johnt671
US Veteran
I just picked up a Savage lever action rifle, and wanted to see about rounds for it. I understand it may vary by region, but any info would be great, plus a good price to pay for it.
.303 ammo availabilty ?
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I just searched online. Wisconsin cartridge shows some in stock for $50/20. GB seems to be selling for that and up. In the past, Hornady has done a seasonal run of it as well.
Of course, $50 is the current "new normal". This would have been $25-$30 before. I don't believe its a very widely used cartridge today so reloading may be a good option if you plan to shoot it. If you just want some display boxes, try Wards auction.
Of course, $50 is the current "new normal". This would have been $25-$30 before. I don't believe its a very widely used cartridge today so reloading may be a good option if you plan to shoot it. If you just want some display boxes, try Wards auction.
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303 ??
Blimie.........
let me sit down and have a cup of tea and think about that one, for a while.
Blimie.........
let me sit down and have a cup of tea and think about that one, for a while.
jmiles1960
Member
A local shop near me had a box on the shelf. I thought it was .303 Brit, but it was .303 Savage. Remington yellow box, I believe. Pretty sure it only had 12-14 unused rounds in it and the rest brass empties. If you're interested, I'll probably stop in the store on Monday evening.
I was in a large local gun and outdoor goods store yesterday (Lawson's in Loretto, TN) and saw several boxes of . 303 Savage. I don't remember the particulars of the loading or the price. 931-853-4877 is the phone number for them. They might ship it.
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No. The .303 Savage is a .308 diameter and the .303 British is .313. Not to mention the case dimensions are different.
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At our local range far from the city, a old timer showed up shooting an old SMLE and was shooting a couple shots before elk season. I looked over and he had a box of 303 Savages. I stopped him and told him he had the wrong ammo. With a look only an old codger can give a young welp, he said I didn't know prunes and that he had been using this ammo for years. I tried to explain but nothing worked. I stood well to the rear when he fired. With the Savage and British ammo both head spacing on the rim, and the British had a larger bore than the Savage ammo and the Savage had a smaller diameter and shorter case, nothing happened. He fired a few rounds and left looking at this dumb kid. I picked up his brass off the ground and it had fireformed to British size with no neck. Several seasons afterwards I knew he had been to the range as I would find more of his brass.
Paul in Nevada
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That's gonna be a hand load only proposition unless you can find some online.
ArchAngelCD
Moderator, SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
If you decide to go the reloading route Grafs has some in stock.
303 Savage - Rifle Brass - Metallic Reloading - Graf & Sons
You can also form some from 30/40 Krag brass.
Of course that is if you reload or have a family member who does.
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...and he never did hit that elk....
I eventually became friends with his nephew. According to him, his barn was often over full of wild beasts that were felled by him. I remember reading a couple accounts in the days of old that tell of 44/40 shooters that were out of ammo and would use 38/40 ammo with the bullet wrapped with a thin layer of leather to make it snug to the bore. Got to admire those old dudes.
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If you look around you can find new 303Savage brass for reloading such as Graf & Sons as posted above.
It's an odd size base dia.
Win30-30 is smaller though some use it and let it fireform ahead of the solid base and seem to use it w/o any problems.
30-40Krag and 303-Brit are both a bit to large in dia at the base but can be sized and if needed the base can be reduced to fit the rifles chamber. Some need it some may not.
One case that usually forms nicely to 303Savage and doesn't need any base reduction nor has any oversize fireforming when firing is the 220 Swift.
The Swift is a semi-rimmed case. The rim is of 30-06dia,,but the rim is sufficient for the 99's bolt and extractor to grab for functioning.
All possibilitys, I probably spring for a box or two of either loaded ammo or new brass and just continue on my way.
Good caliber. .308 d bullet and it used to be loaded with the heavier weight bullets 180, 200 gr.
LEE makes/made a 3 die set of reloading dies for the 303Savage. You can still find them in stock for around $35 w/ SH.
Not a bad price.
It's an odd size base dia.
Win30-30 is smaller though some use it and let it fireform ahead of the solid base and seem to use it w/o any problems.
30-40Krag and 303-Brit are both a bit to large in dia at the base but can be sized and if needed the base can be reduced to fit the rifles chamber. Some need it some may not.
One case that usually forms nicely to 303Savage and doesn't need any base reduction nor has any oversize fireforming when firing is the 220 Swift.
The Swift is a semi-rimmed case. The rim is of 30-06dia,,but the rim is sufficient for the 99's bolt and extractor to grab for functioning.
All possibilitys, I probably spring for a box or two of either loaded ammo or new brass and just continue on my way.
Good caliber. .308 d bullet and it used to be loaded with the heavier weight bullets 180, 200 gr.
LEE makes/made a 3 die set of reloading dies for the 303Savage. You can still find them in stock for around $35 w/ SH.
Not a bad price.
STORMINORMAN
Member
Try Gunbroker: there was a 5 boxes of 20 ad (100 rounds at $3 each) and others...
Cheers!
Cheers!
Fishinfool
Member
Even in the best of times 303 Savage was a scarce item and cost two or three times as much as 30-30 ammo. Still, if a nice old Savage 99 or 1899 in 303 Savage came up at a good price I'd buy and worry a out the ammo later.
John
John
DWalt
Member
Easy to form .303 S brass from .30-30 cases. I have been doing it for many years.
From my recent posting -
I have owned at least one Savage 99 in .303 S for many years. I have a fair amount of factory .303 S ammo and cases (old), but it is pretty simple to make your own brass if you can get a set of .303 S dies (my die set is Lee, maybe they are still made by them). Just FL .30-30 brass in the .303 S die. Note that the .303 S case's base is a little larger than the .30-30's base. What I do is to wrap two turns of masking tape, about 1/4" wide, around the formed .30-30 case base ahead of the rim to act as a centralizer in the .303 S chamber. The first shot fired fire-forms the .30-30 case into a .303 S case, and the tape can then be removed. Some are horrified at this base diameter mismatch, but I have never had one of those fired cases fail despite having fired thousands of such rounds, using both lead and jacketed bullets. As previously noted, the original .303 S factory loads used a 190 grain bullet (vs. the standard 170 grain bullet used in the .30-30) which has a greater sectional density and therefore provides more penetration in tissue. One nice thing about the Savage 99 lever actions is that spitzer bullets can be used without any risk of tubular magazine detonation from recoil, as the Savage does not use a tubular magazine.
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One case that usually forms nicely to 303 Savage and doesn't need any base reduction nor has any oversize fireforming when firing is the 220 Swift.
I have done that and it works, but it takes much more effort to perform than simply resizing .30-30 brass. You will have to neck expand and anneal the .220 case neck in three or four stages to avoid splitting it. As I remember, I expanded using .243, 6.5mm, and 7mm dies, before going to .30. Making up 20 .303 S cases that way was more labor than I expected, and I haven't done it since.
From my recent posting -
I have owned at least one Savage 99 in .303 S for many years. I have a fair amount of factory .303 S ammo and cases (old), but it is pretty simple to make your own brass if you can get a set of .303 S dies (my die set is Lee, maybe they are still made by them). Just FL .30-30 brass in the .303 S die. Note that the .303 S case's base is a little larger than the .30-30's base. What I do is to wrap two turns of masking tape, about 1/4" wide, around the formed .30-30 case base ahead of the rim to act as a centralizer in the .303 S chamber. The first shot fired fire-forms the .30-30 case into a .303 S case, and the tape can then be removed. Some are horrified at this base diameter mismatch, but I have never had one of those fired cases fail despite having fired thousands of such rounds, using both lead and jacketed bullets. As previously noted, the original .303 S factory loads used a 190 grain bullet (vs. the standard 170 grain bullet used in the .30-30) which has a greater sectional density and therefore provides more penetration in tissue. One nice thing about the Savage 99 lever actions is that spitzer bullets can be used without any risk of tubular magazine detonation from recoil, as the Savage does not use a tubular magazine.
------------------------------
One case that usually forms nicely to 303 Savage and doesn't need any base reduction nor has any oversize fireforming when firing is the 220 Swift.
I have done that and it works, but it takes much more effort to perform than simply resizing .30-30 brass. You will have to neck expand and anneal the .220 case neck in three or four stages to avoid splitting it. As I remember, I expanded using .243, 6.5mm, and 7mm dies, before going to .30. Making up 20 .303 S cases that way was more labor than I expected, and I haven't done it since.
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