Savage 99C stiff action

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LongbowBlue

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Against my better judgement, I bought a Savage 99C online.
When I received the rifle I noticed the action was a bit stiff on the last 1/4 pulling the lever back up, when the bolt breech comes up behind the chamber. I also noticed a drag line on the right side of the lever that hadn't been pictured in the online ad. This is the first 99 I've owned, but I have handled them before and the others had a much smoother action. So far I've just clean and lubed the action, which helped a little, but I didn't notice anything rubbing on the lever when cycling the action while I had the butt stock off. I was thinking maybe the lever bushing was worn out, or perhaps the previous owner(s) had a tendency to pull the lever to the right when cycling the action.

Is this a common problem with these rifles?
Is it something I can fix myself or do I need to send it to a gunsmith?
If so can anyone recommend a good gunsmith who's familiar with these rifles?

Any help is much appriciated.
Thanks.
 
I couldn't say. The serial number put the date of manufacture at 1977, and the bluing is a little faded. I suppose it is possible the gun's been sitting in a safe for the last 40 years.
 
I tried that and I didn't notice anything rubbing on the side of the lever when it cycled.
The one thing I thought was a bit strange was just before it gets stiff there a small bit of lever travel just before the part where it gets stiff when the lever isn't making contact with the bolt breech. I thought that was just how it worked, but it seemed like if it was in contact the whole time it would spread out some of that resistance. I mean to say if it was in constant contact I think any resistance would be spread out a little at a time, rather than being loose for a bit of travel then encountering it all at once. This is my first time working on one so I'm not sure.
 
The camming of the lever on the bolt is most likely where you are feeling the resistance. There is a round area of metal that rides in a groove on the back end of the bolt. The 99C wasn't noted for finish as the 99's of yore.
 
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