303 Savage

Only if you are prepared to swage the head to reduce diameter. Base and rim diameter of .303 and .30-40 are too big.
 
The Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions says to use .220 Swift cases. It is quite an involved procedure. It would be easier to look around for some actual .303 Savage cases.
Here's the instructions: anneal case neck and taper expand to .310 dia. Re-anneal and full length size in the .303 Sav die with expander removed. Trim to length, chamfer and full length size again. Fireform in chamber. You may find that the .220's rim will need to be thickened to .060-.063"
 
Slightly off topic I know, but in case you are in the lower mainland area of B.C.... i just left the HACS show in Burnaby and there was a regular seller there with several bags of once fired .303 Savage brass. Thought I'd post this as I know the brass can be hard to get.

Chris.
 
Where you are matters.
You can buy 'em from Buffalo Arms, if you live Stateside. Prvi supposedly makes brass. You can make 'em from .307 or .356 Winchester. Making 'em out of .220 Swift is suppoed to be just running 'em through a .303 Savage FL die. Mind you, the dies will be a special order.
 
In case you are interested in new brass, Mystic Player sold me some in November for a very reasonable sum. PRVI brass newly made and nice brass. I used to make it out of 220 Swift but this is way easier.
 
303 savage brass

THIS CAN BE MADE FROM
220 Swift brass, the necks will have to be turned.
303 British, the rim has to be turned down and the brass at the web has to be turned down.
The 220 Swift is easiest to do.
Nice caliber try, the 150gr in it.
 
You can also use .30-30 Win brass, just run it through your .303 Savage sizing die. You will only get one loading per brass, as the brass expands somewhat forward of the rim. But .30-30 brass is cheap and plentiful.

Doug
 
Doug said:
You can also use .30-30 Win brass, just run it through your .303 Savage sizing die. You will only get one loading per brass, as the brass expands somewhat forward of the rim. But .30-30 brass is cheap and plentiful.

Doug
Click to expand...

Thats what I was going to suggest as well. Comparing measurements of the two cartridges is interesting, these are from fired, unresized brass, the .30/30 in a M-94 and the .303 Savage in a 99. These may differ significantly from new brass dimensions.

Length: .30/30 2.45", .303 2.16"
Length, Rim to Shoulder: .30/30 1.47" .303 1.375"
Shoulder Diameter: .30/30 .404" .303 .414"
Rim Diameter: .30/30 .497" .303 .498"
Rim Thickness: .30/30 .058" .303 .058"
Web Diameter: .30/30 .414" .303 .436"
 
senior said:
:agree:

Welcome back Doug
Click to expand...

Thanks bud. I didn't actually go away, just mostly tired of kids with their daisy red ryders and their uninformed opinions about everything..........so it's pretty hard to have a meaningful discussion here any more.........:(

Doug
 
Boomer said:
Thats what I was going to suggest as well. Comparing measurements of the two cartridges is interesting, these are from fired, unresized brass, the .30/30 in a M-94 and the .303 Savage in a 99. These may differ significantly from new brass dimensions.

Length: .30/30 2.45", .303 2.16"
Length, Rim to Shoulder: .30/30 1.47" .303 1.375"
Shoulder Diameter: .30/30 .404" .303 .414"
Rim Diameter: .30/30 .497" .303 .498"
Rim Thickness: .30/30 .058" .303 .058"
Web Diameter: .30/30 .414" .303 .436"
Click to expand...

Back to Boomer:

Those numbers suggest that the two are not all that close, I guess??? I have fired a fair number of re-formed .30-30 cases in various rifles chambered for .303 Savage, maybe it is NOT a good idea?????

Doug
 
In an issue of Handloader sometime about 2 to 5 years ago John Barsness wrote an article about forming good fitting cases from 303 Brit. and 30-40 Krag cases. Involved little more than a hand held drill, fine cut file, emery cloth and I think a dowel to support the case necks while the case was held in the drill chuck. I believe he said it took him about 10 minutes per case to make cases ready to reform to 303 Savage. Look for the article if you don't have it. I recently gave all my back copies away or I would copy it to you.
 
stocker said:
In an issue of Handloader sometime about 2 to 5 years ago John Barsness wrote an article about forming good fitting cases from 303 Brit. and 30-40 Krag cases. Involved little more than a hand held drill, fine cut file, emery cloth and I think a dowel to support the case necks while the case was held in the drill chuck. I believe he said it took him about 10 minutes per case to make cases ready to reform to 303 Savage. Look for the article if you don't have it. I recently gave all my back copies away or I would copy it to you.
Click to expand...

For ten minutes a case I would buy factory ammo and use factory correct headstamp brass!

Doug
 
Doug said:
Back to Boomer:

Those numbers suggest that the two are not all that close, I guess??? I have fired a fair number of re-formed .30-30 cases in various rifles chambered for .303 Savage, maybe it is NOT a good idea?????

Doug
Click to expand...

If the elasticity of the brass provides a good gas seal all is good, and apparently your experience suggests it is, I haven't tried it myself. That fact that you only got a single use out of the brass might be a red flag, and was a note of caution to me. I would have thought that once the .30-30 brass assumed the shape of the .303 chamber, it would have stood several firings without failure provided it was resized in a .303 Savage die. I don't know if the dimensional differences between the two rounds are any more extreme than is the case of a number of wildcats which require fire forming to make the brass the correct dimensions.

By the way Doug, I miss your participation as well.
 
Boomer said:
If the elasticity of the brass provides a good gas seal all is good, and apparently your experience suggests it is, I haven't tried it myself. That fact that you only got a single use out of the brass might be a red flag, and was a note of caution to me. I would have thought that once the .30-30 brass assumed the shape of the .303 chamber, it would have stood several firings without failure provided it was resized in a .303 Savage die. I don't know if the dimensional differences between the two rounds are any more extreme than is the case of a number of wildcats which require fire forming to make the brass the correct dimensions.

By the way Doug, I miss your participation as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

The brass always expands just forward of the rim. I never did try to re-size one of them with the die, just assumed it would not work. Since .30-30 brass is dirt cheap, I figured one use was just fine. An older friend of mine has also used .30-30 brass for years, and has had the same experience: it works fine, but is a one-use solution.

Doug
 
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