Savage 99E in 6.5-284 by Dave Tooley

[potatojudge]

Ran across this at a good price locally and decided to give it a try. Very nicely done. Talked to Dave this afternoon and he said it's the only one he's built, and it was for a local friend. Hart barrel, throated for magazine length bullets, 284 magazine guts for a simple conversion, stocked, D&T, cerakote black. The lever appears to be the original CCH. He gave me pointers on loading the cartridge. A bit heavier than stock with the new tube, but it balances well and holds steady offhand. 

[bullseye]

Awesome!... That's a SWEET rifle in a great cartridge.

[dougader]

Killer!

[cmh]

Thats a great looking rifle 😉

[coldtriggerfinger]

Wow, very well done.

[magnumwheelman]

I think it's really cool... but must be at close to maximum pressure that action can handle??? do you have to watch that your reloads are tame, or can you load pretty much anything???

[potatojudge]

The Savage 99 was chambered the 308 family of cartridges which are higher pressure than the 284 family (60Kpsi +/- vs 56Kpsi). It was also chambered in the 284, so pressure and bolt thrust have been proven safe in this action. I don't know what the margin of safety is to push the round above SAAMI specs, so I would't try.

The limitation here is that the OAL is what you'd run in a short action bolt gun (about 2.8in) compared to the 3+ inches you'd load in a long action or single shot. Workarounds include choosing a less bulky powder and perhaps choosing a 130 grain all copper or alloy bullet over a 140 cup and core (in an attempt to match the velocity and BC of long seated 140 grain loads at the expense of bullet weight). I'll probably stick with 140 grain loads as that's what Tooley built the gun for, and he knows more about rifles than I ever will.