I want to show those who are interested, how wear affects bolt engagement, headspace, lever droop and primer protrusion.
A perfectly happy Savage 99 action:
Note the lever lug lifts the bolt into full engagement with the recoil shoulder. The brace is in full contact with heel and toe of pillar in a rifle with NO wear.
Now I want to insert a diagram to clarify my terminology, so we are on the same page.
Here is the method I use to determine wear:
Remove the buttstock from the rifle. With hammer released,place a screwdriver under the rear of the bolt, then rotate clockwise. This will show whether the bolt is in full engagement. Any movement of the bolt at the rear shows wear in one of three places. The lever lug which moves in the bolt channel, the bolt channel itself, or the brace. This problem can only be corrected PROPERLY by adding metal.
The next step will show the dramatic change in primer protrusion taking place when different thicknesses of feeler gauges are inserted between the brace and pillar.You need a static point to measure bolt engagement. The static point I use is the bottom of the receiver to the point shown on the bolt.
The measurment on this particular rifle in full engagement is 2.330" and when fired, primer protrusion is .008". To determine how much metal is needed on the bottom of the lever brace, I used this method.
Place feeler gauge between lever brace and pillar(with all internals removed except sear,bolt and lever). I fired the rifle with the following results: NOTE OF CAUTION- I did this as an experiment--a competent gunsmith would take the measurements and make the needed repairs before test firing!!
receiver mea. primer protrusion
without feeler gauge 2.330" .008"
with .006 gauge 2.330" .005"
with .007 gauge 2.330" .001"
Note the dramatic difference .001" makes in regard to primer protrusion and headspace. From these results, I know the only welding that needs to be done is on the bottom of the lever brace.
Following is a photo of a lever and how to obtain a reference point before welding, so that after welding you can keep the bottom of the brace in proper alignment and keep complete engagement with the face of the pillar.
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The lever shown in this gun is pre 90,000-- the rifle is 160,xxx. This lever shows no wear. The only wear that exists is approximately .004" in the bolt channel. With these measurments I ascertained I will need to add a little over .007" to the bottom of the brace.
Many times on this forum I've heard some say "Oh well, a few thousandths isn't that big a deal" Well, YES IT IS!! Refer back to the feeler gauge and primer protrusion .001" of an inch meant .004" in primer protrusion. How you achieve these precise measurements with a hammer blow is beyond me. For those who care, in the thread "I'm always amazed..." I posted that your firearm should be taken to a COMPETENT gunsmith. Possibly, my efforts might help someone with an old Savage gain a better understanding of this action and what to expect from their gunsmith.
For curiosities sake: if you guys who have multiple Savage 99's would measure your receivers as shown, and PM me--I would love to know measurements of rifles that show no primer protrusion.(rimmed only for right now)
Thanks!
John