New to me Savage 99 300 Savage

[Butler Ford]

After lunch with my daughter, I stopped by my local Gun&Pawn and there was a decent looking Savage 99 in 300 Savage. The two old friends I was talking with knew who had had the gun. Apparently, he's had every 99 in the county at one time or the other.
I was wondering if there are any peculiarities in loading for this caliber? Plan on starting with new Hornady brass, RCBS 30-180fn since I have a pile of them ready to go. Gonna start with Win 748, IMR 3031 and IMR 4895. I have a few other 30 cal molds, Lee 150 & 170, Ranch Dog 165, Lyman, 041, 291, 284 and another or two that I cant remember off the top of my head.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom

BF

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The RCBS 180 should work well. Either 3031 or 4895 should work for cast. 748 seems to run better hot. All the bullets mentioned should work well. I usually go with .310 but .309 will probably work. There are 2 different possibilities for overall length - when Savage introduced the .308 the magazine was lengthened to 2.78 from 2.6. I have a couple of each. In MY rifles throat length in the 2.6 and 2.78 magazines allow seating the bullet to magazine length using the RCBS 180, the 311041, 311413, and 311332. I have not tried to reach the throat with bullets seated overly long. The short neck length should not be an issue. I expect under 2" groups at 100yds for all my scoped .300's. For full loads I resize using the Redding Competition shellholders. The +.006 chambers in most of them, though one does take the +.008 using the same full-length size die. Full-length sizing may not be needed for moderate loads. Cases last a long time if care is taken to not oversize them. I use a W-W cases from a large lot closeout purchased years ago. I have also used shortened LC 7.62X51. When my W-W is gone I will go back to the LC. I usually antelope hunt with may .300 using a Sierra 125, though mostly I practice with the 311332 due to windy conditions. I usually use 4198 or Reloder 7 in the 18-22 grain range. I would start with the 3031. The 4895 is one of the best for full loads with 150-165-180 grain jacketed. The Savage 99 in .300 Savage is far more capable than .30-30 and more accurate than most Winchester levers and equal to the Marlins. They are fun rifles.

[runfiverun]

not too much I could add to the above.
the powder selection is where I would be unless I decided to use some 2400.
but your first boolit choice and some 3031 powder sounds like a great place to start.

[Butler Ford]

Mostly, I could spend most of the winter with the information you just gave me, thank you. I just checked the powder inventory list and I still have most of a bottle of 4198 that didn't work out on another project. I will start with that, then the 3031 & 4895.
Thank you again

BF

[William Yanda]

300 Savage was a predecessor to the .308 wasn't it?

[dragon813gt]

It has a really short neck. Don't be scared to seat a bullet below it. I routinely do it w/ this cartridge. If you convert cases from LC brass you may need a SB die. I needed one because I could not get the bolt to close otherwise. When converting commercial 308 brass there was no issue.

All my loads for this cartridge are w/ 748. Was always able to find an accurate load. But 95% of them are w/ jacketed. It got put on the back burner due to other guns. Have fun shooting it. I find the 300 Savage to be a soft shooter that can do almost everything the 308 can do.

[runfiverun]

the 300 was before the 308 but it is a smaller copy of the 7.65 argie.
when Winchester and the military looked for a new 30 cal round they opted for more power and a longer neck than the 300. [for full auto use]
the 308 was the first time the commercial round beat the military round to use in the field.

[Norske]

Be sure to read which rifle the reloading manual used in testing their loads. Hornady used a Savage 100 bolt action and claims that 44gr IMR4064 is a good load for 150gr bullets. In my 99, anything over 40gr of that powder causes case stretching. 40gr works very well, and my rifle is accurate with it.

[Butler Ford]

Be sure to read which rifle the reloading manual used in testing their loads. Hornady used a Savage 100 bolt action and claims that 44gr IMR4064 is a good load for 150gr bullets. In my 99, anything over 40gr of that powder causes case stretching. 40gr works very well, and my rifle is accurate with it.

Thank you for the warning. I have taken load data with a grain of salt. I start at or very near the bottom and work my way up paying particular attention to signs of high pressures. Sometimes I don't get to published max, then sometimes, a bit over.

BF

[OverMax]

Lucky you. 300s are getting a bit scares up in my neck of the woods.
Suggestion: My preferred mid range powder (4320) or 4895 will show decent accuracy. 3031 as is 4198 both a bit to fast burning for a 300s liking. Factory head stamped Brass on the other hand you'll find it kind'a hard to come by. Although in owning a couple 300s myself I've found over the years Federal 308 yellow Brass annealed swagged & trimmed to 300 specs has a longer lifespan and is less prone to problems I think than factory original.
Yup!!~~~Enjoy that new lever gun.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`m down to two .300`s while thinning my firearm herd. The first is a Rem. 722 with the Sako type extractor and wearing an older Weaver K4 scope. The other is a 99 take down model that was owned by Brace Breemer, the original radio `Lone Ranger`. It is still not tapped for scope although Brace had a Williams peep sight mounted. I have found they both shoot 150 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets very nicely to the 150 yd. marker and a little farther, if I hold my mouth right! I promised myself to work on cast loads for them both this Winter, only had them since the 1960`s.Robert

[richhodg66]

I love 99s. The .300 is a good round too. I used a 99EG in .300 to kill a decent doe during a blizzard a few years ago using the 311o41 and 28 grains of 4895 if I recall right.

I have found the short neck to be more of an academic problem than a real one.

[Lead pot]

The 99 with a .300 savage chamber is a fine combination. I have one that is a little unusual, it has a O stamped on the lever boss with the date. The O and Q was never on the lever boss according to what I have found in writing.
My rifle likes the 150 gr SP with a load of 4064 or 4895. I still have some old .300 savage brass but most I make from .308 now. I anneal the neck and shoulder and run it through the sizing die and thin the necks.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Talk about old brass. I have 2 original Savage manfacture boxes of 1x fired brass and 1 full box of factory ammo.Robert

[jhalcott]

In my youth I traded for a #99 in .300. It REALLY beat the snot out of me for a couple years. One day I noticed my 300 was a good bit shorter than my brothers. A previous owner had shortened the butstock at least 2 inches. I traded it off to a friend for some nice bino's and a set of walkie talkies. I did let him know about the stock work. I killed 2 deer with that #99, but was developing a flinch from the recoil.

[northmn]

300 Savage is a good caliber. My daughter has one in a bolt action, a rebarreled Chilean Mauser I picked up at an auction. Had to work it over a bit to scope it. She has shot a few deer with it. I had a 99 in 300 Savage and killed a deer with it but it was very awkward for a left handed shooter. I also used a Remington 722 for a couple of deer. When my daughter started using hers, I loaded it down slightly and used Remington Corelok 150 30-30 bullets. It worked very well at the ranges she shot deer. Did not bother seating them to the crimp so they looked a little strange. Did some trading and don't have either the Remington or the 99. They were fun while they lasted.

DP

[Butler Ford]

Woo Hoo! Santa Claus just rang my doorbell! Working tonight but will have something to tryout Monday!

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend of mine - Yes I do have friends - stopped by last night to chat and check out my gun safe contents. This man is in his late 60`s and had a hunting and fishing show on PBS TV for about 20 years. He saw my 99 Savage and asked to look at it. He not only had never seen a 99 Savage but had never heard of the .300 Savage cartridge! Needless to say I got up on my `soap box` and talked about this combo for a good 3/4 of an hour. At least he knew who Brace Breemer was and who the `Lone Ranger` character was. When he left I had the very distinct feeling of being an old timer in both mind and body!Robert

[too many things]

180 is bit heavy for it would get back to 150 or 160 area .
180 will have a bad drop at 100

[Lead pot]

You would even have a deeper distinct feeling of being an old timer in both mind and body if you talked about Howdy Doody and Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring and about a 99 Savage in the .22 High power