Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General 1899 headspace issues?

Looking for advice on where I could send an 1899 savage in 303 to have the headspacing corrected on it. The gun is currently backing out primers with factory loads. TIA

Sounds like a pressure issue. .303 sav headspaces on the rim as all rimmed cartridges do. Is your bolt not in battery?
If your headspace was excessive you would be getting blow by if your OAL was long your brass would show Markings from the chamber. Your saying your backing out primers?
Solid frame or takedown?

Original barrel? Original lever?

What's the ammo make and load?

Partial Ser #, example 123,XXX or Date code


Primer is driven out? Not flattened?

So, I have never seen nor fired this gun. It is my brother inlaw great grandfathers rifle. He says he has not shot the rifle in more than 20 years, but he says they stopped shooting it because the primers started backing out on the fired brass. They don't reload so I would have to assume that all the rounds fired in the rifle were factory. He called me looking for a gunsmith to possibly fix the rifle as a present to his father this winter.
Now to be honest my brother in law is horrible about not cleaning his firearms, his 257 roberts was so tight I had to use a 6mm jag just to get a cleaning patch down it when i started.

Have it reamed out to something cool!

Pretty big assumption just based on one symptom from a rifle not seen in hand.

It could be a lot of things other than headspace... the brass, the loads, the primers. 🤷‍♂️

Yep. Time to delve into it with a critical eye, in person. Long distance third-hand internet guessing won't cut it.

If in the end it does need its "headspace corrected" (probably not needed unless some clown simply screwed on an orphan barrel) it's a helluva task with a Savage lever gun if we're talking barrel work. But, there's a trick: mixing and matching bolts. Bolts were made in incremental lengths and fit-and-tried at final assembly in the guns at the end of the assembly line to create an acceptably headspaced product. Note that all bolts were the same regardless of caliber, within the respective models. Used/orphan bolts can be found. But it's probably not a headspace issue anyway.

[/quote]

If in the end it does need its "headspace corrected" (probably not needed unless some clown simply screwed on an orphan barrel) it's a helluva task with a Savage lever gun if we're talking barrel work. But, there's a trick: mixing and matching bolts. Bolts were made in incremental lengths and fit-and-tried at final assembly in the guns at the end of the assembly line to create an acceptably headspaced product. Note that all bolts were the same regardless of caliber, within the respective models. Used/orphan bolts can be found. But it's probably not a headspace issue anyway.[/quote]

What moronic source told you all the bolts are the same?
And if they were, what good would swapping out do? Kinda shooting your horse there bud.

And that HS is a hell of a task on a 99? No more so than most and a lot easier than others.

Might wanna sit this one out dude.

OP - You took a long time coming back, you answered zero questions asked of you, you shared some more pertinent info not shared before.

How far you gonna go down this rabbit hole? Gotta work with people if you expect help.

What moronic source told you all the bolts are the same?
And if they were, what good would swapping out do? Kinda shooting your horse there bud.

And that HS is a hell of a task on a 99? No more so than most and a lot easier than others.

Might wanna sit this one out dude.[/quote]

Yeah.
Come on, Gary!
You don't know what you're talkin' about.🤣

F'n RAM going off on a tangent again.

There's no future in arguing with folks who know not of which they speak (especially folks whose main contributions on the Campfire reside in the morass of the Hunter's Campfire Forum), but here goes. All Savage lever gun bolts were the same, within their respective time periods. Doesn't matter if rimless cartridges or rimmed - they're identical, as well as all extractors are likewise identical. The only differences of bolts, within their time frameworks, are simple differences in length - I've encountered said length differences to range within almost 1/16". You can swap orphan bolts around to improve headspace issues (as long as they're from the same broad time periods), or you can sweat re-cutting threads to take up another full turn on the barrel, all the time ensuring the barrel bears exactly at the two critical points, and then re-cut the bolt guide slot and extractor slot and re-cut the chamber, and then deal with the altered location of the fore arm attaching screw and the barrel channel that no longer fits the contour of the barrel. Your choice.

If RAM is merely stirring the pot, shame on him. And shame on me for rising to the bait, but people like that I root for not winning the mad dash to the bathroom when diarrhea threatens.

Every 300 Savage I've ever had backed the primers out on factory ammo. Especially Federal

Keep it a 303.

Something even cooler!

RAM,

My humblest apologies. I wanted to get the rifle in my hand so I could do more than just throw out random information my brother in law was giving me. My brother inlaw and his father are the ones telling me its a headspace issue. I did finally get the rifle given to me this weekend.

The primers were being backed out of the casing.

The gun is original from the factory stock bolt and barrel

Gun was shot with old green/red box Remington factory ammo

Partial serial nuber 680XX

Solid frame

Jlink, apparently the clique here is offended/threatened/jealous(?) I even attempted to reach out to you on "their" board. So, go with their expert advise. Go get yourself a drywall bucket of 99 bolts, they run under a $100 each, so that should only cost you what? 3 to 5 grand.
Then all you have to do is keep changing them out till you find one that works, cuz "they are all the same" according to them.

BTW, there were bolts with a cocking window, a cocking lever, solid top bolts, square back bolts, round back bolts, forged bolts, investment cast bolts, bolts for lever safeties and bolts for tang safeties.

There is a Savage board here. If the bucket-o-bolts thing doesn't work out for you. Good luck my friend.

JHC. Reading comprehension obviously isn't your strong point, is it?? Note that I said "bolts are the same within their time period." Why did I say that? Because it's true! The question of availability is up to the resourcefulness of the guy who needs to mix-and-match. I've done it a bunch, as have several other guys around here. Use your head, beat the bushes, get in the good graces of the guys who have tons of this crap who'll allow you to mix and match - whatever, it can be done.

Now, go back and re-read what I wrote.

After reading the posts, and I do machining as a hobby, I will put my money on gnoahhh! The guy makes absolute sense. Alan

What a fuuckin dipshyt. Backed out primers are what happens with low pressure cartridges fired in rifles with excess headspace. Very commonly seen in old lever action .30-30's. The firing pin knocks a cartridge as far into the chamber as it will go, powder ignites and plasters case walls tight to chamber walls, there isn't enough pressure to stretch the case head back to the bolt face so the primer backs out. If you don't know this you should STFU and quit trying to be Mr. expert on the spot. Moron.

You are very right blackheart. Alan

I just remembered P O Ackley did an experiment where he loaded cartridges with very low charges with dangerous results. Been a while since I’ve reloaded, but the Ackley books are a very good read! Alan