Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Accuracy Expectations and Trigger Jobs

First, thanks for the advice this group gave me concerning my Stith mount and Balfor scope. Shims from Brownell worked beautifully and I'm sighted in with good old Remington PSP (.250 Savage).

Some follow up questions. First, what does this group consider to be reasonable accuracy for a three shot group at 100 yards for a .250? How about a .358? I can't read the lever boss codes, but the serials are 603199 for the .250 and 918875 for the .358. Both have 4x scopes. I'm averaging slightly under an inch with modern Remington ammo for the .250 and slightly over an inch with vintage Winchester Silvertips at 100 yards. The .358 is anywhere from an 1.25"-1.75" with GameKing and A- Frame hand loads.

Second question. The trigger on the .358 is decent, but the .250 is hideous. I'd like to have it lightened and smoothed....does anyone know of a gunsmith that is experienced working on older '99's?

I drew an awesome unit in Wyoming for antelope this year, and my once-in-a-lifetime moose tag in Washington, so both of these are getting a workout this fall! I'll post some pics if things work out.

Thanks in advance!

You have great accuracy with your 250, consistent MOA practice will give you confidence you are on target when in the field. I'd consider 1-1/2 to 2 MOA with your 358, and factory ammo, to also be great! You may improve on it with handloads, but I'd be very happy with those results, very happy.

I also got a box of Winchester Silver tips when I picked up my .358. I was getting up to 6 inch groups with it. Terrible. I reloaded with Hornady and things got way better. I think I would be happy with what you have.
Been discussed here before, but messing with the trigger mechanism to lighten it up is not a good idea. Clean it the best you can and maybe a little gun grease. It is amazing the hard, packed dirt that is in an old receiver. Most contact areas are usually quite smooth already and rarely have rough spots or burrs.

I think anything hovering around an inch, give or take, is great for a 99. Seems to me that any gains beyond that would be found in experimenting with different loads (factory and home brew) and shooting technique. But the latter would be moot as you don't shoot game from a bench.

Take gunplummer's advice re: triggers. The design of the 99 trigger/sear doesn't lend itself to the kind of trigger pulls we have come to expect on bolt guns. The mating surfaces can be polished with hard fine stones- but only by someone who is cognizant of the subtle angles involved. The crispness (or lack thereof) is attributable to the amount of engagement between the sear and the hammer (striker). The more engagement you have, the more creep you have. A light crisp, creep-free pull to me would denote a hair's breath of engagement that I wouldn't want on a rifle that may see rugged use. Best advice from me: have fun and shoot the heck out of it to acclimate yourself to the trigger as-is.

This probably will come as no surprise to some here, but honestly, I don't see the big deal with working on triggers on the 99's. Maybe it's because I'm careful by nature???

I can always learn something though, so if I do another, I'll try to make it harder than it actually is.

I find most 99 Savage triggers acceptable for hunting use. Also, I've not been able to improve much on the Remington 100 grain factory loads for the 250.

I'd start with a good cleaning and lube to see what that does for your trigger. If I did any stoning, it would be very sparse.

The big No-No with the 99 trigger is removing metal to shorten the sear engagement and reduce creep. It looks like a good idea but it IS NOT. As the action goes into battery there is a point in the cycle where that engagement gets pretty short as compared to when it is fully locked. That's when the slam-fire happens.

Polish the mating surfaces and put a good lube on them and you're done.

I'll buy a lot of types of rats.. but I won't buy any 99 I know where somebody messed with the trigger.

But then again I don't shoot other people's reloads either.

Life is too short to do stupid things.

NOW you tell me!!

Savage triggers aren't always the lightest, but even my stiff ones have next to nothing for creep and travel, and that makes all the difference. Handed my recent 99 acquisition to my FIL, told him cocked it, squeeze and guess the pull weight. He said a fat 4 lbs. It checks in at 5 1/2 lbs . The crisp ones can fool you and be very manageable.

I would say to anyone who wonders about their trigger to just pull the butt stock off and watch how the trigger/sear/hammer interact as the bolt is closed, both slowly and rapidly. By doing so, one can see exactly what Lightfoot is talking about.

The action I used for my recent build would slam fire each time the lever was worked, when I got it. Looking closely I could see where someone shortened the nose of the sear, probably in an attempt to reduce creep. That led me on a quest when I did final assembly, for a trigger/sear/hammer combo that had me muttering a few bad words, and which Mike (Lightfoot) helped me resolve thanks to his vast parts inventory!

I might also add that with the mating surfaces nicely polished and the angles carefully maintained, and the sear nose not shortened, a very respectable trigger pull is achieved. Even with a healthy sear engagement, under those circumstances what feels like a crisp pull is actually of longer duration than one might think- the slipperiness masks the drag of the pieces sliding out of contact.

Don't overlook the key role the trigger spring plays in all this too.

That is a pretty good idea to tell someone to pull the stock and watch what is going on. It is not just an inconvenience, it is a safety factor. I always liked THE RIFLEMAN show, but it really wakes you up when you shoot at a deer and the second one you jack in goes off as soon as the lever closes.

Thank you one and all for the input and advice. I wasn't aware of the potential safety issues associated with trigger work on these guns. Slamfire? That sounds horrible! I want no parts of that.

I had ordered a video that demonstrated how to disassemble a '99....did that and was surprised about the years of accumulated gunk in there. You guys were right about that. Cleaned and lubed sparingly, really seemed to help with the .358 but not so much with the .250. Oh well, I'll love it for what it is!

Anyone ever use the old Winchester Silvertips on game? Any insight on how well they work? It'd be neat to use vintage ammo in a vintage gun this fall.

Both in 250 and .303. PERFECT nuff said. Vintage rifle,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,vintage ammo. What's NOT to understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Both in 250 and .303. PERFECT nuff said. Vintage rifle,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,vintage ammo. What's NOT to understand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have two boxes of silver tips for 303. One box before warning label. Going to keep them for display with rifle.

Idaho Ordinance. 208 420 6163. George has done wonderful trigger work for my 99's.

I have seen posts like yours before. It usually means the guy did no more than what was discussed here. If you need a hair trigger to hunt, buy a bolt action.

No sir, you are mistaken. The trigger on a 99 cannot be substantially improved, you're stuck with it, get used to it, etc etc etc.