Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 trigger job

Who would QA the work of a gunsmith or non-gunsmith doing trigger work?

Savage had people who QA'd the work done in the factory. I've read the trial transcripts from at least one slam fire 99 where Savage was sued. The factory QA was a key point.

There is no equal to the hands of a skilled worker !

Well, we civilians do have one advantage over any factory. We don't have to produce 100 units a day.

We can be as thoughtful, as careful, as cautious, as deliberate, as patient as we need to be. Production is not a concern.

But, point taken. In the factory setting a set of redundant checks would be essential.

Again, I'm sure we all agree very few should work on triggers. The easily flummoxed chief among them.

True. Back in the 80s I bought a 243E which was supposedly new. I first noticed that it would not slip close, which is unusual for any lever safety 99. I bought it for a modest price and took it home. When I took it out to shoot, I had to squeeze like hell to get it to fire, and sometimes it still would not fire. Trigger travel was huge. I removed the butt stock and looked at the mechanism and the problem was obvious - too much overlap between the hammer and sear; I mean a bunch. Lacking the drawer full of sears I now have, I filed the original until it would slip close and tried it again. It fired reliably, albeit with a long pull. How it ever passed inspection in the factory, I'll never know. I eventually reduced the pull even more, but not until I believed I understood the entire kinematic story. I killed several antelope with that rifle, and sold it one day to a friend who could shoot 1/2 moa with it.

I think the best trigger job you can do to a 99 is to work with it until you either understand and master it for what it is, or decide to get rid of the rifle. Savage 99 triggers can be creepy and stagey, however that didn't seem to hinder the guys who shot the rifles "back in the day."

Ya want a real treat? Take apart a malfunctioning set of Ballard double set triggers to clean up worn notches, and have to make a new kicker and a new flat spring. Two seasons of shooting now and it's still going strong. How about a 4-lever German double-set trigger? The cats who designed and made those marvelously precise contraptions in the factories 100 years ago must've moonlighted as watchmakers too.

I have in my parts box an Eads Single Set trigger with a broken lever inside it (think Timney trigger unit only about twice as big with about 20 small moving parts and springs inside it). I've pieced it together several times and studied on it thinking how I can carve one out of tool steel and harden it. Every time I shrug my shoulders and put it back in the box. Life is too short.......

My opinion is a person can get use to any trigger on a gun if you shoot it enough I have some guns that the triggers are heavy have a few that are light doesn't matter to me it's all about concentrating on your target and not pulling off of your target . Yes a lighter trigger is better but honestly I can shoot heavy triggers without any issues to me a heavy trigger makes you a better shot because it requires more concentration per say . If any of you ever shot a savage model 1920 then you know about hard triggers lol . I have several of them and the triggers don't bother me whatsoever actually that was my first rifle I used for hunting was a model 1920 in a 300 savage it was my dad's deer and bear rifle . I actually don't mind the triggers on them at all because I got use to them but I will say this a savage 1920 in a 300 savage kicks like a mule the early gun with the slender stock. Just my two cents on this subject

I just wish Arthur would have got a little advice from John about the triggers he was having built. At the Marlin factory.


I don’t think you need to stay at a holiday inn to monkey with a Marlin.

I bought a used Savage 99C at a gun show for super cheap. At home, when I loaded it to test fire it, it fired the chambered round when the lever was closed. Turned out it had a homemade trigger job done on it that I posted pics of here years back. Thank god I follow gun safety rules and nothing bad happened except a hell of a surprise. I replaced the entire trigger group with NOS parts and for whatever reason, it now has a very smooth trigger with about 5 lbs of pull which is fine for this rifle.

this post keeps reminding me about gun safety. NEVER POINT A GUN WHETHER YOU THINK ITS LOADED OR NOT AT ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TO KILL OR DAMAGE!!!!

Now that I’m older and understand what very little metal contacts the sear, I intend to continue hunting with no round in the chamber. Its just not wise.

IMHO trigger work lowers the value of the rifle. I recently bought a 99c form on line dealer. When I went to my FFL and inspected the rifle it had a "wonderful" trigger. 2.5# and very crisp. I returned the rifle, not knowing who did thew trigger job.

Do they make replacement triggers for the 99? Did they ever?

Not like a Timney that just drops in. It’s not a separate group like many rifles.

You can buy a trigger group on the used market. The best part, it comes with a Savage rifle attached to it.

I have trigger and sear matches with various serial numbers .

Norm