99 action. Disclaimer: This is not likely to ever become a real project, but just thinking about it made me wonder where high case pressure is "felt" in a rifle.
