The trigger on any old gun (or any new gun for that matter) is the most important thing to me, even more important than the condition of the bore. I have to have confidence that I can manage the trigger. I can overlook a less than perfect bore, but I will not tolerate a poor trigger. And that applies to all my rifles, not just 99s.
While I rate bore condition as paramount in selecting a rifle (it's the heart of a rifle, all the fancy wood, nifty mechanisms, sights/scopes, and wonderful triggers don't mean diddly squat if the bullet isn't directed true to the target), the trigger is a close second. I always felt the Rube Goldberg trigger/sear mechanism of the Savage 1899/99 was the Achilles Heel in the system.
Sure, abominable triggers can be overcome/lived with but it's way better to fix them or replace them than to waste time on them if you can help it - and unfortunately there isn't much help in that regard for the Savage trigger. Put on your magnifying goggles and study the pre-mil trigger closely. There are subtle angles involved that absolutely must be maintained when polishing, and as others have stated the removal of steel to shorten the sear "bite" will only lead to regret.
I think, from looking at a bunch of Savage triggers over the years, that they may have cut some corners in steel selection and heat treating. If the rifle has been used a lot you can see slightly rounded sear bites, and the fact that infinite dry cycling will "improve" a trigger pull is a subtle indicator of that too. Other gun makers of the era took greater pains in that regard, I wonder why Savage didn't. (Tear down a well used 130 year old Ballard for example, and while admiring the utter simplicity of the trigger system note too the sharpness that typically remains on the corners after God knows how many thousand cycles. The steel is glass hard.) A couple licks with a Cratex stone and the Savage trigger on the other hand is as polished as it'll get. I suspect also that Savage wasn't too persnickety about consistent trigger spring temper either. Savage made a wonderful knockabout rifle, and the higher grades were the same inside as the cheapest grades were - the poor man and the rich man played together on an even playing field in that regard. Extra money didn't buy you a better trigger, only perhaps a minute's-worth more attention in the fitting room.
All that's to say, don't muck about with Savage triggers - if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Learn to live with what you got, and if you can't/won't then horse trade it for something else.