Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Hack Trigger job

I finally got the scope sorted out on my '50 Model 99EG .300 (the scope mounts were poorly drilled by PO) and took it to the range - it was shooting nice, accurate, but I had 2 misfires due to light FP strike, then a few shots later, an accidental discharge as I was gently closing the lever. After I gave a silent thanks to my dad for beating into my head to ALWAYS keep the business end downrange and low, I cased it and brought it home. Here are a few shots of what I found after I got the stock off.


This is the sear/hammercocked - notice the little groove about 1/8 down the sear? also see the inset on the face of the hammer?


Here is that face again. I don't have another to compare to, but I'm pretty sure that it didn't leave the factory that way.


Here's the sear with white background - note the groove.
I guess it was to reduce the bearing surface - great way to lighten the trigger, eh?
(it was about 4.5 lb)


Here's another of the hammer.
Could he have thought that by reducing the hammer spring tension by 1/16", it would lighten the pull?
Could that be part of the reason for light FP strike?
No gunk or debris in the bolt hole where this assy goes.


Here is my 1908 model 1899 for comparison - looks factory fresh! I haven't got a photo of a model 99 to compare mine with.

So I need a sear and hammer - Numrich has the sears but not the hammers. Hoping to find a good used one, otherwise I'd have to "mini-hardface" the surface with MIG and grind/stone the surface back to spec.

I got a really good deal on the gun, so it's not the end of the world (just bummed about not getting to use it this season), but if you're spending much on one, having a gunsmith check the trigger mech for this kind of hacking would be good insurance. I'm glad no one got hurt by this, it chills me to think that I had cycled some ammo through it at home getting the mag spindle tension right (that was a mess too) - Couldn't get snap caps for it, and didn't have dies to make empties (now i have!) It would have made a mess out of my hardwood floor, and my wife would have banished it forever. I guess pop is watching over me still. Could explain why the rifle seemed lightly used; it fed badly, wouldn't zero, and went off on it's own.

Any one have leads on a used hammer?

James