300 Savage and cast boolits?

[tahoe2]

Anybody use the Model 99 and cast boolits? 150's, 170's, or ??
or should I just stick with the good ol 30-30. Ranges are usually 150 or less in
scattered timber. The reason I ask is due to the unusually short neck of the 300
as opposed to the long neck of the 30-30. :veryconfu

[WRideout]

Many years ago I used a Lyman 311467 in my Sav 99, and didn't have any trouble with it. I only used it for plinking, but then your question was about the neck length. It seems like the rotary mag on the Savage treats the cartridges a little more gently than a tubular mag, which would help the boolits stay in alignment.

Wayne

[Maineboy]

I used to shoot a lot of cast boolits in my 99 300 Savage and, in spite of the short neck and many "warnings" about it, had good luck with everything from the Lee 113fp to the RCBS 30-180-FN which weighs about 195 grains. That the longer boolits do protrude into the powder well past the gas check doesn't seem to be a problem. The short neck was a problem until I started using a Lee factory crimp die for a firmer hold. I did hunt deer one season with that RCBS boolit and a load of surplus CMR100 powder that gave me 2010fps but never shot anything.

[451whitworth]

I use the RCBS 30-150 FN in my 300 Savage. My old 99 dosen't like the longer bullets.

[taco650]

Just read an article in this months Handloader magazine on the 300 Savage. They were getting great results with 150gr Corelok j-words under Varget and Win 748. The base of the bullet was even with the base of the neck and the charge they used (43gr of either) just filled up to the base of the neck. The article said the Model 99 has a 1-12 twist which made the 150's an ideal weight/velocity combo. Heavier slugs couldn't be driven fast enough to stabilize and give good accuracy with the 1-12 twist. Not sure how well this will translate to cast boolits but something to think about. IMO, 300 Savage is a way better round than the 30-30 for the ranges you specified just because it has more power to deal with less than ideal shot angles, etc. It also won't hammer you like an '06 will.

[Kevinakaq]

Working on loads for cast with a Savage 99 in 300 as well. My first session was a complete failure. Had fired some jwords through it at 75 yards with decent groupings (lyman peep). Switched over to some 312-155 Lee bullets sized to 310 with a target load of unique (not in workshop to check notes but think it was 12 gr) and was greatly suprised. Bullets started hitting seven yards in front of target and several feet to the left or so. I expected some drop but that was a bit much. Something definitly amiss. Stopped shotting after two rounds. Will pull a bullet out tomorrow and check powder on one of the rounds I didnt fire. This was a load that I had tested in my Rem 760 and had good results so it is a work in progress concerning the 99. Haven't investigated further, but hope to work it out next week. Will keep you updated as I progress and please do the same if you find some magic.

[richhodg66]

31141 or the NOE clone 311041 works well in my 99, though the NOE clone has a bigger diameter nose so seating must be deeper. The Ranchdog bullet works well in it too.

[kawasakifreak77]

Would the 'soup can' be a good boolit for the Savage? I'm thinking of the short neck here. Dad just got a well preserved 722 Remington that's a doll. Interested in making a light load for it.

[dragon813gt]

I've tried Mihec"s 30 Sil and Hunting bullet in mine. Haven't finished the load work up yet. But both are shooting decent. Still have to try the 311440. And one day the 311241 one will be cut. I load below the neck and don't worry about it. This got pushed to the back burner because I bought a bunch of 35 cal rifles :)

[Dan Cash]

I have had a go with the 31141 paper patched in my .300. To feed the round through the magazine, the base is way below the neck. Groups are in the 12 to 18 inch range at 100 yds and recovered bullets have a heavily peened base and side of shank where bullet was below the neck. I set aside the project until I come up with a .80 or .90 long bullet to try. The gun does well with jacketed bullets in the 140 to 165 grain range.

[Maineboy]

Would the 'soup can' be a good boolit for the Savage? I'm thinking of the short neck here. Dad just got a well preserved 722 Remington that's a doll. Interested in making a light load for it.

Try it with a load of 9 grains of Unique. I believe the velocity is around 1500fps. That load works pretty good in my Savage 99 (1 3/4" at 100 yards) but I'll bet it works better in a bolt action rifle.

[tahoe2]

My 300 will group 150 grn Sierra RN J-bullets at an honest 1-1/2" and 165 grn Speer Grand Slams under an 1" (3 shots) @ 100.
I was just curious how Cast has performed for others, as I have used them in 30-30 with fair results 2"-3" @ 60-70 yds.
The 30-30 will shoot J-bullets that well @ 100 all day long, so I stopped shooting cast through it.
I have not shot cast all that much in rifles, and all my rifle shooting is geared towards hunting. I have not slugged the Savage yet.

[richhodg66]

I have had a go with the 31141 paper patched in my .300. To feed the round through the magazine, the base is way below the neck. Groups are in the 12 to 18 inch range at 100 yds and recovered bullets have a heavily peened base and side of shank where bullet was below the neck. I set aside the project until I come up with a .80 or .90 long bullet to try. The gun does well with jacketed bullets in the 140 to 165 grain range.

I don't know a lot about paper patching, so maybe the dynamics are different, but my standard load with that NOE bullet that has to be seated quite a bit below the neck never gave a problem. I used 28 grains of IMR 4895 and some Dacron filler on top. Turned out to be a good deer load. Did you use any kind of a filler?

[smilin jack]

Have loaded some 150 FN gas checked in my 300 Sav. Don't know the mold number as a friend gave the slugs to me lubed and sized. My rifle is a Remington pump in 300 Sav. The velecity was near 1500 f/s by my old Lyman handbook. Don't remember the powder, but they worked well on bowling pins at 50 feet.
The slugs were seated deep at the crimp groove and didn't feed well when quickly working the action. Needless to say, I didn't win that night. The winner had a Winchester lever in 30-30 Win with 177 cast FN. Don't know his load, but it did bark. He even let me fire a few of his rounds with his rifle.
Dave

[Geezer in NH]

I never had any problems with using cast in the 300 savage. I always have used Hornady crimp gas checks for the high power loads. No gas checks until 1500 fps or so. Same as any caliber it seems. (being cheap I like mid-range that does not need GC.)

GO FOR IT I like the 99 way better than a 94 win. Mine are in 303 Savage and I like the heavier casts.

[res45]

My Sav. 99 in 300 Sav. shoots cast lead just fine. I shoot the Lee 150 and 170 gr. RN FP as well as the 160 gr. RN designed for the 7.62 x 39 sized to .311" All bullets are gas checked an get a med. roll crimp in the provided crimp groove. So far 16.0 grs. 2400 which is all I have tried provide excellent accuracy.

A couple 5 shot groups I shot with these bullets.
http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s443/reloader762/scan0002_zps0c79a495.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/reloader762/media/scan0002_zps0c79a495.jpg.html)
http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s443/reloader762/scan0001_zpse8cc60ae.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/reloader762/media/scan0001_zpse8cc60ae.jpg.html)

[kawasakifreak77]

That's some dang good shootin'!

[res45]

That's some dang good shootin'!

Thanks,I can only shoot about 50 yds. in my back yard. Our public range which closed down for a couple years while it was being rebuilt by the state just opened back up,I can shoot out to 100 yds there. It's a day trip to go there and shoot so it might be awhile before I can stretch it out and test that load and a few others I'm working up.

I've converted some 7.62 NATO brass a friend gave me to 300 Sav. and using it with the 16.0 gr. load I can gain close to 100 fps. velocity using the LC brass vs. standard commercial 300 Sav. brass.

[Larry Gibson]

The article said the Model 99 has a 1-12 twist which made the 150's an ideal weight/velocity combo. Heavier slugs couldn't be driven fast enough to stabilize and give good accuracy with the 1-12 twist.

The gun writer that said that was full of BS and the magazine editor that printed it probably wonders why circulation doesn't increase. It is pure bunk. A .30 cal barrel with 12" twist in the 30-30, .300 Savage and .308W will stabilize 200 gr bullets, cast or jacketed just fine down to pretty low velocity.

To the OP's subject; I have loaded cast for several .300 Savages over the years from some older than me (way older!) to the latest production. I found for hunting the tried and true 311041 was an excellent choice. I most often just used 4895 and pushed them to 2200+ fps with 2 moa or less accuracy. The Dacron filler protected the bullet base as a couple had shorter throats requiring the GC to be slightly below the neck. I also have the RCBS 30-150-FN and imagine it would be fine for the hunting conditions the OP mentions. Should get 2200+ fps with it also over 4895 with very good hunting accuracy.

Larry Gibson