Good time to work on a 303 Sav Hunting Load

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Northern Canuck

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With the spare time isolated away from others I have started working on a hunting load for my Grandfather's old Mod 1899. I had a nastalgic urge to resurrect his rifle and take a whitetail with it this fall. I have lots of old factory ammo but don't want to shoot it as it is hard to come by.
My first trial are three loadings of 160 gr Hornady FTX pushed by 33.5, 34, 34.5 grains of Leverution Powder.
I hope to find a bullet in the 180 - 190 grain that will expand sufficiently at the lower velocities, but that will have to wait until after the Pandemic is over.
 
Case volume of the 303 Sav is very similar to the 30-30 case capacity. You can use a start load for any 30-30 bullet/powder combination and work up. The Sav 99 with the rotary mag can be loaded with spitzer bullets.. You may want to try a fast opening 180 gr bullet such as the 180 Nosler BT or similar bullet
 
There is the Barnes Original 190 grain if you can find it.
The one .303 savage I know of that actually gets shot and hunted gets fed W748 and 170 grain flat points, I believe sierra, but the older gent who owns it seems to have knack for finding stashes of odd ball and discontinued stuff so they could be a number of different bullets.
180 grain round nosed bullets may not expand 100% reliably but I have read varying degrees of success annealing them to make them softer, You have time so it may be a worthy experiment or cast lead. Myself I'd see if a 150 or 170 flat point or round nosed shot acceptably and go from there.
If your aversion to a 150 is related to possible over expansion or lack of penetration, I would not stress yourself. The 160 ftx, at least the early ones, were much softer than any traditional 150 I had shot in my .30-30 for deer under 100 yards. No deer went far, but exits weren't common. My preference is generally a 170 grain for the .30-30 and would be for any other .30cal performing similarly.
 
Hornady 150grn RN work well in my two 1899's. Very accurate, and dropped a moose one shot. I've used 170grn 30-30 bullets as well. Good luck loading spitzers (besides the flextip) in my experience the start of the ogive will be inside the case neck when seated to fit the length of the magazine. IMHO there is no advantage to spitzers in this cartridge anyway.
 
lledwod said:
Hornady 150grn RN work well in my two 1899's. Very accurate, and dropped a moose one shot. I've used 170grn 30-30 bullets as well. Good luck loading spitzers (besides the flextip) in my experience the start of the ogive will be inside the case neck when seated to fit the length of the magazine. IMHO there is no advantage to spitzers in this cartridge anyway.
Click to expand...

Oi where were you in my threads askin about 150 and 170 3030 bullets haha!

Im using the 150gr FN n the 30-06 around 2700 fps at the moment, shooting the Fallow deer (whitetail smaller even) an they are punching through, a buck just recently showed some expansion but certainly not catching any in the hide!

it will be different story with the Sambar deer with their thick hide, howiever i have a heap of 170gr FN hornady to try out once i go thru these... i think they will be fairly stout aswell?

or might these 150s i have be old school an hard as? could they of been sierra?

good luck with the 303 savage, sounds like a neat rifle and round
 
Worked up a load for a friend a few years ago. Point of impact was identical to factory ammo.
170gr. Speer flat point
35gr. R15
WLR primer
2.535" O.A.L.
2200 fps.
 
The 160 grain Hornady FTPs shot well but the tips would jam in the feed ramp. The Barnes Original .308 190 gr FP shot very good with 36 - 36.5 Leverlution. Next I will load a few more and run them through the chronograph.
I think I have found my whitetail load.
 
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