Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors The Savage CRACK

Yup, but this can help:
I soothes the savage crack quite well.

Hello from BC Canada.
I'm new here but have been collecting 1899's and 99's for several years.
Looking forward to sharing info with other 99 collectors.

The savage 99 crack can be prevented by removing the buttstock, making a brass shim and bending it around the recoil lug on the lower tang.
Drill a hole for the stock bolt to pass through, and put it all back together.
When done right this will provide relief in the upper tang, so the wood and metal is not making contact any more.
I'll try and post pics here in a few days.

After what I have learned, any 99 that I purchase will be shipped with the stock removed.

Id be interested in seeing how that is done EG. Please post pic.

Welcome to the forum.

Happy Easter to all the Christian Savages.

Me thinks the 'savage crack' might be when you finally lose your mind from pursuing and collecting, diagnosing, and categorizing/identifying.

What happened to old man Johnson???
Oh...he savage cracked.

When I get home to my computer in a few days I'll show how to do it in detail.

I resemble that remark !!!

I've requested that, but so far no one wants to do it. They think you're some kind of kook for even thinking of it.

Me personally, I'm not sure I'm buying into this. I believe it's sideways trauma. A fall, a horse, shipping, etc. That's why so many guys say the crack never gets worse after decades of shooting.

I have one set of stocks that were pounded so hard by recoil at the lower tang the wood pushed up into a small gap at the tang and now there is a little tit of wood sticking out. This stock, even though the "wedge" tangs were driven backwards into the wood 1/16" on the lower tang, has no tang crack.

It just makes too much sense that it's sideways trauma.

Look at the grain in the wood. The straighter the grain, the more apt it is to crack. Study examples of cracked stocks. Make note of the grain structure. You guys are making WAY more out of it then need be.

Welcome the to campfire, EGSavage. I've heard of guys making shims for the lower tang before. Seems like it would work as well as the suggestion to remove a tiny bit of wood on the upper tang. Goal is to move the recoil pressure to the side panels and lower tang - both of which are less likely to crack.

And +1 to LBK.. though I think it's several factors. Orientation of the grain is a big one, plus how tight the stock is, plus how much pressure is on the upper tang versus the side panels and lower tang, plus how often it's fired.

Prove to me you know why Savage cracks happen.

I don't care WHY they happen any more than I CARE why a screw strips. Some do some don't.

Knowing why is the best way to avoid it.

One always wants straight grain in the wrist of a stock, preferably flowing through the contours of the design. Straight grained wood is the strongest wood and resists torsional and lateral forces best. Show me a rifle stock with fancy grain or swirly grain running into the wrist and I'll show you a stock that will break sooner or later unless its owner exercises inordinate care in its use.

I think what LBK is saying is correct as far as it goes, in terms of fore-and-aft splitting. Think of an analogy being when you split chunks of firewood- the straight grained knot free pieces split straight and easy, the ones with squirrelly grain or a big knot resist splitting and require multiple whacks (or some creative cussing). Which brings us back to the original discussion: wood that is best for other more important reasons (ie: strength in the wrist) may well be our undoing crack-wise IF the precepts mentioned by various contributors above aren't acknowledged.

If your roof leaks would you want to know why?
Car quits?
Shoes give you a blister?
Shirt rubs you on the neck?
Maybe it's all yes and no, does and doesn't for you. I'm a why guy.
Why are bears here or there at that time of the year? What are they doing?

Or the two most asked questions of our time, right after why do Savages crack-
Why are the coma-inducing tan and silver Toyota Camry's so prevalent?
Is it because buyers want them, or because that's what's offered from Toyota?

Or as Henry Ford said, "Give them any color they want, so long as it's black."

I always heard at deer camp that it was ex-Marines butt stroking a deer to finish it off.

EGSAVAGE
This advice you give works well, it was talked about years back on a post.,
Thanks for bringing it up.
steve

Sideways trauma may certainly be the cause of some 99 cracks, but from what I've seen, at least half of all 99's have a tang crack, so they all couldn't have experienced sideways trauma.
If you remove the buttstock, you'll see that there isn't much wood at the upper tang.
I believe there is more than one contributing factor, wood grain, stock bolt working loose, wood that has dried and shrunk over the years, improper inleting from the factory, etc

By making a brass shim (about the same size as the recoil lug) to ensure the recoil lug is transferring the recoil to the lower tang, where there is much more wood, then it makes sense that most cracks will be avoided.

I own about 25 99's and have owned over 40 over the years,
Since I started using shims , no more cracks!

As I mentioned, I'll have pics posted here when I get home on Thursday.

All things considered a "Savage crack" is much better than a "plumber's crack."

... or a "wise crack."