Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Accuracy of Savage 99F

Hey folks!
I live in Germany. I bought a Savage 99F, buildt in the fifties, in 300 Savage calibre. Unfortunately it dont shoot very accurate: 5 shots on 110 yards - 2,5 inch with Remington or Winchester fabric loads. I reloaded with N140 and a 165grs. RWS-DK bullet and got 1,5 inch. After many trials that was the best laod. (My 7x57 shoots 1 inch and for german hunting this is necessary) - Is this a fault of the Savage 99 or a fault of my personal rifle? And what could I do to make it shoot better?
Yours Pewi

seems the F forearms tend to be the cause of this inaccuracy on some guns. Try shooting the gun with the forearm off and see if it gets better. You can put a small O-ring around the forearm stud on the bottom of the barrel and that seems to help.

Welcome to the forum!

+1.. remove the forearm and rest the receiver on the sandbags to see if it's the forearm. Don't rest the barrel on anything. If it shoots better without the forearm, try the o-ring trick like Drew mentioned.

Haven't used N140 myself, my 300 Savages seem to like H4895 though. Might be worth trying another powder.

Other options far less popular with collectors would be to recrown, or to bed the forearm. These ruin the collectibility and value of a rifle, so kind of last choice if you can help it.


Welcome to the forum!

I've owned two 99Fs, a .243 and a .308. Unfortunately, 2-2.5" groups were the norm. I took my gunsmith's advice and didn't invest any money in them as he said they can be improved a bit but would not shoot like my bolt action FN Mauser. Their light barrels tend to heat up quickly, which opens the groups. Yet, they probably were okay for hunting as its the first round from a cold barrel that counts most.

Glass bed the butt stock with a bead all the way around..then glass the forearm in the mortice that butts into the frame and the barrel channel by using the echon screw to centerline of the barrel..I have done probably 200 Savages in this manner and most shot an inch or less, some 1.5"..but they all shot well. most of them were EGs and 1950 F models. The accuracy has been fully comparable to a the bolt actions..The groups won't open up much if the bedding is correct at least most of the time, but that can apply to any make model or action of rifle..If I couldn't make a Savage 99 shoot desively better then I would only charge for the glass..

Thanks for your advices! I think I try the "Forearm-trick" at first. The groups became better, when I used bullets with a stright shank. The DK-bullet is nearly cylindrical. This gives much contact with the rifling.
Yours Pewi

"gunsmith's advice and didn't invest any money in them as he said they can be improved a bit but would not shoot like my bolt action FN Mauser. Their light barrels tend to heat up quickly, which opens the groups. Yet, they probably were okay for hunting as its the first round from a cold barrel that counts most"


your gunsmith don't know Richard about 99s. I have 2 skinny barrel Fs and an R in 300 that will shoot with/or beat any deer rifle calber FN mauser.

I handled a very nice 99F in .243 caliber today, and was
wondering how accurate this gun would be, considering how
light it is.

I have yet to meet an "F" that was not accurate enough for deer at 200 yrds.


Mike...


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I just bought one in 308, am eager to find out. I load 44 grains of H 4895 with a Sierra 150 gr. GameKing for a bolt 308. I’m hoping this works in the 99 too.

my 250-3000 Fwith 87g silvertips will shoot one hole at 100 and the deer i shot at 170 yards a couple weeks ago had a hole 1 inch off from where i was shooting.
my parts gun 308 F will hold 1.25 inch for a full magazine.

Perty every 300 Savage 99 I've owned liked 150 grain Sierra Pro Hunter. With IMR3031 or Varget could satisfy 1 inch at 100 yards easily. Make dern sure your bore is clean, I'm not as schooled with thems new F models. My 99F is 1926 vintage in 303 and shoot ~ 1.5 inch at 100 yards with a Lyman 29 1/2 peep.

How's it going Mike?

Mine will shoot inside one inch at 100 yards with anything I've put in it.

I've never had a Savage lever gun that wouldn't shoot. Ever. Some are holes touching.

Shot my 99 F .308 with a 3 X Weaver Post & CH for groups once then quit 3 shots around .5". It shoots great just quit while I was ahead.

As I recall, Mule Deer recommended having the fore end NOT tight against the receiver. That was in one of his Rifle Magazine articles, if memory serves. That is how I have bedded my 99s. Three of my four 99s have the buttstock Accra-glas bedded as Ray says above. My fore ends basically just hang off the barrels. No pressure at all and no firm contact against the receiver. My 99F in 250-3000 has no modifications to the bedding other than to be sure the fore end isn't jamming in between the receiver and barrel. It shoots very nicely indeed with 87-90 grain bullets. My results with the other 99s are mixed.

Maybe Ray can give us a clarification on how he beds 99 fore ends.