Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Savage 99 308 Win Cartridges getting stuck

I have a 99f and about half of the ammunition I have tried in it has gotten stuck after being fired. The cases need to be knocked out of the chamber by running a cleaning rod down the barrel.

Any Idea why, the gun is clean.

Regards,
James

Handloads, or factory? Handloads, could be a pressure problem. Factory,,,,,,,,,,COULD be that you have some pitting in the chamber. When fired, the brass COULD be swelling into the pits. Sometimes this can inhibit case extraction. I'm sure others will offer opinions. And lastly, welcome to the forum. Basically a collector gathering, but often time discussions errupt over a myriad of subjects!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been using factory loads, from Remington Managed Recoil 125gr which hardly ever got stuck, to Horniday TAP 110gr which almost always got stuck to Fame S.A.C. 7.62 x 51 mm NATO 147 gr. which all seem to get stuck. Then some Silver Bear which about half get stuck. I wonder if there is a way to hone the chamber out slightly?
Regards,
James

My understanding is that case sticking in a Savage 99 chambered in .308 Winchester is somewhat common with Winchester and Federal factory ammo and definitely with military ammo.
No such problem with Remington brand STANDARD ammo. Do your gun a favor and buy 150 grain Remington ammo and use that.

Use the ones that don't f-up. next..

Assuming that all else is proper and good, your rifle needs a new extractor. The one it has now is either weak, tweaked or the tip of the hook is worn/busted off.

lauren's advice, although practical, ignores an underlying flaw. A proper 99 should feed, fire and eject any SAMMI/CIP spec cartridge.

The Federal brass always stuck in my 308F. Solved the problem with 150 corelokts

Thank You all for the advice, After deer season here in WI I will look into the extractor to see if it has a problem. For now I am going to use the ammo that works. But I do think it should cycle anything within specs.

In the three .308-chambered 99s that I have, they all function 100% with Remington and Winchester factory 308 loads. Never tried Federal factory 308s.

As for 7.62 NATO, the only rounds that DO NOT stick (in my 99s) are:

US Lake City Match
British Radway Green
Australian F4 (fortunately I have a metric crap-ton of F4, like 14,000+ rds.)

Empties from the above types will readily reinsert into the 99 chambers, and most fall out with little or no "nudging" by tapping the butt on the bench or the top of my foot.


The 7.62 NATO rounds that DO stick (most stick 90%, if not 100%) are:

South African
West German DAG and MEN
China Sports
Portuguese FNM

Chambers are clean and bright, no damage. Case necks are NOT protruding into the leade. I do find that if a case sticks and I let the 99 "rest" for a couple-few minutes, cycling the lever will sometimes remove the stuck case. Not always, though. That doesn't help follow-on shots for hunters. Empty cases generally can be reinserted into the chambers with some force, as opposed to the cases from the group above, which all but drop into the chamber and all but fall out.

Noah

All good info. I don't remember this subject coming up before.

I've seen the topic come up before, a few times, but there has never been more than a passing mention that the only reliable functioning cartridges are Remington. Sometimes Win and Fed stick, sometimes not.
The above military 7.62 cartridges that do not function well are noted for their high chamber pressure. The ones that do function are the opposite. The .308W has a SAAMI spec of 62,000 psi, as I recall. That's a LOT of pressure for a rear lock up action that was initially designed for a 38,000 psi cartridge. I suspect that the cartridges that function well are developing a little less chamber pressure than the others probably due to a different powder selection from the factory. The thickness of the brass can also be playing a part. That's my take on the situation, right or wrong. It's just simpler to do as Lauren said: Just use the ones that work!

Measured the fired cases and the Remington's are the smallest in diameter, the others are from 2-3 thousands larger.
Well Remington for the upcoming dear season. Would I be able to use a resizing die and get the NATO Stuff to work?

The NATO ammo I bought is FAME S.A.C. Armamentos, Inc Peru 147gr

Are you refering to resizing empty brass or loaded rounds?

Are you thinking about resizing loaded ammo? If so, you'd need a body sizing die; it resizes the body, but not the neck.

Why futz with the FMJ military stuff at all. Beg, borrow or buy a FN FAL to blow through that stuff at targets of opportunity at the gravel pit. That is what it is good for.

Reserve the 99 for the ammo that you lovingly put together to kill stuff to eat.