.303 Savage

[Gerry2]

What bullet weight works best in .303 Savage? I have a Lee 170 gr. mold that I use for my 30-30 and plan on using it in my .303 as well, but wondered if other weights generally work better in either calibre. My 99A was made in 1938 or 1939. I'm not sure what the twist is.

[carpetman]

Gerry2--The Savage 99 serial numbers in 1938 ended with #381,351 and in 1939 they ended at 388,640. Exact year wont matter on the twist but will let you determine which year.

[drinks]

Gerry;
I shoot the Lee 113gc, 150gr Speer Spires, Lee 170gr fn gc and the Lee 200gr rn gc.
All do fine in my 1920 lightweight carbine. I am shooting the 170 at 2300 fps and the 200gr at 2000fps, using factory cases, cases made from .220 Swift and cases made from .30-30 , by adding a brass ring ahead of the rim and fireforming.
34.5gr IMR4064 with the 170 and 34gr BLC-2 with the 200gr.

[Ed Barrett]

In my 1923 99 takedown, I've had excellent results with the "soupcan", 150 gr. 172 gr. cast. I have not tried anything greater than 170 gr.
The "soupcan" is amazing with 1.3" groups at 50 yards with a tang peep sight and 64 year old eyes.

[jethrow strait]

Elegant old gal, smooth as silk, an 1899B of 1909 vintage with 26" barrell, schnabel forend, curved metal buttplate, and that long-legged old Marble 99 tang sight of the pre-scope era. Takedown 303, one of the early ones with interrupted threads worn a bit---a little dope tape seemed to cure the loose fit. She shoots purty good too, but I shelter her from anything too exciting velocity-wise.

Her favorite loads, with 4759 or 4895 behind the 170+ grain Lyman 311041 @1700-1900fps, consistantly grant me under an inch @ 50yds, which is better than I can see, even with that fine front post, .050" rear aperture, and the looong sighting plane.-----jethrow

[Buckshot]

.............Jethrow, liked your description of the rifle. Don't like it much, do you ? :D Do you just get it out and look at it sometimes?

..............Buckshot

[jethrow strait]

Buckshot, aside from being a bit of a wood phreak, I tend to be on the practical side, but I think you're right. Sold my post-1930 99's for cold hard cash(well, actually I think the money went into new toys). Only the '99 oldies really appeal to me. Got a 1916 250-3000, which is extemely accurate even in irons. That I shoot quite a bit. But as a looker, with a stubbier 22" barrel, a glob of a receiver sight, and a plain-jane shotgun buttplate, it just doesn't compare to the ole .303.------jethrow

[Gerry2]

Thanks for the feedback. My 99 was made in 1938. Ken Watters (Pet Loads) recommends .311 sized bollits. Would the .303B 185 gr. Lee bollit sized to .311 work better than the .308? Has anyone tried it? I still haven't been able to find any cases to load but my dies arrived today. If it shoots anything like my .300 Savage I'll be happy. I'm leary about trying 30-30 cases since there seems to be quite a difference in size. What is the proceedure in resizing them to .303 Sav.?
Gerry

[drinks]

Gerry;
There are several routes to .303 Savage cases.
I believe Buffalo Arms has some reformed cases at about $80-90 a 100.
Some scandanavian co.still makes them, but the people who bought some gave the dimensions and they were .008 oversize at the head and $30 a 20.
I make mine, either by cutting a .15" long ring off a .40 S&W case and pressing it down on a .30-30 case so it is at the rim, this centers the case in the chamber and makes expansion take place ahead of the solid head/ body junction so case head seperation is much less likely.
The other way is to use .220 Swift cases, anneal the neck and shoulder, resize in the .303 Savage sizing die with the decapper/ expander rod removed, put 4.5gr Unique or Universal in the primed case, put a small wad of tissue over the powder, fill the case with cornmeal, put another wad of tissue over the cornmeal and load and fire.
All that is left is to trim to length, chamfer, full length resize and get ready to load.
The .30-30 route costs about 7c per case with once fired cases, the .220 Swift cases are about 32c by the time you fireform with new cases, would be much less if you can find once fired Swift cases.

[C1PNR]

Gerry2--The Savage 99 serial numbers in 1938 ended with #381,351 and in 1939 they ended at 388,640. Exact year wont matter on the twist but will let you determine which year.
CMan, I can't seem to find the Savage serial number reference site. Do you have the url to look up serial numbers by year? I've got a couple I'd like to check.

[drinks]

Savage99.com

[Scrounger]

CarpetMan seems to be off on safari again. Drinks supplied the answer. Here's a link to that page: http://www.savage99.com/savage99_dates.htm

[Bret4207]

As for cases, and not to start a war here, I have had complete sucess just running 220 Swift cases into a Lee 303 Savge die and trimming. No anneling, fireforming or anything needed. As far as bullet diameter the very, very early 303's appear to have used .311 BULLETS in a .308 barrel although there are some guys who say they have .311 barrels. Slug the barrel to find out. There was a long running thred on this on the aimoo board, but I know of no way to recover it.

[Abert Rim]

Um, Huntington's has new Norma .303 Savage brass. Not cheap, but no doubt very well made.

[drinks]

Abert;
Norma cases were the ones a poster on another board measured at .008 oversize at the head.
Also $30 something for 20 cases.
The best info I have found was that the '95 Savage did have a .311 bore, but when the '99 came out, it was standardized at .308 with the other common .30s.
I have measurements of .300-308 and have good results with .308 jacketed and either .309 or .311 cast gas checks, cannot see any difference.

[C1PNR]

Savage99.com
That link gives me the 1938 vintage .300 Savage, but not the later 777xxx 250-3000. Oh well, at least I've got the goods on one of them.

Thanks guys!