Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Spent case won’t eject

1960 model 99f, 300 savage. Spent case won’t eject. No problem with live round. Shooting reloads, 150 gr Speer with 42 gr Varget

What could be the problem?

Extractor not extracting.

Lever opening and spent case won’t eject?
Or is lever not opening after firing?
Do you have any new factory ammo you can try in it?

Did you work up to the 42 grains of Varget or just start there? That's a fairly stout load and may be a hair too much.

My 300s were very sensitive to heavier loads and just a 10th of a grain can matter.

My thoughts too. 42 gr. Varget is shown as a max load in my Lyman manual. Max loads in 99's in my experience engender sticky extraction. They ain't bolt guns.

I would back off a couple grains and try it again. The deer and or paper target won't know the difference.

Lever opening and not ejecting.

It started with my third shot at the range.

I can’t remember if I worked up to it or not

It won’t eject any spent case, I’ve tried several different ones but loaded rounds work fine

Eject or extract?

Extract, sorry

Rough chamber ?

Extractor wear most likely coupled with dirty chamber

max loads are problematic in 99's. I have a C shooting the 22-250 i bought from David Royal. it is fine with starting loads but the case sticks in the chamber if I load above medium power. top end and a rod has to be used to drive the fired case out, which is a pain with that tiny bore.
guess what i am trying to say is start out with printed starting loads. hot loads just damage the rifle.

Are you crimping?
I’ve ran up to 43.1gr of Varget which was a slightly compressed load but everything was fine. No issues with my ‘41eg. 150gr flat base spitzer bullet.
I’ve currently settled on using 42.5 gr of Varget which is very close to 100% capacity. 42 gr of Varget should be no problem.

The simple test is to load up some rounds with 39gr or 40gr and see how they work.

Dirty or corroded chamber? Start with a thorough cleaning.

Most probably the extractor is worn or broken.
If you have a cleaning rod without a handle, run a brush down the barrel, then chuck the rod into a drill. Use the drill to spin the brush as you pull it into the chamber only.

I would think that you have a combination of items, worn extractor and too much Varget. I use 42 grains in my Savage 7-08 bolt, with the 308 based cartridge having larger case capacity, as close to a max load.

Check for a buildup of brass particles in the little reverse recess at the back of the barrel that the extractor kinda slides over. Then get a 3-5 inch long brass machine screw#6 or 8. drill out the primer pocket of a fired but unsized case to accept it and coat the case with JB Bore paste and don't be stingy. Put a long but gentle 75-80 deg bend in that screw protruding from the head end of that case. Insert in chamber and work it up and down and in and out. Re-apply paste 3-4 times. Now use several patches to clean out. If you already know you are sloppy, mabe put a tuft of loose fitting cotton into the bore first. No chance of screwing up muzzle with this method. I believe it was Gil Sengel that published this method in Handloader several years ago. He'd got it from a 'smith in PA that used it on model 760 and 7600 pumps that were often put up wet at the end of the season. I've used it on a 99 that had a rough chamber and it worked well. Cheap too! Good luck and happy shucking.--cb

My Sierra loading manual shows a 43.8 gr Varget load at 2750 and a 44.5 gr load at 2800. Both for 150gr bullets. It shows the 44.5 as a maximum load. Not sure what brass this was with? I don’t think I could get that much Varget powder into the federal and Remington cases I’ve been reloading. I guess bullet seating depth can play a roll also, although, you don’t want to be any longer than 2.6” coal.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I’m going to thoroughly clean tonight and try some factory loads tomorrow and see what happens.