Savage 99 - 308 Win or 300 Sav

[Badger_Girl]

I recently acquired 2 nice early 50s Savage 99s. One is 308 Win, the other is 300 Savage. I am going to keep one, and let go of the other.

Assuming all other things are equal (condition, accuracy, function, etc), which would you keep and why?

I am not currently and have no plans to start reloading. I will never be firing these beyond 300 yds, and the largest animal I will hunt with them is deer.

My thoughts:
308 - I have a bolt action in 308 so no new cartridge to keep
308 - Better factory ammo selection
300 - "Classically appropriate" for the Savage 99
300 - A little "different" and possibly more interesting than 308

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have a 99 Savage in .308, and heartily recommend it.

The .300 Savage is on the way out (and may be all the way by now), which makes it a handloading proposition. With it's short neck, it may be a bit more difficult to reload than a beginner wants to start with.

 

[jmr40]

From a practical perspective 308 wins by a hair. But the 300 Savage wins by landslide on coolness. In THAT rifle, I'd want the 300 Savage.

 

[Nature Boy]

Ballistically speaking, what advantage would you have in .300 sav vs. .308 win?

 

[Slamfire]

I am so surprised that Midway shows 300 Savage in stock, not only loaded ammunition, but brass. I have been waiting for years for 257 Roberts brass that does not cost $1.50* a case, and it might be a few decades more till I see the stuff.

I have walked away from excellent condition M99 Savages in 300 Savage, and other calibers, because I don't want to fool with obsolete cartridges. I have had my fill of finding brass, bullets, sizing dies, etc, etc, and this is the experience of many. Regardless of how good a round a 300 Savage is, and it is, the bother of feeding the thing will make many walk on by.

So, I would sell the 300 Savage to whom ever wants it, and consider it good riddance.


* I believe in honest money: Gold, Silver and Bitcoin!

 

[SwampWolf]

You have perfectly defined your "dilemma", Badger_Girl, and I think jmr40 answered your question perfectly.

 

[Scooter22]

I've also love a M99 in .300 Sav but I reload so it wouldn't be a problem. In your case I would keep the .308 as much as I love the other combo. jmho Post some pics if you could. Good luck

 

[stringnut]

I recently acquired 2 nice early 50s Savage 99s. One is 308 Win, the other is 300 Savage. I am going to keep one, and let go of the other.

Assuming all other things are equal (condition, accuracy, function, etc), which would you keep and why?

I am not currently and have no plans to start reloading. I will never be firing these beyond 300 yds, and the largest animal I will hunt with them is deer.

My thoughts:
308 - I have a bolt action in 308 so no new cartridge to keep
308 - Better factory ammo selection
300 - "Classically appropriate" for the Savage 99
300 - A little "different" and possibly more interesting than 308

The fact that you do not reload and your other 2 reasons are why you should go with the 308. 300 Savage ammo can be tough to get. 250 Savage is worse yet. The 300 is a great cartridge and my dad bowled over lots of deer with his. If you know someone that handloads and would set up for the 300 I would go with that for the aforementioned cool factor. I have been loading for 40 years, since I was 12, and the short neck is no problem.

 

[bullet maker 57]

308 or 300 Savage

I have both, I reload. 308 ammo will be less expensive than 300 Savage ammo. That being said, keep the 308. My $.02 worth.

 

[ExAgoradzo]

Your reloading answer wins the prize: but the cool factor goes to the 300. And it will do whatever you ask it to do. Find someone who reloads and set them up and get your ammo from them.

Greg

 

[db_tanker]

as you don't reload go with the 308.

regardless these rifles are awesome.

 

[CarJunkieLS1]

In my not so expert opinion, I'd keep the 300 Savage because it is a cool cartridge in a cool rifle. The .308 is uninteresting and boring, but it is a fantastic hunting cartridge. As already mentioned start to handload if you keep the 300 Savage or find someone you trust to handload them for you.

Again IMO a 150gr Soft Point bullet @ 2500-2600 fps is about as perfect as you can get for a deer bullet. Recoil is easy to manage and it will have plenty of oomph to reach out there to 300 yards. The 300 Savage will give you that, but so will the .308...but for me as a reloader in a Savage 99 the 300 Savage is the only choice

 

[Reloadron]

I would likely keep the 300 Savage purely as it is a classic cartridge. Matter of fact, driven by greed I would keep them both. OK, the 300 Savage. The Savage 99 is just a true classic like the Winchester 88.

Ron

 

[Silent Sam]

Well first I doubt they are "equal" other than caliber. The 308 didn't come out until 1955 so "early 50s" doesn't work that well either. Research what the rifles are and then decide. As far as the cartridges go for a deer rifle there is no difference in field performance. The 300 "may" have a little less recoil and muzzle blast but you may not notice the difference. 300 Savage ammo is still produced by major manufacturers (Federal, Winchester, Remington, Hornady etc) and boutique ammo makers as well. The 308 will certainly be easier to find on the shelf. but 300 Savage ammo is available so a little planning would resolve that issue. How much are you really going to shoot it? The 300 was designed for the 99 and predates the 308 by 35 yrs or so. The 99 was adapted to handle the 308 (class) of cartridges. There is no special difficulty in reloading the 300 over any other modern cartridge.

 

[ajd3530]

Well, IF you seriously have no intentions to reload, it would make sense to keep the .308.

But that said, that rifle just screams to be shot in .300 Savage. If it was my choice, I would keep it, as I too have a bolt gun in .308. If you intend to shoot less than a few boxes of ammo a year through it, keep the .300 Savage

 

[Deaf Smith]

Saw a long barreled Savage 99 in 30/30 today. Brass spool, cartridge counter, even a Marbles tang apenditure sight.

Yea, that's cool. The .308 can be had anytime, but those old Savages are going.. going.. and soon gone!

Deaf

 

[shafter]

Go with the 300 Sav. Ammo is still readily available online and I've bought it at Cabelas and other sporting goods stores in the not too distant past. I think it will be around for awhile yet.

There may be others that are just as good, but I don't think you could find a better round for deer.

 

[rcmodel]

The Savage 99 isn't a reloaders gun.

The rear locking bolt allows a lot of action springing, and brass doesn't last long no matter what you do.

My hunting buddy had one years ago in 300 Savage and it was a 1MOA rifle any time, and where.

But cases lasted three shots, at best.

rc

 

[dragon813gt]

The Savage 99 isn't a reloaders gun.

The rear locking bolt allows a lot of action springing, and brass doesn't last long no matter what you do.

My hunting buddy had one years ago in 300 Savage and it was a 1MOA rifle any time, and where.

But cases lasted three shots, at best.

rc

My experience, and many others, differs quite a bit. I get well over three reloads per case across a bunch of different cartridges. Only real issue I've run into is needing a small base die when forming 300 Savage from LC 308 brass. It's only needed when forming. After that normal dies work fine.

I would keep both. A 99 chambered in 300 Savage is a quintessential hunting rifle. I'd send the 308 off to JES and have it rebored to 358 Winchester. It's what I did, granted it was an E model, and I couldn't be happier.

The OP did not mention which models he purchased. This should be part of the decision as certain features command more money.

 

[Jim Watson]

A 1950s .308 is very early.
Perhaps some collector interest and easy to feed for ammo buyers.

 

[Sistema1927]

You might want to head on over to the Savage sub-forum on the 24 Hour Campfire site. That is where the Savage 99 experts hang out.

If you can post some pictures and other info they will be able to guide you into which one is the more desirable to keep.

 

[Dr T]

OP, even though you do not reload, you may find looking at a manual interesting in order to compare the case specifications of the two cartridges. The parent case of the 300 Savage is the 30-06. In my taxonomy, the other two factory cartridges in the 300 Savage family are the 250 Savage and the 22-250. All three are outstanding cartridges.

The 308 is a modernized 300 Savage with a longer neck (and case OAL) and more shallow shoulder angle.

The picture at the wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.300_Savage provides a side-by-side look. Among other things, these modifications would allow the 308 to function more reliably in semi- and automatic weapons under battlefield conditions. I believe I once read that the 300 Savage was once considered for military service but was rejected for reasons of reliability. The modifications would also prevent a 308 from being chambered by accident in a 300 Savage. However, the shoulder position looks like you could fire form a short necked 308 from 300 Savage brass. The resulting case would probably not stand up to 308 pressures.

I agree that early 50's vintage 308 would be an interesting item for a collection since it would be an early example of a 99 with an "updated" version of the classic cartridges.

At the end of the day, I would tend to keep both if I had enough safe space and was not economically compelled to sell one. The would make nice "bookends."

But, for a using rifle, I would keep the 308 because of ammo availability if they were comparably accurate. If the 300 Savage was a LOT more accurate, the decision would be much, much harder for me.

 

[KeithNyst]

Which one should you choose

Both will perform fine; if you expect to shoot a lot over 200 yards, then I'd go with the .308. If not, I personally would base the decision on the originality, condition and value of the rifles.

If you need help determining what exactly you have, PM me. Based on pure number produced, the .300 Savage is most likely a 99EG, and the .308 is most likely a 99F. The 99R and 99RS are also models that fit this time period. All else equal, a pre-60 .308 is more valuable than a .300 Savage (just because of the sheer numbers of Savages produced in .300 Savage vs. .308 in the 50s). BTW, I believe the earliest Savage in .308 would be a 1956.

If neither is original or very good condition, the .308 is a somewhat better cartridge, but the .300 Savage is vintage and classic to the Savage 99. Don't worry about ammo availability ... thousands of .300 Savages still go into the woods every fall and buying the ammo is not an issue, especially with the internet sales. Look at how many vendors have .300 Savage in stock this evening (about 40): http://ammoseek.com/ammo/300-savage
If you are concerned, just go buy a few boxes of .300 Savage and it will last you as long as you own the rifle.

I own both in a 99. I take the .300 to the stand ... just because it is the classic Savage and I just want to hunt with it.

 

[SwaneeSR]

I would keep both if any way possible.

I have been looking for a Winchester 88 or a Savage 99 in .308 for the past couple years at shows. Prices tend to be high for even firearms in fair shape. Maybe I just go to the wrong gun shows.

If you can only have one, get the .308. As mentioned above the .300 version is easier to find later. In the mean time the .308 will do anything you need done.

Swanee

PS - KethNyst , that is quite a view from the stand that day....makes me look forward to November.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Slamfire]

KeithNyst: Great picture!