Adjusting the Rotary Magazine Spring on a Savage 99

[COSteve]

I took out my 1949 Savage 99 to the range a few weeks ago and noted that it fed the rounds weakly from the rotary magazine so I looked around when I got home to see if there was a way to fix it without taking it apart. I found this, followed it and it worked very well. I thought I'd share it with you here.

Rotor (carrier spindle) spring adjustment. If you have problems with the magazine not accepting enough rounds (or not feeding all of the rounds) you might have a rotor that is wound too tight (or not enough).

"If you look just above the cartridge counter window, you'll see a small screw. If you remove the for end and look at the end of the receiver you'll see a ring that is slotted. You'll need a flat bladed screwdriver with a slot cut through it so it fits well into the slots on the ring.

Now being careful, loosen that screw above the window. It only has about 6 or 8 threads on it IIRC and then it's a straight shank beyond that. DO NOT FULLY REMOVE THIS SCREW YET!!!

While you are loosening that screw, you want to have the slotted screwdriver in place holding the rotor from turning. On the rotor, there are a series of slots around the diameter for that screw above the window to engage.

If you rotate the rotor ever so slightly you can feel the slot on that screw. Holding the rotor in place, gently remove the screw. Once that screw is fully removed you should feel resistance on the slotted screwdriver. This is where you have to be careful.

Two people really help, although I did it alone. Rotate the rotor only slightly (clockwise if too tight and counter-clockwise if too loose)and place the screw you removed back into the hole you took it out of. You'll feel it contact the rotor.

Carefully rotate the rotor until the screw engages the next slot in the rotor. Replace the screw once it's in a slot and thread it in. You want to go no more than one slots adjustment and I think you should be OK.

[earlmck]

Thanks for that info Steve -- I didn't know about that. Might come in handy some time.

[Old No7]

Yes, I had to do that on an older .300 Svg 99 and it worked really well.

Old No7

[GunnyMack]

Good info for sure.
That's one of those things that should be a STICKY here for all to find if needed.