Should I look into handloading??

[phantomak47]

I have a good old savage 99 in 300 savage and there are only two companies that make the savage 300. I have to special order them, they are never in stock at any gun shop.

I am limited to 150 grains and 180 grains.

I have always gone with the 150 because a lot of people told me that the 300 savage is best in that grain weight.

There is no such thing as high end ammo for 300 savage, so I was wondering if I could get better performance and accuracy by loading my own 300 savage. Would it be worth it for me or should I stick to factory ammo. thanks

 

[armoredman]

Reload - it's a fun and productive hobby, and you can tailor your loads to exactly what your rifle likes! You won't save any money, but you will have more ammo!

 

[model 649]

Good reason for handloading there. It can be pricey to start up a bench, especially for only one caliber that may not be shot in large amounts. I enjoy it alot, myself. I load mainly handgun ammo and I shoot alot. I also do seasonal work for several of my friends who hunt, and some case quantities of handgun for a friend who shoots in a yearly competition that he practices for alot during the year. My bench sees alot of traffic and the start-up price has long since been re-couped. I say try it, you might really like it and maybe get sucked into buying more guns (to load for, of course). You can start small and work up if you like. The sky's the limit, really, but hard to get or obsolete calibers are a great reason to start up a bench.
Josh

 

[C. H. Luke]

"Would it be worth it for me or should I stick to factory ammo."

The .300 and the 99 are both a cartridge and a rifle that should never die or lie idle!

Have a 99F in .300 picked up in a Pawn Shop when just out of the Military in Fairbanks, AK in '69. Began loading for it on a single-stage press right away and still do. You can still buy new factory brass for it, so no reason not to enjoy a fine gun?

To me it's worth it to keep an all time Classic rifle and round going. There are plenty of good hunting hand-loads in print for it, not to mention great bullets.

This is an exc. place for 99 info in general:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/Savage

And:

http://www.savageshooters.com/forum/

 

[Kamicosmos]

No reason not too. I reload for all my guns. It is a fun and satisfying hobby to complement your shooting hobby.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Reloading is great relaxation and therapeutic. And you end up with exactly the ammo you want without any hunting around or compromising. If you shoot enough it also begins to pay back financially. Great reason to shoot a lot.

 

[rbernie]

The ability to tailor the bullet for the hunt is incalculable, IMO. The 300 Savage is a fine cartridge that deserves the benefot of modern bullets.

Go for it.

 

[Jet22]

Would it be worth it for me or should I stick to factory ammo.

Man, you have to ask? You have what is estimated by many gun writers to be the best deer caliber out there in what is estimated by many hunters to be the best deer gun...its too good to die.

I do not think they will stop producing 300 Savage ammo in the near future, but that is only one reason to reload. You can taylor your loads for everything from varmits to bear and never have a fear of running out of ammo. Your ammo will be much more accurate in your gun than anything you can buy. You can use bullets like the Speer 100 grain plinker, Hornady 150 grain SST, Seirra 168 grain Match, or Nosler 180 grain Partition just to name a few. You can even buy an RCBS form/ream die and make your 300 Savage cases out of just about anything with the same head size...30'06, 308, 270, etc. And last but not least, reloading is just as much if not more fun than shooting!

 

[Dave R]

Reloading has greatly increase my enjoyment of shooting. You should reload for that reason alone.

But yes, you can save a bunch of money over the cost of buying factory ammo for the .300 Savage. As a reloader, your cost should be around $5 to $5.50 per 20, using good bullets (Speer, Sierra, Hornaday, etc.)

 

[Smokey Joe]

You will know the reloading bug has bitten you when...

You go to the range to shoot up some ammo so's you'll have some brass to reload.

 

[Jet22]

You go to the range to shoot up some ammo so's you'll have some brass to reload.

Amen!

 

[brokin8ball26]

DO IT ! go to www.midwayusa.com [ the reloaders dream store ] and start stocking up on tools and supplies ! you will never regret getting started in reloading.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Start out with a Lee Handpress kit and Lee Pace Setter dies. You can get this from Midway www.midwayusa.com for around $50. The dies come with a charge dipper and a list of recommended powders. You can fit everything you need in a tool box.

If you really get into reloading, of course, you'll want a lot more stuff, but your Handpress won't be useless -- that's what you take to the range and use to develop loads with, while your heavy bench press sits at home.

 

[cmbiii]

"You will know the reloading bug has bitten you when...
You go to the range to shoot up some ammo so's you'll have some brass to reload."

So it's not just me. I'm greatly relieved. Here all these years I thought I had a problem.

Seriously, the improvement you can get in accuracy can be startling, and the convenience of being able to load up just what you want is delightful. If you're going to do a very small number of reloads the Lee hand press will do, and I do take mine to the range when working up loads. I'd recommend you also get a digital scale to start with, though, as the Lee dippers cannot be adjusted, and I've seen noticeable differences in accuracy from 0.5 and 1.0 grain changes in the powder load (this in 308, a descendant of the 300 Savage if I remember correctly.)

And, as others have said, it's just plain fun to make up loads that work better than you can buy.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Welcome!

Cmbiii--First of all, welcome to THR! There are many reloaders here who share The Magnificent Obsession with you!

Your only problem as a reloader is how much brass/powder/bullets/primers do you have on hand.

And I agree with all else you've said, except to point out that the .308 is a necked-down .30-'06. That is its parentage.

You will find many here who will share expertise with you. And YOU are an expert on something--everybody is--please share with us, too!

Again, welcome aboard.

 

[cmbiii]

I too had long thought that the 308 was just a shortened 30-06 (I understand the term necked down to mean resizing the neck to take a smaller diameter bullet, as they did to the -06 to make the 270 Win). But recently I read some articles like this

http://www.users.fast.net/~jasmine/308.htm

dealing with the development history of the 308, which reference the 300 Savage as the starting point. (Of course, I've also read that the 300 Savage was developed to be a short-action equivalent to the 30-06, so in that sense the -06 was the granddaddy of both of 'em.)

In any event, 308 's a wonderfully accurate and powerful cartridge, easy to reload and a real pleasure to shoot, especially at 600 yards.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Interesting!

Cmbiii--Fascinating reading; an interesting site!

Though if I may be permitted another small quibble, all it says about the relationship between the .300 Savage and the T-65 (.308Win, as a civilian cartridge) is that "The main difference between the 300 Savage and the T-65 was the 3/16" longer neck of the latter." Note that the .308 is the longer cartridge. It's hard to make a longer cartridge out of a shorter one.

I misspoke in my earlier post; you are right, necking down is reducing the size of the neck of a cartridge. I should have used the term you did, i.e. shortening. The .308 is a shortened .30-'06. Nothing in the URL you provided says it isn't.

Lyman's 48th Edition Reloading Handbook does state, "...It [the .308] is the end result of the U. S. military's experiments with shortened .30-'06 cartridges during the late 1094's...." (pg. 216)

Cartridges Of The World, 10th ed, by Frank C. Barnes (Krause pub. 2003) states on pg. 335 that "For the NATO small arms trials in the early 1950's, the U. S. submitted their new T-65 cartridge. This was basically a shortened .30-'06 case using the same caliber bullet and similar case head dimensions. ... " (emphasis added)

I rest my case. (pun intended )

 

[kobus]

30-06 Short

Here in South-Africa some of us call the.308 Win jokingly a 30-06 Short.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I'm not so sure that I would give the .308 even that much credit. Kobus...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Here in South-Africa some of us call the.308 Win jokingly a 30-06 Short

Y'all aren't wrong. The .308 is the civilian version of the 7.62 NATO (as I am sure you know) and was developed to produce a shorter cartridge that would duplicate .30-06 ballistics. Which it does -- unless you load the .30-06 to its full potential.

To someone who buys factory ammo, and doesn't shoot Lite Magnum or Hi Energy loadings, there's not a lot of difference. To a handloader, there's a significant difference.

 

[Sunray]

Don't look, jump. Lets you use the absolute best ammo possible for your rifle and makes the search for the best price go away. Midway has the brass. Dies and a shell holder are easy to come by. So is data. I have data in my old Lyman manual for 110, 130, 150 and 180 grain jacketed. Plus four cast bullet loads. E-mail me if you want it. No fuss or bother. [email protected]
Winchester does load it though, but it's not readily available everywhere.