Savage 99 Question

[cosmic]

Gents - I picked up a nice 99 F in 308 from a respected board member not too long ago. Rifle is in very good shape, and obviously low mileage. In contrast to the other two 99's that I have, and every bolt rifle I have, depressing the trigger while closing the action will not prevent the rifle from cocking. All other functions are OK.
In various discussions with gun folk, it is opined to be a relatively minor fix (if you know what you're doing with 99's!) I'm just wondering if anyone else has a 99 that displays this characteristic?

TIA,
cosmic

 

[John Y Cannuck]

I don't own a 99 at the moment, but the last one I had, it was a late model, had the same issue.
I never did bother to look into it. Just figured it was supposed to be that way.

 

[mbogo3]

Mine does....................Harold

 

[44Bore]

If it has the top tang safety (post-1960)you cannot "slip-close" it to uncock it. Uf it has the lever safety (pre-1960) you can.

 

[hitch.bd]

I have a .308 mod 99C and the only way to release the spring is to fire into a snap cap

 

[cosmic]

Interesting comment about the tang vs the lever safety - I have another tang safetied 308 C that does slip close, and an older 300 savage (lever safety) that also slip closes.

 

[cosmic]

Well - I did a bit more research. Got both of the 308's out to compare - both are clip models. Part of the lever is a curved arm that swings in/out of the action as the lever cycles. The arm serves to control trigger movement as a function of lever position ie blocks the trigger during final cocking to prevent premature discharge. There is a noticeably different profile on the two arms!

 

[ErikT]

My experience echoes what 44Bore said, though I have seen a couple of early tang safety models that would slip close for some reason (I never took them apart to compare components). For the most part, though, a lever safety will slip close, and a tang safety usually won't.

Erik.