Success with the .303 Savage

[raljr1]

Have not bought ammo for it for years. What does it cost now? Is it hard to find?

I walked into a local shop the other day looking for 300 savage ammo for my model 99 takedown. The guy had 303 on the shelf… did not ask the price.

 

[22lrfan]

I love my Savage 99's.

These two are in .303 Savage. A 1914 model 1899H and a 1904 1899B.

 

[30-30remchester]

I would like to see the recovered bullet. Owning a few 303's I have always admired the round, but acquiring them later in life, my eyes wont allow me to hunt with them. I collect recovered bullets and have nearly 200 taken from game over my years of hunting and guiding. Have never seen a 190 Silvertip recovered. And not defaming in any way the grand old cartridge, stopping a bullet this heavy in the shoulders of a whitetail makes me question the awesome penetration stories. But then again the Silvertip bullets pictured are just cup and core, far from the original Winchester designed bullet of the 1930's and 1940's.

 

[bigmoose]

Here ya go

Coincidentally the bullet in question was sitting in the cylinder of my S&W desk set. I threw it on the scale….128.1 grains, so it retained 67% of its original weight (190 grains)

 

[diyj98]

When you load the 30-30 with a 170gr bullet you generate equal or better velocity as with the same bullet in the 303 Savage.

I'd guess they're so close with the same bullet weight that it could vary from gun to gun, it's just that 190 grain bullet that gave the 303 the reputation as "bigger" game gun.

 

[30-30remchester]

Great looking bullet Moose. So many people never even look for their spent bullets. To me these are often the greatest trophy.

 

[Alk8944]

The .303 was Savage answer to the .30-30 Winchester. The heavier bullet likely did make it more effective on heavier game. Have never owned a 99 but would love to find one w/ the cartridge counter feature chambered in some decent hunting round. Till then, I'll just have to get along w/ my Waffle Top Marlin 336 in .30-30 Win. Sincerely. bruce.

This is absolutely not true! Another myth that has been floating around for many years that just will not go away!!!

For anyone who wants to load for this cartridge, correct brass is a available from Prvi Partisan, as is loaded ammunition. Barnes makes a correct 190 grain FP-SP bullet for the .303 Savage.

 

[johnt671]

I just swapped a Savage 99 for my 1884 Springfield, made in 1923. The seller gave me six rounds as par of the swap. I'm learning more about it, and looking for ammo for it. In another thread forum members gave me some leads, and another member offered to sell me some rounds for a great price. I can't wait to shoot it.

 

[Drm50]

I’ve never killed a deer with a 303Savage. But I had a 99 in 303 and just sold my 250/3000. I’ve had several in 300Savage. All more than enough for deer in the woods. I have killed deer with 170gr 30/30 & bunch with 200gt 35Rem. The heavy bullets at low velocity put more of a thump on game than HV cartridges. I think critter soak up more impact that is not wasted on penetration. My deer body count is probably highest with 35Rem
with 30/06 second. The slow heavy bullet hits them hard.

 

[bigmoose]

I'm a big fan of the .300 Sav and .35 Rem also, (Remington Model 81 and Model 141). The .35 is definitely a "thumper" in my experience. My most recent purchase is a snazzy 99 (second year production for this caliber) in .250-3000.

Drm50, what are your impressions of the .250 on deer sized game?

FYI, this year's buck (2021) was bagged three days ago with my 'Ol Reliable...Remington 700 Mountain rifle in .280 Remington. A big bruiser with 9 points, high and wide. 180# dressed. Bullet was recovered but I haven't examined it yet, as I left it on the shelf where we butcher deer.

 

[Drm50]

Many years ago, back in 60s I got a 99 carbine on a trade. I shot a deer about 75 yds with factory ammo. Only used gun one season before I traded it off. Just got another 250 a few years ago I never got to use it before I sold it. I’ve never had any problem killing deer with any cartridge. I had Army buddy from Utah and his dad & grandad used 99sav in 250 for all their hunting including Elk.

 

[twodog max]

I had a Savage 99 in my early days and sadly let it get away. Great rifles and very accurate as I remember. I would really like to find another.

 

[Buick]

Yes the .300 Savage, introduced in 1920, was the parent round of the military T65 experimental cartridge that became the 7.62 Nato.

 

[mtgianni]

Sam Fadala wrote a book on the 30-30 Winchester. In that volume, he wrote about the advantages of the RCBS 180 fn cast bullet which brought the bullet weight [185 gr actual] equal for all practical purposes to the 303 Savage.

 

[DWalt]

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.

As noted earlier, there can be no dispute that the .300 Savage (not the .303 Savage) is the true father of the .308/7.62 NATO round. The cases are near-twins, the major difference being that the case neck of the .308/7.62 NATO is somewhat longer than that of the .300 S. .300 S cases can be very simply formed from plentiful .308/7.62 brass. One pass through the .300 S FL die, followed by neck trimming to length is all that is needed. Owning three rifles chambered in .300 S, I have made hundreds of them. The .300 Savage cartridge originated just after WWI as a means of providing a cartridge having almost the ballistics of the .30-'06 that could be used in the shorter Savage 99 action. In the post-WWII era, the U. S. Army considered the .300 S to be a nearly ideal cartridge for use in a new generation of automatic rifles and MGs being developed then, but it felt that the neck should be longer to provide better bullet support for use in full auto weapons. And that is how the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge was born.

Many old rifles originally chambered for the .300 S have been re-chambered for the .308, but there is really no compelling reason to do that, at least if the rifle's owner is a reloader, as reforming and shortening the .308 case can produce all the ammunition any owner of a .300 S-chambered rifle will ever need. While .300 S ammo is still factory made, it can be a little difficult to find, and expensive, these days.