Blast from the past--.300 Savage

[blixen]

I ducked into a big box Sporting goods store to check on powder (not much) and noticed a stack of factory .300 Sav. Cartridges. And a couple of sacks of brand-new brass! I thought I stepped into a time warp.

I have 3 .300 Sav. rifles and love the ol' .308 progenitor.

[Mk42gunner]

I hope you followed the big hint to stock up on brass at least. I can not remember the last time I saw .300 Savage brass as components, if I ever did.

Robert

[JWFilips]

You know it is kind of funny My 2 brothers hunted with 300 savage ( I was the only odd ball with a 35 Rem) when I was in my youth.
I almost forgot what they looked like until I recently sorted out a bunch of range brass to sell.... Then I remembered that strange little cartridge again!
Put a lot of meat on our family tables

[blixen]

I'm guessing they were there because everything else was selling out and no one ever heard of .300 Sav.

I made a commitment to some .308 military-converted-to-.300 Sav. brass recently. But I grabbed a sack of the commercial stuff just cause I could. Actually, this will be the first time I've used unfired cases for .300 Savage! Up to now it's been old range pickup.

i know military brass generates higher pressure because of thicker case walls, but it performs and functions about the same, right?

[Hardcast416taylor]

About 10 years back a friend of mine that hosted an outdoors program on a PBS station on the telly called me up to ask about a rifle he had. It had been given to him quite a few years before and he put it in his safe and forgot about it. He said it was a Savage 99 and in some odd ball caliber, a .300 Savage he said. He claimed he had never heard of such a caliber, now this guy is almost 70 now! I explained what it was and to bring the rifle over and we would fire some factory ammo I had thru it. After only 4 or 5 shots he took a liking to the little round and the rifle.Robert

[frnkeore]

There are a lot of Rem 722's out there in 300 Savage. It's a excellent caliber and is as close as you can come to the 308 Win.

In a 722 (not a Sav 99), you can reduce 308 loads by 1.0 gr and get the same velocity and as good or better accuracy as the 308 Win.

Frank

[blixen]

There are a lot of Rem 722's out there in 300 Savage. It's a excellent caliber and is as close as you can come to the 308 Win.

In a 722 (not a Sav 99), you can reduce 308 loads by 1.0 gr and get the same velocity and as good or better accuracy as the 308 Win.

Frank

Thanks, Frank. I own both a Sav. 99 and a Rem. 722, which explains my love of the .300 Savage—both are tack drivers. (Someday I'll find a Remington pump in .300 Savage.) Since, I shoot only boolits through them, I don't really push velocities much beyond 1,800 fps.

[blixen]

I forgot. I also have a Arisaka rechambered to fire.300 savage. Rechambered isn't quite right, someone in the '50s figured that if you cut off some of the breech end of a 7.7x58 chamber it was approximately the same as a .300 Sav. So it's a "7.7mm Savage" and needs .314 boolits to shoot well.

[dragon813gt]

It's not an obsolete cartridge yet. You can still buy new production ammo. In my area it's easier to find then 35 Remington. I own a bunch of 99s chambered for it. My Uncle owns a 99 and inherited my Grandfathers's 760 and a converted Arisaka. I love the round and w/out it we wouldn't have the 308 Winchester. People want the newest wiz bang round and over look most of the old great ones that do everything just as well.

[tdoyka]

i didn't have it but a friend got a 300 sav in m99 right after high school gradution, bought it from an old fella. we shot a bunch of shells thru that gun, they were around $10 for factory loads. he hunted with it and killed a couple of deer. this was like 25 years ago, and you are right, "the old great ones that do everything just as well. " this year i really wish the 30-40 krag does as well too.

[Dan Cash]

.....i know military brass generates higher pressure because of thicker case walls, but it performs and functions about the same, right?

I was experimenting with paper patched .300 Sav last winter using converted 7.62 brass. The max load in the converted brass was significantly lower though I would have to look up what it was. I would suggest starting 20% lower than the standard starting load for any non ball powder.

[Dan Cash]

.... " this year i really wish the 30-40 krag does as well too.

Never fear, the .30-40 is everything a .308 ever wanted to be and much better with heavy bullets.

[tdoyka]

Never fear, the .30-40 is everything a .308 ever wanted to be and much better with heavy bullets.

i'm shooting a 165gr(173gr actually) ranch dog thru my '98 springfield. the 300 sav would like that one too!!!:bigsmyl2:

[blixen01]

I'm picking up a 165 grain ranch dog mold tomorrow. I hope it shoots as well as my Lee 175 .308 (sized to .310).

[CJR]

The 300 Savage was the forerunner and model for the 308Win. Handloaded, it will equal or surpass the 308W with some loadings. It is my "meat gun" in a Rem 760. I'm currently working on PP loads for my 760 rifle and enjoying every minute of range time.

Best regards,

CJR

[blixen]

Let us know how the paper patching goes. Picked up my second-hand ranch dog today. One cavity is gas checked and the other plain base.

[starmac]

Sportsmans warehouse is one of the very few places ammo is available here. They always have 300 savage ammo, but like every other caliber it dried up for a few months during the great government gun and ammo sales period. lol

[ChristopherO]

I met an older gentleman in Greybull, Wy that hunted deer and elk with a Remington 722 in 300 Savage. In my younger days I looked down my nose at that round as anemic compared to my vaulted 30/06. At least the reloading manuals of the day said so. Thing is, this gentleman's family ate very well with this rifle around.

[FergusonTO35]

Love the .250 and .300 Savage, great old rounds. Strangely, the Meijer's store near my apartment in Lexington in the mid-2000's always had a bunch of it.

[Larry Gibson]

'Nother nice thing about all those M99 .300 Savages for use with cast bullets.....they all have 12" twists:bigsmyl2:

Larry Gibson

[dragon813gt]

'Nother nice thing about all those M99 .300 Savages for use with cast bullets.....they all have 12" twists:bigsmyl2:

Larry Gibson

And don't worry about seating a bullet below the neck :)

[JDL]

A .300 Savage is what started me on my adventure with cast boolits. Killed my first deer with one using Lyman's 311465 and 18.2 grains of H-4227 and later, made my longest shot with the same load....a little over 200 yards. Hey, I was young and dumb in 1976.:-)
Purchased a Lyman 31141 at a gunshow and found that a case full of old H-4831 under it to be the berries for shooting deer. Fine round, the .300!

[rjathon]

I have a beater 722 in 300 Savage that I bought for the action with the intention of having my gun smith buddy rebarrel it with a sweet fast twist .224 caliber polygonal rifled barrel in some speed demon cartridge. He told me to shoot the 300 Savage first as they were known to be accurate. I did and it was! It shot anything I put through it well. With VLD bullets the fit in the case and the magazine was perfect, unlike with a 308 Win in a short action, plus it can be hand loaded to similar velocities in the bolt action.

Needless to say the 22 project was canceled. I gave the barrel to my buddy. He did a 22 Middlestead and shot the barrel out years ago. My 722 will last for generations.

[Freischütz]

I have a Remington M81 and was surprised by how deep I had to seat 311291. Accuracy is ok and no leading with 24 gr of H4198. That's the minimum to work the action.

[blixen]

My Rem. 722 also shoots .300 Sav. Extremely well and likes the 165 gr. ranch dog meant for 30-30. I'd love to try the RD designed for the .300 Sav. But I missed the group buy.

[358 Win]

I've got the .300 Savage in a 1948 722, 1956 Savage 99, a Remington 700 Classic and a Remington 7600 pump. One of my favorite chamberings. When I kill a Whitetail deer with the .300 Savage, .308 Win or 30-06, there really is not a difference that I can tell. My handloads push a 150 grain WW Power Point to 2700 fps in the .300 Savage, 2800 fps in the .308 Win, and 2900 fps in the 30-06 respectively. Our Pennsylvania Whitetail deer just crumble in a heap when hit properly by any of the above speeds. The .300 Savage reloads are as accurate as any of the other two chamberings mentioned. When loaded with the proper bullet, I would not feel undergunned hunting anything that walks, crawls, flies, bites or that wants to kill me.

358 Win

[res45]

I'm guessing they were there because everything else was selling out and no one ever heard of .300 Sav.

I made a commitment to some .308 military-converted-to-.300 Sav. brass recently. But I grabbed a sack of the commercial stuff just cause I could. Actually, this will be the first time I've used unfired cases for .300 Savage! Up to now it's been old range pickup.

i know military brass generates higher pressure because of thicker case walls, but it performs and functions about the same, right?

It;s work out just fine for me as I've converted several hundred .308 Win. as well as 7.62 NATO to 300 Sav. for my Sav.99 most of it either given to me or left at the range to pick up for free. I use the converted 308 cases for some J bullet loads as 100 will last me a long time. The rest of the 308's and converted NATO case are set aside for shooting cast bullet loads.

In a side by side test shooting identical loads the NATO cases gave me around 75 fps. added MV. I didn't even have to turn the case necks on the thicker NATO brass as theu chamber just fine with my .311" dia. cast bullets.

[dale2242]

Blixen, What brand were the 300 Savage ammo and new brass you saw on the shelf?....dale

[dtknowles]

In a new rifle I can't imagine a reason to pick the 300 Savage over a 308 Win. but in an older model 99 I can understand. I don't like the short neck on the 300 Savage. I understand that the deer can't tell the difference once you hit them even for range an wind drift a couple hundred FPS does not matter much.

Tim

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall reading of the Army`s tests on the .300 Sav. round before they did tests and finally adopted the 7.62 round. The .300 was considered a `baby .30-06` due to the closeness there was in both rounds with 147 gr. fmj ammo. The single thing that counted most against the .300 was the short neck, it wouldn`t feed well thru full auto weapons in a belt. I`m down to just a 722 and a 99 take down in .300 Sav. now, funny that I don`t feel handicapped with either?Robert

[GunnyJohn]

I picked up a model 99 in 300 awhile back. I didn't know about the shorter action length of the older models. I was going to have Jess rebore it to a 358 win. I called and talked to him, and that's when I found out about the action length. I was disappointed at first, but after shooting a couple of boxes of store bought through it, I've gotten over it. Now to clean the barrel and get some cast loaded and ready. I was thinking of trying my 311466 first and seeing how that works. Seems like it could be a really good fit. Let the adventure begin.

[waco]

I just bought a Rem 722 in 300 Sav. I have had good luck so far with the Lee 312-155

[Texas by God]

I picked up a model 99 in 300 awhile back. I didn't know about the shorter action length of the older models. I was going to have Jess rebore it to a 358 win. I called and talked to him, and that's when I found out about the action length. I was disappointed at first, but after shooting a couple of boxes of store bought through it, I've gotten over it. Now to clean the barrel and get some cast loaded and ready. I was thinking of trying my 311466 first and seeing how that works. Seems like it could be a really good fit. Let the adventure begin.

Have him rebore to ".350 Savage" instead!
I've owned 2 model 81 Rem, a M99 Savage, and rebarreled a 98/22 Mauser in .300 Savage. I enjoyed them all.