Hello all,

I inherited a model 99 take down in 303. It was bought by my great grand father in 1921. I have a couple questions. I actually inherited it 20 years ago but finally took posetion of it only 3 weeks ago.. Long story.

first some basic info, The gun was improperly stored by my aunt for a while. the bluing was damaged but I would say the gun is over all in great shape. The lever action is what I would call factory tight. It's like new. The barrel rifling is in great shape. The gun has very little wear.

1. It has a 410 barrel and no front stock for this barrel. Guessing the stock was lost somewhere during it's many moves from one relitive to the other. What does the front stock look like and is it something I can replicate?

1.2. does anyone have a 410 stock for sale?

2. that said, the 410 barrel has a loop clamp, for lack of a better description, just the clamp. is there anything else I am missing?

I've also discovered the rarity of 303 savage ammo and plan on buying from the dealer that has some in stock. Funny thing, I went to a local gun show and only found 3 rounds that a fella had loose. Yes, I bought them.
3. Reloading 303 Savage, which dies are prefered? RCBS or Lee?

Attached image

On another side note, I inherited several other guns. model 94 winchester in 32ws, model 1884 springfield trapdoor, a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun(wall hanger)..really poor condition.

My grandfather also had a model 99 PE in 243 as well, but my grandmother had sold it it was a wonderful looking gun.

Ken sounds like a nice rifle, im a big fan of the 303 the forend on the 303 is the one to use on the 410 barrel also! 303s are easy to reload for, about any load for the 30-30 will work for the 303. always open the leaver when you change the barrels. DO NOT use the forarm to unscrew the barrel. 303 dies all about the same I due like RCBS tho. life time warrenty. others will have more info. for you, enjoy your 99 and Welcome to the Form!

Ken, Graffs has .303 in stock here
http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/11929

I second RCBS, they have a great warranty and honor it without hesitation. Other makes of dies are all good too, but I have a little "home town pride" for RCBS.

Yes to RCBS dies and RCBS reloading equipment. Great customer service and as S99VG said, warranty cannot be beat, no matter how old their product is.

OK, I'll be that guy.

RCBS let me down when I sent them a custom die with a stuck case in it. They said they couldn't remove it, but would sell me another for almost $300. They still had a record of making the first one. I declined and had them send it back. I drove it out with a hammer and drift and it works fine.

My impression is that they were more eager to sell me a new $286 die than they were to help me with the old one.

I use Lee exclusively now, had a couple of RCBS dies in 250 Savage and 300 Savage and got tired of broken deprimer rods. Never had a single problem with Lee dies.

That fore arm for the .303 barrel should fit the .410 barrel too, if they came together as a set originally. Pics would help.

.303 ammo is wherever you can find it. Good that you contemplate reloading them. As for dies, I'll chime in too. I prefer Redding dies these days, and C-H4 dies when it comes to off the wall stuff. Not a thing wrong with RCBS. Heck they comprise over half of the dies in my die chest. (If you're breaking depriming pins there's gotta be something rotten in Denmark. I haven't broken a pin since Bush the Elder was in the White House.) To be honest, I don't see anything wrong with Lee dies too. I have a couple sets of them. But the last half dozen sets of new dies I bought were Reddings, for no better reason than I like them. In a word, they're all pretty good.

Unfortunately it doesn't appear that the 303 forearm stock would work with the 410. The attached image shows both barrels. Since the 410 barrel has a different attachment than the 303 you can see the dilemma. Unless I am missing something..

The other thought is that I wonder if this 410 barrel was bought with the PE 243 that was sold years ago..? This was a newer 99 than the one I have now.

Nothing amiss. The two barrels attach to the same fore arm via different latching systems. The .410 barrel uses the clamp arrangement on the barrel to impinge upon the tip of the wood. Not one of Savage's better ideas, but I think their goal was to avoid making the barrel too thin under a dovetail slot needed for the latch hook such as is used on the rifle barrel.

Did the set come to you with its original carrying case?

Your 410 barrel is missing the screw.
Should look like this.

Yeah, when the 410 barrel is clamped down on the forearm it will dent the wood and mar the finish on the end of the forearm.

It's the way they were made.

Cased set with the 410 barrel here:

Yikes, how did i miss that? (Must have been the paint stripper fumes I've been inhaling all day. )

Congrats on getting the family rifle, really nice.

check Graf's, (link posted earlier), they have .303sav in stock off and on thru the year.

also, right here on the fire, member 1899sav (steve) usually has some in stock he'd sell ya.

Reloading, I use mostly RCBS and Redding. Out of the 40 or so dies i have, I have a couple Lee's in there too.

got an old decapping die in 22-250 that is branded "EAGLE"..not sure who made that one..never researched it..well made though.

dave

I have had excellent results using the Lee Savage dies, in 303, 250-3000 and 300 Savage. I have RCBS for 22 Hi Power, actually prefer the Lee Dies!

Nope, no carrying case and no screw either. Unless I can get a used screw set up I think my 410 barrel will stay off the gun.

Anyone got the Screw for the 410 barrel they want to sell? How about letting me barrow it so I can get it made? LOL..

I also discovered that the shoulder stock has some light cracks in it.

How do you remove the stock on this gun? I might make a second stock to keep the original in good shape.

It almost surely never had a case with it. The cased set was almost exclusively for a 99G in 300 Savage, not 303 Savage.

Never say never, but the 410 barrel was available separately and so it was most likely just those two.

Remove the butt plate. You'll see a hole near the center of the butt. You'll need a big flat point screwdriver. An old '60s style jack handle will work most times. There's a slotted screw at the bottom of the hole in the butt stock. Very carefully engage the screwdriver in the slot. Make sure that the screwdriver is in the slot and not along side of the screw. If that happens you'll end up with a broken stock when you turn it. Once you're certain that the screwdriver is in the screw slot remove the screw. Once the screw is removed pull the butt stock straight back. Don't even think about wiggling it side to side to loosen it. Again, you'll end up with a broken or cracked stock. Having done all that you'll have a stock in one hand and the rest of the rifle in the other.

I looked at a 99G cased set at a local show a few years ago that was in .303, with a .410 barrel. It was priced out of my reach so it stayed there. Of course, who's to say someone along the line didn't swap rifle barrels on it. I suppose a letter would tell the tale.

I have lee dies for the 303. If you can wait a month I can send you the bolt off of my .410 barrel to retrofit if I can get it to come off. pm me your address. But like i say it would be a month. John

Savage did sell the 410 barrels and cases separately. Towards the end of production the catalogs sort of hinted that other calibers could be ordered as a cased set. they no longer specified 300 Savage as the only caliber available in the cased set.

I have a set that consists of a Savage case, a 99G in .30-30 and a .410 bbl. Both barrels are 22 inches, and 24 inch barrels would not fit in this case. The .300 Sav/.410 sets had 24 inch barrels.

I do not know if my set came together originally. I am a little suspicious that it may have been "put together" as the .410 bbl will screw in so that the top of the barrel is past top dead center when the barrel is tight. Can anyone tell me an easy way to check headspacing when the bbl is lined up correctly so the bolt will close?

Wouldn't think it'd be rocket science with a 410 barrel. Does a 2 1/2" cartridge fit in when the barrel is indexed properly? Start there.