I am gathering some shadetree engineering ideas about building a wildcat Savage 99.

I know historically they are a "weak" action due to the heel of the bolt locking up against the rear of the action, and being held there by the camming of the lever. There is no redundant locking mechanism, so if the bolt is pushed back by case pressure the world goes dark for the shooter.

The pressure applied to the bolt seems like it could be roughly gauged by felt recoil. The 99 has been chambered in some real shoulder thumpers; 358 win, 284 win, even 38-55 way back in pre-heat treating days.

I'm imagining a high pressure, low recoil round like 25wssm wouldn't be over powering the 99 action. Disclaimer: This is not likely to ever become a real project, but just thinking about it made me wonder where high case pressure is "felt" in a rifle.

Well schidt, ol' 99 will be here soon to regale you.

When the experts talk about bolt thrust, they like to talk about square inches of cartridge head multiplied by chamber pressure.

I do not claim to be any expert, but I am pretty sure the 25 WSSM has a significantly greater surface area on the cartridge head than do the rounds factory chambered in the 99.

I don't think the breech-bolt diameter is large enough to allow the wssm cartridge. Additionally, if it is a rotary magazine model, there is not room enough in the receiver to accomodate the fat WSM case.
The 99 is strong enough but it is a bit stretchy. Full pressure 308's don't yield great case life in a 99. Maybe a little better than a #4 LE. GD

Year's ago I spoke with someone at Savage regarding using the 99 for something like the 300 WSM and was told the action wasn't large enough to handle the cartridge. Nothing was said (nor asked) about whether the action would be able to handle the pressure/recoil.

I still wish someone would bring that rifle back out.

The base diameter of the wssm line is .045 biger than the 284 win., so it might work in a modified rotor, they actually do work in a 284 clip magazine (..yes, I tried it, don't hate me). The rim diameter is restricted by the extractor, and only .03" over the rimmed 30-30 and 303Sav cartidges.

Even with the idea that bolt thrust is being reduced with the larger rim diameter, the thought of a hot 308 stretching brass too much in a 99 brings me to my senses.

All this is why the BLR is so successful.

Not at all.

Peak pressure, which is what stresses the action, has nothing at all to do with recoil.

Pressure and case head (not rim) area are what you need to look at, this determines the "bolt thrust", or force pushing the bolt back. A larger or smaller case rim does not affect bolt thrust.

Recoil is a totally different thing, related to bullet weight and velocity, powder mass, and muzzle pressure.