Feeling the shortage to feed a Savage 99

Tex1001

Tex1001

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I fell into a deal for a cheep Savage 99F in 300 Savage. I've been in love with the 99s for years. I have a 99E in .243 Win and a 1899 takedown in .303 Savage. I sold a 99E in .308 years ago that I still regret.
I haven't bought any reloading stuff for 2 years and I figured that off caliber brass would be findable.
Dies were easy and I have primers, powder, and bullets, but I can find no brass. None. Nada. And I found .303 Savage brass for the 1899 a few years ago.
I found a single box of factory ammo as a reference. I've been converting 50 .308 empties to 300 Savage. Labor intensive but the rifle is usable.
New reloaders, to a certain extent, I feel your pain.

ETA: On reflection, I think I see why I got it so cheep.
 
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These things are fun and I picked up an 1899 250-3000 recently which came with about 100 cases and about the same in old factory loads...l see it dated to 1915 or 1916...my 1st is a 1950 vintage 300 savage and I somehow glommed onto about another 100 rounds factory stuff for it too...I just love the nostalgia of these rifles and the honest clean wear they have accumulated, but not from abuse, they are still very serviceable and I am excited to give them a try in the field someday! Cheers!
 
It is extremely simple to get brass for feeding those old 99/1899s. For .300 Savage, just FL resize .308 brass in the .300 FL die and then shorten the neck to length (I use a small tubing cutter). It's not labor-intensive at all. I have made hundreds of .300 Savage cases that way. For .303 Savage, resize .30-30 brass. The base of the .303 is slightly larger in diameter than the .30-30 case, so I cut some thin slices (about 1/4" wide) of masking tape and make two turns around the base just ahead of the rim. After firing the first shot, the brass is then fire-formed into the chamber. The tape acts to centralize the case and can then be removed. Alternatively, .220 Swift brass can be resized to .303, but it's a lot more work than just using .30-30 cases. I have never had a failure in any of my reformed .30-30 cases, but I have experienced a few neck splits after reloading them several times.

Note that the main difference between .300 Savage and .308 Win cases is the neck length (in fact, the .300 case is the parent of the .308). I recommend that Federal .308 cases not be used, but Remington, W-W, and GI .308/7.62mm cases should be OK. I did run across 40 once-fired factory .300 Savage cases at a gun show several years ago at a very low price, a dime each, nice if you can find any. Never pass up a good rifle chambered in .300 Savage at a good price just because of ammunition scarcity, you can always make all the cases for reloading that you'll ever need.
 
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Midway has 300 Savage Remington ammo in stock. I’ve found it to be very accurate in all my rifles. Just pull the trigger and you’ve got brass!
 
Lots of .300 Savage on "AmmoSeek", if you don't mind paying $2.00 / $2.25 a round. Fair, I guess, at today's prices, considering it's hunting season. I would probably make my own, since I have a lot of .308 brass.

Larry
 
DWalt said:
It is extremely simple to get brass for feeding those old 99/1899s.

Never pass up a good rifle chambered in .300 Savage at a good price just because of ammunition scarcity, you can always make all the cases for reloading that you'll ever need.
Click to expand...

Thanks. The 50 300s that I've made so far come from mil 308 brass. Not truly labor intensive, I'm just lazy.

I got the 303 on a bet and considered it a wall hanger until I found new Prvi brass for sale and bought 250. I put a Marbles tang sight on it and use it as a whitetail rifle.
I will never pass up a model 99 for a good price.
 
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I have a takedown M99 chambered in .303, and it also has a Marble's tang rear sight. Finish condition is not the best, I'd say about average for a gun that old, but there is nothing mechanically wrong with it. I did apply a fresh oil finish to the wood, and that made it look much better. I don't shoot it much anymore, but I do take it out and shoot it some a few times per year at 50 yards using mainly cast bullets with GCs. It will shoot 2" groups consistently. I have tried using plain-based lead bullets, but groups open up quite a bit. Might be better if I reduced the MV down to the sub-1500 ft/sec range, my loads are around 1700 ft/sec. I have always considered the 99 a much better lever-action design than the Winchester 94. Back in the day, there was a .410 barrel available for the 99 TDs, which would convert it into a single shot .410 shotgun. I have never seen one of those .410 barrels, but I know that they do exist.
 
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I have a couple thousand of the 30cal/22cal sabots
I load 68gr SPs and use the .303 for short/medium range varmints.
My 1899 is a takedown with a 24in barrel I believe. I've had to do extensive renovation on it. Good times.

ETA: 26in barrel.
 
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DWalt said:
. Back in the day, there was a .410 barrel available for the 99 TDs, which would convert it into a single shot .410 shotgun. I have never seen one of those .410 barrels, but I know that they do exist.
Click to expand...

I came across a 99 two barrel set in a pawn shop in Wyoming during the 80s. .22 HP and .410. The shotgun barrel was in nice shape, but the action and rifle barrel had been "rode hard and put away wet". I passed. That may have been the only 99 I ever handled that I had no desire to buy.
 
My brother has a 99 in 300Sav. I made up as much 300Sav brass for him as I could find from NATO, commercial 308, even used 243Win.
They all came out fine.

My only 99 is an 1899 Model C grade (1/2oct bbl) in 30-30. Tang sight and 2 leaf folding rear bbl sight.
Shoots nice. Should take it out this week maybe.

I've seen a few of the 410bbl TD 99 rifles. They came in a black hard case with the rifle bbl set up usually.

People get all giddy over the 410 xtra bbl . But I think the novelty of it would wear off kind of quickly in the real world after using it for a few minutes.
Collectors sure like them.
 
Similar situation....friend of mine was looking for .250-3000 Savage brass for his 99 and couldn't seem to find any at any of the local gun shows.
I suggested, "Why not get some 22-250 brass and neck it back up? He just looked dumbfounded....and then said, " Now why didn't "I" think of that?

Was a happy reloader after that!!
 
Fishinfool said:
Lots of .300 Savage on "AmmoSeek", if you don't mind paying $2.00 / $2.25 a round. Fair, I guess, at today's prices, considering it's hunting season. I would probably make my own, since I have a lot of .308 brass.

Larry
Click to expand...

I forgot about hunting season. I think that I'll crank out another hundred empties and wait it out.
 
Thanks have never heard of this company. Can't seem to put the item in their shopping cart. Also, the bullet doesn't show up as available anywhere on ammoseek.com
 
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