Cast Bullets in 300 Savage?

[BorderBrewer]

Today at the range I put a 1946 Model 99 on layaway. When I was a boy my friend and his Dad would take me Deer hunting most every fall. My friends Dad carried a model 99 just like that one. Handling that rifle brought back a lot of good memories. It will take a few paydays before I can take it home, but in the meanwhile my thoughts naturally turn to casting for this rifle. Has anyone had success with casting for the 300 Savage? If so, can you recommend any molds and loads?

Thanks,
BorderBrewer

[Bret4207]

The 300 should do fine with cast. The only tricky part is the short neck. Just make sure the boolit runout is as close tozeroa s you can get. I think it was the the Lyman 311413 that was designed specifically for the 300, but any of the older Lyman manuals will clear that up and offer loads for the 300 too.

[ktw]

I tried it once with the Ranch Dog 311165. The rifle was an autoloader that chambered cartridges with authority. I had problems with the bullet getting seated further into the case at chambering. I have been using using jacketed bullets in it since then.

I think it would work but you are going to have to pay close attention to boolit design, nose dimensions and sizing diameter given the short neck. I plan to try again someday with a different boolit design but that project is pretty low on my priority list.

-ktw

[JDL]

What Bret says and congratulations on a fine rifle.
My first 99 was a 1930 G model (takedown) that I bought in 1976. A friend talked me into using cast boolits in it and loaned me his mold, a Lyman 311466. The load I setteled on at that time was 18.2 grains of H-4227 and I killed a couple of deer that fall with it. As I learned more about hunting with cast, it became obvious that the 466 wasn't the optimum projectile, although neither deer went but a few steps after the shot, so I started expermenting with the 31141. I found a casefull of H-4831 or AA 3100 (44 grains) shot pretty good and killed deer with a little more internal damage and used that for years. But now, I think I've found the best for that rifle in a mold I had Dan at Mountain Mold cut. It's a 165 grain, truncated cone with a .205" flat nose, sized .311", pushed by 23 grains of Rx7 and the average of 13 groups has been 1.92". I haven't tried it on game yet, but have no doubts it will geterdone.
I picked up a newer 1947 EG in .300 that hasn't been as cooperative with any of the above loads but, the search continues.
JDL

[BulletGeek]

If you want to shoot cast in a Savage 99, the old .303 Savage chambering is the berries.

[Will]

Lyman 311414 was designed for to 300Sav short neck. It has a short bearing area which may increase group size. I use it in 30-06 with 20gr 2400 and get good results (2" @100yds).

[stocker]

I've been using the RCBS 30-180 FN in my 300's for quite a long time. This boolit is close to 197 grains when dressed to go dancing and does seat well below the base of the shoulder. I have been adding a few grains of PSB to the top of the charge to get mild compresion when seating. If accuracy is being effected by the deep seating it is not enough to worry about for hunting purposes and groups are commonly 1.5 " or slightly less at 100.
The RCBS 30-150 FN is a lot shorter , does not need to be seated deeper than the neck and I can see no difference in accuracy from it's big brother. Velocity for both is in the 1900-2000 range.

[Larry Gibson]

The 300 Savage is a good cartridge to use for cast and an excellent one for hunting with cast. The short neck is the limitation as mentioned. With the 12" twist I've found the RCBS 165 gr 308-165-sil bullet to be a very good one. It is designed for the short necked .308W. It also has a meplat which is better for hunting. With bullets cast of 50/50 WW/lead over 31-32 gr of 4895 with a dacron filler will give you 2000-2100+ fps for hunting. Terminal ballistics will be excellent and with a 150 yard zero it makes for a 200 yard deer load. Clean the barrel every 5 shots or so for best accuracy with this soft alloy hunting load. For practice cast the bullets of a #2 equivelent alloy (16-18 BHN) and use the same load or back off the 4895 to around 28 gr a bit for comfort. Same bullet with 11-12 gr of Unique will make for a fun plinking and grouse laod.

A fine rifle you've got coming there, enjoy.

Larry Gibson

[Blkpwdrbuff]

I have some 311291 loaded up for my 99 in .300 but haven't been able to go try it out.
I cast them of straight WW, lubed with Rooster Red and sized .309. They are loaded with Reddot but at the moment I don't remember the charge. ( I'm at work!:-D)
I'm looking forward to all responses myself.
Blkpwdrbuff:castmine:

[Hardcast416taylor]

I also use the above mentioned load using the 165 gr.RCBS load in my 2 .300 Savages. One is an old take down model that was supposed to have belonged to the original radio "Lone Ranger" Brace Breemer. The other is a Rem. Model 722 I got when I was 16, and the world was greener and the gun was new. The 300, as mentioned above, has a short neck, that fact was the reason the miltary discarded it in favor of the .308 back in the `50`s. It had the nickname "Baby `06", as it threw a 150 gr. almost the same vel. as a 180 gr. `06 round. Another reason the miltary lost interest in adopying the 300 is that the short neck didn`t feed well in a machine gun from a belt. It has a rich past and should be honored as a round that was a little bit ahead of its time and still gets the job done quite well. :castmine:

[26Charlie]

Just do a search on this site.

I put a thread here http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=1541&highlight=.300+savage+311291
which shows some loads & results with the RN GC 175 gr. Lyman 311 291 bullet. The bullets are seated "down in the fire" as Felix says, but work just fine.

[CENTEX BILL]

I too have a 300 Savage M99 that my father-in-law gave me. He is too old to hunt now but this piece has taken many a deer.

I am looking the group buy mold that is being run now for the 140 gr. 7.62x39 by Jim. This appears to have the right profile to work. May have to be sizzed down a bit more.

What do you casters with more experience than me think about this idea?

centex bill

[Larry Gibson]

CENTEX BILL

Should work ok. Supposed to drop at .314 and looks to have good depth of lube groove. I'm sizing the GC 314-150-WFN that drops at .315-.316 down to .311 for use in my 30-30s with very good success. That 150 bullet appears to have a similar size lube groove as the 140. I size mine .314 when seating the GC and lube. Then I run them through the Lee .311 sizer. The lube in the groove keeps it from collapsing or smearing away. Worth a try in a .300 Savage. Might get some decent accuracy at higher velocity with that 140 gr bullet in the Savage's 12" twist.

Larry Gibson

[JDL]

Bill,
I think it would work fine. My previous post stated the Mountain Mold produced the best boolit in my .300. Well, it was designed for my 7.62x39!! Drops at .313", weighs 165 grains, sized to .311", and fits in the short neck of the .300.
JDL

[kir_kenix]

I've done some fooling around with the 300 savage in a bolt gun, and it was/is the biggest headache rifle I own. The combination of the short neck, short/tight throat, and pencil thin barrel on my specimen have made it very difficult to get shooting well.

Having said that, IMHO, the 300 savage is an excellenct cast cartridge, as long as you have the right launch tube. The majority of 300's either have a 12 or slower twist, and their internal capacity is just about right for the desired velocity levels. A filler may, or may not be requried to protect the exposed lead in the case, so I would try both. I have also found that FL sizing decreased my groupsize, but that may not be an option with your 99. The 150 gr RCBS fn, 170 gr lee, or 180 rcbs fn would be excelent places to start, depending on what you want to do with this rifle.

I personally think of the 300 as a slightly downgraded 308, and in a whole 'nother league then the 30-30 class cartridges. Nothing obsolete about that!

Have fun, and I hope you find a good hunting load with that old girl.

[BorderBrewer]

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions on casting for this rifle. I have on hand the 31141, 311413 and the modified 30-165-sil from the group buy. I'll start tinkering with those and have also signed up for one of the 7.62 X 39 140gr from Jim's group buy. I'm pretty sure I'll find something that will work from all of the great info shared by you all. This forum is the best.

Regards,
BorderBrewer

[NHlever]

If you want to shoot cast in a Savage 99, the old .303 Savage chambering is the berries.

Where do you get brass, or what do you make them from?

[Hardcast416taylor]

You can find brass from just about all suppliers. Your local range may be a place for fired brass now that hunting season is on or about over. Rem. brass is most commonly seen for sale, Win. and Fed. are not so commonly seen for sale. If your gun has a preference to a certain brand brass, stock up when you find it.:coffeecom :) Robert

[Texas by God]

8 yrs late on comment. I use the 150gr Lee FPGC sized .309" tumble lubed over IMR 4198 for 2000 fps average in my Rem 81 auto with perfect function and 2" "50 yd accuracy. Oh yes I used the factory crimp die also. Haven't hunted with it yet but I plan to!

[trixter]

http://leeprecision.com/images/P/90366.jpgHere is what I use, in my Remington 722 bolt in 300 Savage, and I also shoot this in my Bolt 30-06. It is the Lee C 309-150F. It drops about .3105, and I size it to .309.

[pressonregardless]

http://leeprecision.com/images/P/90366.jpgHere is what I use, in my Remington 722 bolt in 300 Savage, and I also shoot this in my Bolt 30-06. It is the Lee C 309-150F. It drops about .3105, and I size it to .309.

Trixter, are you able to seat that bullet in the 300 Savage case & keep the check in the neck ?

[trixter]

Trixter, are you able to seat that bullet in the 300 Savage case & keep the check in the neck ?

According to the Lyman cast bullet #4 c.o.a. l., I think the check is into the neck a ways. My checks are pressed on pretty well when I size the boolits, and I've had no problems, like the check coming off in the barrel. I hope that answers your question

[pressonregardless]

Thanks Trixter, been feeling the itch for a 300 Savage & wondered about that.

[FredBuddy]

Glad this thread resurfaced. This past fall I tried the 311008 and the Lee 150, both powder coated, in my 99 with unsatisfactory results. Guess I need to re-open the book.

[Texas by God]

If you have one a lee factory crimp die helps. I seat this same bullet down in the crimp groove. Works perfectly in my 81 Rem .300 Sav. Hope this helps!

[sixpointfive]

What was your load and did it work?