Any Savage model 99 aficionados out there?

There's a little slide lever that locks the lever in place. The lever won't move until you release it.

Hopefully, that's the issue.

I've always liked Savage 99s.

Well, it didn't work out for the guy to bring the Savage 99 along for me to check it out.
Not really sure what the deal is.
He may just have second thoughts on me possibly wanting to buy the rifle!
Or maybe it has more sentimental value to him than I realized.
I told him I'd still be happy to look at it and try to help him out and if he wants to keep it that's great by me!
I'll just have to play along for now.

Well, I took the risk and bought the Savage model 99.
Like he said, I can't get the action to function.
I just know there has to be a way. I mean it's mechanical and something is bound or blocking or whatever.
And it came with a Lyman 57SA sight and 2 boxes of Remington ammo.
I figured the sight and ammo are worth what I paid.
For now, I broke the rifle down and I'm simply soaking the action in Aero Kroil.
I'll let her soak for a day or so and then clean it up with the compressor.
Then, I'll refresh a few YouTube videos and read this handy book I found online to find any tips to help me diagnose the problem.

I am looking forward to the range report.
What caliber is it?

I watched a ton of videos.
I’ve read many blogs and articles and so far this thing has me baffled.
It sure seems like it should be an easy fix.
But it’s just the craziest deal.
Maybe I’m being too cautious and careful.
Not sure. I simply can’t get the lever action to budge.
It might be time to get another set of hands and eyes on this rifle.

Yep.
I had viewed that one. But I rewatched it just to see if I had missed something.
Nothing new to me.
The nub he speaks about is not sticking up. And then, I still can’t be sure as to whether it might have something to do with the lock up.
I’m on jobs in Arkansas and Missouri boot heel so it’ll be a bit before I can mess with the rifle.
I’ll plan to stop by a few gun shops and gunsmiths to gain more knowledge.
Maybe I can find a working model to better educate myself.

Finding a working rifle might help.

Back home for a day so I started working on the Savage 99.
And I succeeded in breaking the action free.
I believe that I was overly cautious in trying to work the action initially. I tend to come at problems like this without forcing things.
However, I did find 2 issues that may have led to the resistance I was feeling.
I found that the "chicago" type screw was not properly set as there is a specific notch for fitment as shown in the pic below. It also appears that the previous owner had used something that looks like Red Loctite on the screw and I doubt that is a normal procedure.







I also found that there is a burr under the safety latch that wants to catch and that was most likely the main problem.
Initially, I had slid the safety Off and all was well. But when I slid it to the On position, I noted that it was catching when I tried to move it again. You might be able to see the burr at my pointer:



Hopefully I have some time in the next few evenings to work on the rifle.

Very interesting thread, please continue to show your progress.

Thanks