Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 cd series A forend keeps coming loose

As the title says. I’ve tried all my logical ideas, and when firing this Savage 99cd series A, .358 Winchester, even if I degrease and medium loctite the forend screw and go very snug/tight, the screw walks out or loosens more with each shot fired.

Screw was bent when I took possession of the rifle, now I know why.

What can I do to remedy this?

The metal insert is still there in the forend for the screw head to pull against, have considered finding a lock washer to fit under the forend screw?

Of course would be good to get a new forend screw as well.

For any clarity, it’s a .975” length screw and the beginning two or three threads are flattened pretty good.

Would be better to get a new forend screw and also the corresponding female threaded part that dovetails into the bottom of the barrel and begin with both sets of threads being good and sharp. Any insight as to what that dovetail female threaded piece is called?

My 99f has a bent screw also. I think savage used to small of a screw when this was designed. On my next forend replacement, I intend to upgrade the screw size to what Winchester used on the model 70. Someone here may have better advice for you. Alan

Gunbroker has what you need. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1021147075

Ah thank you.

I’d have to assume, that shorter screw is the same threads as my .975” screw? I’m only getting about 1/4” - 3/8” worth of thread engagement it looks like on this .975” screw.

I see Numrich has more .975’s.

He doesn't say if that's the overall length of the screw. Some folks just measure the shank and exclude the head. Might wait and see on the length.

Oh, well I never thought of that! Yep might be wise to go for it either way sure don’t find many elsewhere.

If both the male and female threads are good, the forearm shouldn't come loose.

If the original screw was bent, the female thread may have been partially stripped. You might look at tapping the barrel stud for the next larger diameter screw in order to have fresh, sharp, threads and buy a new screw to match the new threads.

I put a neoprene o-ring between the forearm and barrel to cushion the connection and slightly isolate the barrel from the forearm.

If you need any Savage parts that GPC doesn't have, try Jack First in Rapid CIty, SD.

Thanks. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, GPC and Jack First are both all out of barrel studs as is my typical luck.

Yes when I install the forearm it feels like I’m doing harm to threads every time and visually that’s what it looks like is happening now. First few times I just tried cleaning and torque. This last time I tried degrease and medium loctite and it came loose just as fast and then of course the screw feels even worse coming the rest of the way out.

I put a rubber "O" ring on my 99F to improve accuracy. You might try that! App. 1/4"

Hip

I do like the o-ring / rubber washer idea, can’t see it hurting much for sure. Might reduce the issue until I can get new parts. Far easier to find that than a proper sized lock washer, and a lock washer might not be the wisest for all I know.

Confused... there was never a 99CD in 358, nor even a 99C in 358. Is it rebarreled? Rebored?

It began life as a .308. Had it rebored to .358 and now it’s legal for Deer in Iowa.

Gotcha!

Anyone happen to know the thread size of the forend screw? Might head to town and see if I can get a tap and straight threads out a bit. I can probably get this screw to work at the hardware store, but its messed up some.

The thread is 8-40.

Can you tell if there is a gap between the receiver and the forearm? Something seems to be putting abnormal pressure on that screw.

With the forend installed, screw tight, I can feel and see no more than a business card or less of a gap at one point of the rear of the forend stock. But elsewhere around the forend it is snug to the receiver.

Placing that business card in that same spot with the forend screw out, then feeling forend as I remove the business card, it does seem to move further into the receiver just a tiny bit.

I had previously thought about putting a spacer inside between the inner diameter of the receiver and the forend tenon that fits in there. But, my lack of experience told me don’t go guessing.

Not totally sure, but under recoil something must be moving enough to loosen a fairly poorly holding screw. Maybe forend is shifting fore/aft if only 1/64”?

One more question. Have tried up to 3 rubber washers around the barrel stud. Found a new 8-40 screw at Ace Hardware.

Forend is still working loose.

The forend screw hole is pretty loose and frankly not aligned very well to the barrel stud. Forend hold is about 1/8” too far toward the muzzle when you try and align it.

1. Should the forend hole fit snugly around the barrel stud or would that cause potential cracking? There’s really nothing besides screw tension otherwise keeping the forend fro sliding forward toward the muzzle in this particular gun’s case?

After a range session, I'm now barely achieving minute of Deer for 5 shot groups at 100 yards, on bags/table, and I can with moderate to light force, move the forend back and forth about 1/16''. Fired about 15 rounds. Seems ridiculous.

I full length glass bedded my forearm including where it fits in the receiver to make it rock solid. Shoots exactly the same as with no forearm. About 100 rounds through it and no more deer tags left this season. It has a heavier barrel than a normal 99, but shoots great.

The fore arm of a lever gun and a single shot shouldn't touch the receiver. That presents a possible inhibition of the barrel to vibrate freely upon discharge. Accuracy is all about letting the barrel do its thing, and do it consistently.

Have you tried shooting it with the fore arm completely removed? That'll tell the tale of whether or not the wood is the culprit behind your awful accuracy. Mind you, the dynamics of the rifle changed a lot when you bored out the barrel and made it weigh a lot less than when it left the factory - it's vibrating/whipping quite differently now upon discharge.

Were it my rifle I would buy/make a new barrel stud with or without fresh 8-40 threads in it. (I wonder if whoever did the re-boring had the stud off and didn't get it perfectly back to where it was supposed to be?) If making a new stud without a threaded hole in it, clamp the barrel securely and level in the drill press or mill with the drill bit poised over the new stud, and then clamp the fore arm on where you want it to live on the gun. Run the drill down perfectly centered in the stock's hole and drill the stud. Remove the wood and finish the hole and thread it with the quill of the machine also. That way it can't possibly be out of alignment. If the new stud is already d/t'ed the protocol is much the same, simply use the new hole to center the bit and then stick the wood on to see if it hits squarely when passed through the hole in the wood.

Screws/bolts lengths are always measured to the bottom of the head, with the exception of flat head screws which are measured overall.

If you can slide the forearm with the screw tightened it makes me wonder if the screw is bottoming out in the stud before it draws the forearm tight to the barrel. Can you tell if that is happening?