Anybody shoot .300 Savage

The venerable old .300 Savage has well-earned accolades, a good reputation, and a storied history. I've used a 1946 Savage 99 chambered in .300 Savage for over 33 years.

I was home on military leave and I was in a local gun shop looking at some Marlin & Winchester lever guns when I noticed a long barrel poking up further down on the resale rack. I was looking specifically for a JM Marlin 336 chambered in 35 Remington or a Winchester 94 in .375 Winchester. I walked out with that Savage 99. That became a rifle I bought to keep. At that time, I fancied the medium to big-bore lever rifles and that Savage 99 made me reassess my thinking.

That rifle, with its Marbles white-diamond semi buckhorn ramp rear and gold bead front sights, loaded with Remington Core-Lokt PSP 150 grainers, is deadly accurate at 100 yards. It's my favorite deer hunting combination here in my heavily-wooded area in Northern Michigan. I remember as a kid in the late 1960s, the .300 Savage was still a very popular, well-liked deer & black bear hunting round in my area.

The 99 is a sleek rifle that weighs under 8 lbs loaded, balances well in my hand at the receiver, and cradles snugly in my arm. The 99 carries comfortably well in the woods. The Savage model 99 was a renaissance rifle ahead of its time; even today.

The earlier model 99s with integral rotary magazines and brass round counters are skyrocketing in collector value and unmodified early 99 receivers not drilled & tapped for scope mounts are increasingly expensive and very hard to find. I paid just over $250 for that Savage 99 in 1986 and today, these rifles are selling for $650+ and higher.

You don't even want to know what the earlier Savage 99 take-down models are going for.

The .300 Savage is a very efficient cartridge. With the moderate recoil of a .30-30, it's every bit as capable as a .308 or a .30-06 out to AT LEAST 200 yards. That's much more than enough effective range at the distances I shoot game with iron-sighted rifles.

I don't use scoped rifles for deer hunting locally because of the dense tree and brush cover. When I spot a deer, target acquisition is much faster for me in the brush with open sights and a wide field of view to see what's going on around me. Most of my kills are on moving deer with very little time to take a good shot when that fleeting window of opportunity presents itself.

Plus, at 40-60 yards with a 150 grain bullet moving at 2,600+ feet per second, I don't need much leading with the .300 Savage to spank a bullet into a bouncing buck's boiler room. Bang-flop (the majority of the time), and a win-win. I've never been or even felt "under-gunned" with the .300 Savage. If I do my job, the .300 Savage will do its job very handily and with aplomb.

The Savage 99's inherent accuracy, pistol grip stock, balance, ergonomically curved lever, slender fore end, and natural point of aim when I snap it up to my shoulder makes this rifle shine. The smooth lever action, with a little practice, affords a quick follow-up shot without dropping the rifle from my shoulder and momentarily taking my eyes off the animal. It's a fast gun with very good capabilities. Either the 99 was made for me or I was made for the 99; but either way, we make a damn good combination together.

Ammunition is getting harder to find locally and so expensive when it's available, that I purchased an RCBS reloading system and several reloading manuals. I've got about 100 .300 Savage empty brass cases. I have to clear some more room out in the garage before I get my reloading bench and equipment set up, but I should be up and running this Summer. The first set of dies I purchased were for the .300 Savage. The second set of dies I bought are for my late father's old .32 special.

I'm really looking forward to working up hand loads for these rifles. The .300 Savage might be a little long in the tooth, but it remains an impressive contender in today's arena that still delivers more than adequate performance on medium-sized game, feral pigs, up to Elk & Black Bear. Take a bow and a round of applause, .300 Savage. You've earned it.

Don't tell my wife, but I'd love to find another early Savage 99 or Savage 1920 bolt rifle chambered in .250/3000...(aaannd another set of dies for my reloader).

Que the eyeroll....

My wife’s grandfather had a beautiful Savage 99 in .308 with the brass counter on the side. IIRC, he had a 3-9 scope on it. Mule deer and elk were his game, and they fell to it. In fact, he told a story from”back in the day” of hotfooting it back to town to grab a buddy who hadn’t gone hunting with him that day to tag the bull that was standing behind the bull he’d meant to kill - both dropped to the same bullet.

He put the scope on it after that.

I was privileged to see it exactly once. Quite a step up from the Winchester 94 in .30-30 he grew up using. Quite a few grandkids and great grands - don't know who ended up with it.

Another older fellow from that town showed me his 99 in .300 Savage, along with the hide from the deer he’d killed a few months earlier and spent the winter brain tanning. I bought the skin from him. Still have some of it left over from that project. He reported that round to be perfect for deer, elk, and black bear.

I have no first-hand experience with the .300 Savage, but ballistics and a little logical reasoning lead me to believe it’ll kill anything any other .30 caliber cartridge will, within its effective range and the shooter’s effective range.

Had a '35 99EG.
Ammo..........one shop nearby stocks Federal .300 Sav.
My LGS usually gets some Hornady Leverevolution stuff.

Even a chain store had Remington on hand (.250 and .300 ).
But..........they wanted 40 bucks a box.

Not hard to get.

Yeah, you aint gonna run to Walmart and find it the night before the opener.

LOL

Sold mine, an pre war EG, no D&T.......hardly any case hardening showing, for 400.
What I had in it.

Around here, they want the detach mag stuff, or think the old ones worth a grand.
Took a few months for me to get 400 outta mine, on a decent sized in state forum.

We have HP rifles for deer on private land, been about 5 years.
Everybody wants a plastic cheap .308 or 6.5

Hookeye said:

Had a '35 99EG.
Ammo..........one shop nearby stocks Federal .300 Sav.
My LGS usually gets some Hornady Leverevolution stuff.

Even a chain store had Remington on hand (.250 and .300 ).
But..........they wanted 40 bucks a box.

Not hard to get.

Yeah, you aint gonna run to Walmart and find it the night before the opener.

LOL

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Exactly! If I'm paying over $2 a round for standard factory ammo, and a major outfitter is over 40 miles away, it's time to invest in handloading.

I’m shooting a near clone, the .308Marlin Express.
I find it to be the “sweet spot” for bullet performance.
I can get 2650-2700fps with a 160gr FTX. It drops deer with alacrity! The only one I’ve shot with it (so far) was at ~90yds, and dropped at the shot with a shoulder hit. Bullet exited, massive damage. Just like a .30/06.

It performed significantly better than a 100gr .243 I used this year. Recovered 100gr bullet retained 53.5gr...

I really, really like the .308ME. By extension, the .300Savage.

rodinal220 said:

I have two Remington Model 81s in 300 Savage. Since 300 Savage was the case the 308 was based off I do not see any difference in performance on game at the ranges I shoot at, 0-100 ish yards. I run the irons and keep ranges reasonable for my aging eyes. 300 Savage is just fine on deer size game and black bear.

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I have an 81 in 300 savage. It is a 99% gun so I don't shoot it much. I have made brass from 308 but you want to drop the charge a bit. The shortened 308 brass is thicker than the 300 Savage

tark said:

I have an 81 in 300 savage. It is a 99% gun so I don't shoot it much. I have made brass from 308 but you want to drop the charge a bit. The shortened 308 brass is thicker than the 300 Savage

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That's a nice, handsome rifle you got there. I've always admired the Remington model 8 & 81.

Hunted with a fellow for years that only carried a 300 Savage rifle in the woods of ME, NH and VT. He hunted everything with the 300. If he was under gunned, he never knew it. Shot placement with any cartridge is everything.

Oldchief61 said:

That's a nice, handsome rifle you got there. I've always admired the Remington model 8 & 81.

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I found it at a Scheels store in Waterloo, Iowa. Paid $300 dollars for it. I don't think anyone in the store even knew what it was. I remember thinking at the time "this thing looks almost new." Later that year I made my bi-annual drive to California to visit friends. I took the rifle along and got to meet a man named John Henwood, who was THE authority on Model 8s and 81s. John quickly discovered the reason for the rifle's pristine condition. Someone had disassembled the gun and re-assembled it with the recoil spring case reversed, which causes the gun to short stroke and FTF. It might have been sitting for decades like that. I have fired it a few times but, as a collector, I rarely ever shoot a piece that is 97% or above. Each extra percentage point above 97%, on some high end collectables, (This gun does not fall into that category.) can double the value of the gun. John graded mine at 99%. Since it isn't in the same league as Lugers, hoglegs, or guns with names like "Purdey" I went ahead and put a few rounds through it.

BTW, welcome to the monkey house!!

My dad's first hunting rifle was a 99 in 300 Savage. He got it in the early 1950's, I want to say about 1952. He didn't upgrade into his newer bolt actions for a good 40 years, so it was a good rifle for him. That rifle hasn't gone hunting in a lot of years but it has a lot of sentimental value. I'm no expert on 300 Savage but I've always thought of it as a caliber that fell about midway between a 30-30 and 308, at least with factory ammo. It's a pleasant shooter although the trigger is pretty bad.

Following along just because I like old savages, savage cartridges and 99s in particular. I have an 1899 in 22SavHP and an M99 in 300Sav. Pretty cool that its the basis for the entire 308 family of cartridges.

LGS was a little thin on ammunition today - but actually had a box of .300 Savage. Just thought that was funny.

The cartridge turned 100 years old this year. There really was no reason to create the 308 other than the military looking for a steeper shoulder angle to allow more reliable extraction in machine guns. Once that case was made, they stuffed more powder in it and the 308 was born. Us gun freaks put the new military round on a pedestal and seemed to forget the old Savage starting in 1950. I still hunt with it and am not ashamed to take some long shots with it. Reloading will help offset the cost of factory ammo. A 150grn bullet will do anything you ask it to do.
Shoot with confidence and skill and you're golden.

I have 2 old 99's in .300 Savage. One is a takedown from the 1920's and the other is a very clean rifle from the 1950's. I've bloodied both on deer. The .300 Savage is a very capable cartridge that is balletically similar, but a tad slower than a .308. I also shoot a Savage 99 in .243 that has accounted for a number of deer. I do love those 99's.

I've had a 99 for a decade or so, bought when they weren't real popular here in KY...300 Savage...It's a 99 EG, from '57, drilled and tapped for a scope at some point. The stock is blemish-free and the bore and metal work/bluing look almost new. Reloading for it was a surprise to say the least....both Sierra and Hornady 150 gr Spitzers will group into an inch a 100 yds from a rest with a 4x Weaver Scope mounted.

For powders, I've had equal success with RE-15, 748, 4064, and 3031 with loads that give me ~2600 fps or a little more with the above mentioned 150 grainers.

I've used it for at least part of the deer season, here in KY since I got it...trusting it to any terrain where shots out to 200 yds might present themselves. In that time I've taken a half dozen deer with it, none requiring more that a 30 yd trail up. It's as accurate as my Sako Forester in .308 and shoots about as accurately. My only negative comment is that the trigger could use a thorough touch up by a qualified gunsmith...no easy task to find one anymore either.

As to power, comparing it to a .308, I'd say it's very close...within 100 fps which is negligible out to 200-220 yds or so. With 180 gr. bullets of good construction, it'd make a good elk gun out to 180-200 yds or so. In my case, 150's do all that is necessary on our local whitetails.

Best regards, Rod

ScrapMetalSlug said:

.... I haven’t tried it yet, but I have heard you can make brass from 308. The savage being very similar, but with a shorter neck.

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I have done it. RCBS makes a trim die that will resize .308 to .300 nicely. A good amount of lube on the case and a solid stroke on a single stage press. I trim most of the excess with a dremel and then file the remainder from there.

I have my grandfathers 99 in 300 savage and my brother has our other grandfathers 99 in 300 savage. Both 40s vintage rifles. Between those 2 rifles they have taken elk, black bear, pigs and too many deer to count. It’s perfectly fine for anything you’d hunt at a reasonable range in this country. I’m stuck in CA so finding copper factory loaded ammo is a real PITA so I don’t hunt it anymore. But will get it back in the rotation once I escape.

dak0ta said:

How are the 180 gr loads in the .300 Savage? Black bear capable? Or just stick with a bit more velocity with the 150gr?

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I would most definitely use the 180 grain round nose on bear. There was a good reason those savage 99 in 300 sav were so popular. They flat out work on everything you shoot with them. I bought a 99 in 300 savage for my son as his first deer rifle. It was made in 1936 and he is the 2nd owner. He has killed a truckload of deer with it. All one shot kills.

dak0ta said:

How do you find shooting 308 Win out of the 99? Sticky extraction due to the higher pressures?

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Only with military brass. I have found my 99 does not like military brass even if loaded with mild loads. I loaded some 165 grain Hornady round nose this year and took a nice 6 point and the last shell stuck after firing. got home and knocked it out sure enough FC military brass. Some how I mixed 2 pieces of military brass in with my remington brass.

9x56MS said:

Only with military brass. I have found my 99 does not like military brass even if loaded with mild loads. I loaded some 165 grain Hornady round nose this year and took a nice 6 point and the last shell stuck after firing. got home and knocked it out sure enough FC military brass. Some how I mixed 2 pieces of military brass in with my remington brass.

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I had, and sold, a 99 in 308. As you did, I found it did not like military brass in general. Mind you, it did not like any max loads particularly and was not well suited to 308 Win in my opinion.

I had a Remington 760 in 300 Savage. Killed a few Northern Michigan whitetails with it in my youth

I just purchased another rifle in .300 Savage. This one is a Remington Model 81. This rifle appears to have suffered from poor storage but I think will it clean up well and make for a good shooter. I think I did pretty well as I only paid $275 plus auction fees.

Confucious say: "after bullet leaves muzzle, does not know if it came from .303 British, 7.65 Mauser, or .300 Savage." Some people will praise the .303, and the 7.65, but then declare the .300 "weak". Or, "underpowered". Go figure. Those cartridges are indeed in a "ballistic sweet spot" and will perform perfectly without expensive bullets. I prefer 180's in all three, but the Hornady 165 BTSP has worked absolutely perfectly. Also expands well out of my .30WCF single shots.

My son has a .308/99, which when he was young I originally loaded with that bullet, down to .300S velocity. However, it's so accurate in that rifle, and kills so well, that we have never changed the recipe.

Realistically its 75 yardsish behind the 308. Adjust accordingly. Not much to worry about.