303 Savage as hunting round

C

canadianbear

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
scotland, ontario
Doe's anyone hunt with this old round and if so what have you taken with it. I've got a chance at a 99 Savage in excellent shape bore looks like it just came out of the factory and the wood and metal show signs of use but not abuse. The previous owner showed the rifle excellent care. If you handload what are some of the better powders and bullets. Thanks for any advice.
 
canadianbear said:
If you handload what are some of the better powders and bullets. Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

If you don't handload, skip it. I think it would kill any thing the .300 savage or the .30-30 would, but I see these for sale frequently for low prices due to the lack of ammo. If you load, go for it!

A bonus is it uses .308 cal bullets, endless possibilities....
 
Last edited:
Yup, if you can reload, it is a fine round. But to just buy the rifle and try to find ammo later, I might pause at that one.

Better to get a 300 Savage if you dont reload.
 
You have essentially a .30-30 necked up to .311 bullets. It will do anything a .30-30 will, and that's alot. But ammo is next to impossible to find. I read somewhere recently a manufacturer is offering .303 Savage brass, but I'm not sure where it was. I probably saw it in Rife or Rifleshooter magazine, so that would be a good place to start. Have fun.
 
The 303 Savage is very, very similar to the 30-30. At one time it was factory loaded with a 190 grain bullet, but when the rifle for it was discontinued at WW2, I think it was loaded with 180 grain bullet.
I was surprised it is not listed on the Hodgdon web site of loadings. In Cartridges of the World, it shows a factory round with 180 grain bullet at 2140
fps.
It shows 29 grains of 3031 with a 180 grain bullet, for a speed of 2150.
Or, 35 grains of 4320 with a 190 grain bullet, for 2100.
They give 35.6 grains of 4895 with the 150 bullet, for a velocity of 2360.
The rifle is standard 30 calibre, shooting .308 bullets.
 
pharaoh2 said:
I appologize and stand corrected. Of course I did have to go check that out for myself. Now I feel really dumb. :redface:
Click to expand...

No need to feel dumb, the name is misleading...

And that is the best part of this cartridge, there's a huge selection of spitzer bullets to load for use in the 99 rotary mag. Brass can be made from .303Brit or .30-40Krag, just no factory ammo...
 
I did a little googling and came up with some of this. I'm not proud of some of the sites I looked at, so don't ask, just use Google! :p

After reading my Guns and Shooting Online article about the .303 Savage (in which I wrote that factory loaded ammunition in the caliber was no longer available), Clint Huisinga of Stars and Stripes Custom Ammunition wrote to me and pointed out that Stars and Stripes offers brand new .303 Savage factory loads. In fact, Stars and Stripes offers factory loads in many obsolete calibers.

Stars and Stripes ammunition is manufactured in the U.S.A. Their street address is 2303 West McNab Road, Suite 4, Pampano Beach, FL 33069 (Telephone: 954-917-1129).
Click to expand...

h ttp://www.aco4u.com/ammo/amorifle.html
303 Savage*** (20) .308 new brass $30.00 plus shipping
Click to expand...

And just for kicks, I enjoyed this article. :D
h ttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3197/is_11_46/ai_80924883
 
A bit more research will show you that the .303 Savage was indeed originally designed using a .311 bullet. It was changed about 1926, IIRC, to a .308 cal bullet. I questioned this info when I read it on Savage99.com but the site owner straightened it out for me. It's featured in early Savage literature.
Modern loading dies are made for the .308 bullet. So pharoah2, no need for embarrassment. You were right all along. So was Blargon, sort of.
I'd use a .303 Savage pretty much anywhere I'd use a .30-30. For the amount I'd ever shoot one, I'd buy a hundred or maybe 200 brass and be set forever.
 
Both Norma and Jameison manufacture new 303 sav brass. The Norma brass is more expensive but I am told it will last a lot longer than the Jameison. I have had the Jameison split after only one reload and have been told that I need to aneal the necks. I don't have any of the Norma. It isn't too hard to find Dominion brass or cartridges at gun shows, it is just getting expensive. 303 savs don't have big resale unless they are something out of the ordinary, condition or configuration so don't pay too much for it if you decide to buy it.
 
The original Savage loads used a 190 gr. bullet with a very large, round softpoint bullet. It gained a reputation for being an excellent hunting cartridge.
 
Kilo Charlie said:
A bit more research will show you that the .303 Savage was indeed originally designed using a .311 bullet. It was changed about 1926, IIRC, to a .308 cal bullet. I questioned this info when I read it on Savage99.com but the site owner straightened it out for me. It's featured in early Savage literature.
Click to expand...

Good grab, I was about to correct the .308 guys myself when I saw your post.

Only thing I'd disagree on was the year, I believe it was earlier than 1926 they went to the .308. For some reason the 1908 (pre-90.0000) rifles were .311.
 
Addiction !

I don't know if I want to add this old Savage to my safe . They seem to cause regular shooters to become collectors:runaway:. But it is in excellent shape and does need to go into hunters safe!
 
If'n ya get it you will be hooked, and if you decide to start doing reload, i have some very sweet loads that I wouldn't be afraid to use on Moose.....Seriously. The Barnes TSX for the 30-30 is an out standing bullet, and with the right powder it will do it's job if you do yours. Get it, you won't regret it. Joe is right, it was about 1908/1910 when they went to the .311, and I have seen some early, 1903 and 1905 that slugged out at .308, the bullet loaded into the early rounds was usually a .311 bullet, hence why a lot of the old ones show a .311 bore. UMC and Western went to the .308 bullet in about 1912, at least that is what I get from the bullets I have pulled from cartridges from that time period. The Winchester 303 Sav Case holds about .02 grains more of water than the Winchester 30-30 brass does. Still doesn't mean you can push it too hard, especially if it has a serial number under 95,000. Over that, if the rifle is in great shape, yeah you can push it a bit, but I don't. Les
 
I seem to recall that, although the ammo was .311 in the early days, the bore was always a nominal .308; they just stuffed a bigger bullet down it. I don't think the rifle bore's nominal diameter was ever changed, just the ammo.
 
This is very interesting about the bore diameter. Was it, or wasn't it, always the same bore.
I am not here to question anyones information on it, just wondering. Cartridges of the World are usually up on such things and they do not mention a change in bore diameter. I have never heard of any rifle manufaturer changing the bore diameter during production. 8 mm Mauser have two diameters, but I think that was a change for military reasons.
 
canadianbear said:
I don't know if I want to add this old Savage to my safe . They seem to cause regular shooters to become collectors:runaway:. But it is in excellent shape and does need to go into hunters safe!
Click to expand...

It is a slippery slope for sure.:D

Just went to visit my Aunt saturday night and asked her about the story of my Uncle shooting a deer when he was a kid. Turned out he was we guess about 16 working for the neighbor and this little buck kept lurking about. Well Uncle Den put a stop to that. The other neighbor wrote a column for the local paper. Having lost her pet deer she could not help but write a story for the next column. The Sheriff came by a few days later after seeing the story and Uncle Den had some explaining to do. Of course back then folks lived by limited means and when meat was available it was not turned down.

I asked if she had a picture, expecting to see him holding the old Lee Metford of his Dads, instead I find him holding a Savage 99!:):cool: In the background is the shack he and my Aunt lived in when they were first married(!):eek: and on the right a cook shack on wheels for the threshing crew in harvest time. This is the early 40's by our best guess.

DennisSewill1943.jpg


That makes about four people in my family who used the 303 Savage. I don't have any other stories/experiences to fuel the fire than this but I hope it is enough to make you consider the purchase. They are real slick little guns.
Now if only I could find one.......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom