.308 or .30-06 to .300 Savage

[DeadEye9]

You lost me. I was referring to the OP who started the thread. Brass is available at two of the big online component stores, no reason to bother with forming from other rounds.

The reason is cost. It's about $40 for 50 new cases. That's all well and good for Grand Dads deer gun who shoots a couple boxes of ammo per season. I shoot a couple hundred rounds of .300 Sav per week so I was looking for a cheaper alternative to that in order to build up stocks of say 1000-1500 rounds at any given time. I don't want to do that at $39 for every 50 just for brass. I was looking to spend about half of that honestly.

 

[DeadEye9]

Read this string:
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=547651

No problemmo....

Awesome, thank you for posting that. Going off looks alone for the few cases I resized last night it "looks" like it will work fine, but I wasn't sure. I will still be working up a load since the case capacity is a little different than what im used to but after that its good to know they are useable! Groups like that are perfectly fine for my 99 in fact I welcome them. The best I've EVER shot with it was long ago when I got some lightweight, extra fast (for .300 Sav) cartridges Doubletap used to load for that caliber and got a hair over an MOA group at 100. Typically though with my handloads and factory brass I see groups closer to what's pictured above so if I can retain that with .308 formed brass I'm all for it. Still going to get some more original stuff from GunBroker as well, but I want to stock up so I'll buy some AND make some. I don't shoot much .308 these days anyway.
Side Note: why are so many people against forming their own brass, safety concerns? I'm not asking if I can shoot .444 Marlin in my uncles .410 lol. I just like to be self sufficient as much as possible and although I make a pretty comfortable life financially I still don't enjoy just forking it over at will when there are other more economical (read practical to me) options.

 

[JackSprat]

The reason is cost. It's about $40 for 50 new cases. That's all well and good for Grand Dads deer gun who shoots a couple boxes of ammo per season. I shoot a couple hundred rounds of .300 Sav per week so I was looking for a cheaper alternative to that in order to build up stocks of say 1000-1500 rounds at any given time. I don't want to do that at $39 for every 50 just for brass. I was looking to spend about half of that honestly.

If I shot that much,and had my heart set on using a 99,I would keep my eyes peeled for one in 308 not only for the ease ,and low price of the brass,but you will also be sparing your 300 in the deal

 

[Dog Soldier]

I don't know about quoting amateur reloaders from other forums? The Old Savage Mdl. 99 .300 Savage is a great hunting rifle. If you can make into a Match wining Bench rifle you will referred by all of us. Good luck.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

After everyone is gone at the range, I often will scrounge my empties and any abandoned empties. Anything I can't reload for my use, I drop off at the metal recylcer to raise funds for primers, etc.
I found a batch of what at first I thought were .308 but were actually .300 Savage, which got me curious. The .300 Savage has a sharper shoulder and shorter neck than the .308.
Comparing case specs (one source gave .300 dimensions to thousandths, .308 to tenth thousandths) it does appear .300 Sav casings could be made from .308 Win casings by trimming .308 Win to length, resizing the trimmed .308 Win brass in a .300 Sav full-length resizing die, and reaming the case necks after.

Specifications    .300 Savage            .308 Winchester     
Parent case       .250-3000 Savage       .300 Savage         
Case type       Rimless, bottleneck    Rimless, Bottleneck 
Bullet diameter .308 in (7.8 mm)       .308 in (7.8 mm)    
Neck diameter    .339 in (8.6 mm)       .3433 in (8.72 mm)  
Shoulder diameter .446 in (11.3 mm)      .4539 in (11.53 mm) 
Base diameter    .471 in (12.0 mm)      .4709 in (11.96 mm) 
Rim diameter    .473 in (12.0 mm)      .4728 in (12.01 mm) 
Case length      1.871 in (47.5 mm)     2.015 (51.18 mm) 
Overall length   2.60 in (66 mm)        2.800 (71.12 mm) 
Primer type       Large rifle            Large rifle

(Personally I prefer to have the headstamp of my cartridges match the actual caliber of my gun because I suspect my heirs will inherit a lot of my reloads.)

 

[DeadEye9]

If I shot that much,and had my heart set on using a 99,I would keep my eyes peeled for one in 308 not only for the ease ,and low price of the brass,but you will also be sparing your 300 in the deal

I've considered this, and seen quite a few 99s in other chamberings for very fair prices. After all the things were made a long time and chambered in almost every rifle cartridge you can think of so they're not exactly rare. The reason I like shooting it so much as of late is because I shoot often, usually 2-3 times per week, however majority of that time is 100yds or less. In .308/7.62 I currently have two rifles; a Socom16 and M&P10. They are both wonderfully accurate shooters, so much so that shooting them inside of 100 is rather boring. I get a chance to shoot 500-1000 maybe once or twice a month, which is when those two rifles come out along with the .338 Savage bolt gun and my Ruger in 6.5 creed. For all the other times though, when I'm not shooting pistols I like my ARs and my lever guns. My 99 that's in .300 Sav is a family rifle, has taken some of the most memorable dear in our family and it's really just one of my favorite lever guns overall. I also have a 99 in .250 Sav but it's one I purchased so it doesn't have the same "excitement" behind shooting it. My father has since passed away, but every time I get to plinking with his 99 in .300 it reminds me of all the fun I've had over the years with that rifle. In short I don't think I would get the same joy out of another 99. Also, and I may get flamed for this because it sounds weird, I really like the feel of the .300 Sav cartridge. I've shot nearly identical loads in .308 and .30-06 as the ones I enjoy in .300 Sav and it just feels different. This may be just a mental thing as I said I'm kind of attached to this particular .300, but I just feel right at home with this particular rifle and shoot it quite well. Plus it's a star example of how robust the design really was and how well they perform when maintained. Mine is a 40's model I believe, have to check the serial # again to be exact but suffice to say it's Old. You really would not know from looking at the rifle though how old it truly is and how much it has seen/shot. It's been kicked all across the east coast, tossed behind the seats of trucks, banged off tree stands and such so there's little nicks in the stock here and there but the action is perfect. The brass mag follower and round counter are 100% functional as the day it was made, the Bore and rifling is beautiful, the take down lever & threads for the barrel and receiver are excellent despite being disassembled thousands of times, the lever and bolt motion is as smooth as could be. I have some other well used old firearms as well, so this isn't something that ONLY the Savage 99 can accomplish surely, but it just adds to the respect I have for the rifle itself. All in all I guess I'm saying I like to shoot THIS .300 Savage and not necessarily .300 Savage in general now that I think about it. If I didn't have this 99 I probably wouldn't still be a .300 fan but as it stands I am a .300/model 99 fan so I need to feed it!

 

[DeadEye9]

After everyone is gone at the range, I often will scrounge my empties and any abandoned empties. Anything I can't reload for my use, I drop off at the metal recylcer to raise funds for primers, etc.
I found a batch of what at first I thought were .308 but were actually .300 Savage, which got me curious. The .300 Savage has a sharper shoulder and shorter neck than the .308.
Comparing case specs (one source gave .300 dimensions to thousandths, .308 to tenth thousandths) it does appear .300 Sav casings could be made from .308 Win casings by trimming .308 Win to length, resizing the trimmed .308 Win brass in a .300 Sav full-length resizing die, and reaming the case necks after.

Specifications    .300 Savage            .308 Winchester    
Parent case       .250-3000 Savage       .300 Savage        
Case type       Rimless, bottleneck    Rimless, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter .308 in (7.8 mm)       .308 in (7.8 mm)   
Neck diameter    .339 in (8.6 mm)       .3433 in (8.72 mm) 
Shoulder diameter .446 in (11.3 mm)      .4539 in (11.53 mm)
Base diameter    .471 in (12.0 mm)      .4709 in (11.96 mm)
Rim diameter    .473 in (12.0 mm)      .4728 in (12.01 mm)
Case length      1.871 in (47.5 mm)     2.015 (51.18 mm)
Overall length   2.60 in (66 mm)        2.800 (71.12 mm)
Primer type       Large rifle            Large rifle

(Personally I prefer to have the headstamp of my cartridges match the actual caliber of my gun because I suspect my heirs will inherit a lot of my reloads.)

Thanks for putting all this data in a post, much appreciated. I broke down and just tried it myself last night and it does indeed work just fine. I ran .308 and .30-06 through a .300 Sav FL sizer die and it set the shoulder just fine. The .30-06 naturally had a super long neck after resizing and a lot more needs trimmed off than .308, but both seemed to work just fine with just a size and trim. After processing I can set a factory .300 case next to the.308 transformation and cannot tell the difference by eye. Case H20 capacity seems to be ~.4-.6 grain off from a factory Hornady .300 case, so I will be working up new loads for the newly made brass and then doing ladder testing to confirm velocity/accuracy and reliability. It seems promising though.
Someone also mentioned forming 6.5 Creedmor into .300 Sav as a option as well. This would probably work too, but I'm back to the same issue of cost as 6.5 is more expensive than .308. With .308/7.62 being a NATO chambering there is a ton of surplus brass around for cheap. 6.5 not so much. I have a Ruger in 6.5 Which is an excellent shooter I would recommend to anyone and the rifle was very affordable but the ammo isn't very cheap.

 

[243winxb]

and reaming the case necks after.