300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

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86er
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300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by 86er »

Since getting Remington 81 in 300 Savage chambering a few weeks ago I called and e-mailed a bunch of the known writers that I recall has some experience with this cartridge. There's a bit of differring opinion out there!

Craig Boddington - picks up where the 30-30 leaves off, but falls far short of the 308 Winchester. A mild recoil and report make it useful as a beginners rifle. 150 gr cup and core bullets in the 2600-2700 fps range will be effective on deer and antelope out to 200 yards. If I remember right, you loaded your 308 to something like 2550 fps and I thought that was peculiar. You could essentially duplicate that and have identical results with the 300 Savage.

Mike Nesbitt - Stick with 180 grain soft point bullets, especially the round nose. The large frontal area initiates expansion at the velocity obtainable from the 300 Savage and the weight will help penetration. Out to 200 yards, this load will expand on deer and should exit. I refer you to my recent article, Rifle Magazine - Winter 2009 Volume 2 for more information.

Layne Simpson - A great, underrated cartridge that is still alive and well in isolated parts of the country and particularly among handloaders. A good 150 grain bullet can be pushed 2600 fps for ample accuracy, expansion and penetration for game up to 250 pounds or so out to 300 yards. With 150 grain bullets at velocity over 2600 fps it is indistinguishable from the 308 Winchester in report and recoil as well as performance. It responds well to 4895 powder.

John Haviland - Ah, the original short magnum! The 300 Savage was ahead of its time when it came out. It mirrored the 30-06's velocity with a 150 grain bullet. While the '06 is generally loaded faster nowadays, the 300 Savage is still on the heels of the 308 Winchester with 150 grain bullets and some 165 grain bullets. 4895 and 3031 work well with either bullet weight. You don't need premium bullets, soft point Hornady, Speer and Sierra bullet work fine at 2700 fps for deer sized game. This load will handle any big game out to 300 yards. Good luck!

Uncle Jerry - I've had clients show up with the 300 Savage for everything from antelope to grizzly bears. There was a time when there were essentially 3 kinds of .30 caliber bullets. They were 30-30, 300 Savage and 30-06 and up. They bullets were made to work at the velocity that those cartridges produced. The growing popularity of the Weatherby cartridges and the introduction of the 308 Winchester changed all that. The bullet makers produced 30-30 bullets and bullets that could handle 308 velocity on up. The 300 Savage got left in the dust. You have to experiment to find a bullet that is going to work. I would think the 170 grain Nosler Partition for the 30-30 would expand and penetrate because of the design. Also, bullets that were originally loaded in the 300 Savage might be made the same. Look for the 150 grain round nose Sierra Game King and the 180 grain Remington Soft Point. Don't try to hotrod this cartridge. It worked fine when the factory said it was 2700 fps but I'll bet the bullets were really going somewhere in the 2500's. Stay somewhere in between and don't try to use it for something too big or too far that it was intended for. I think you can rely on it for deer and boar up to 250 yards depending on your sights. If you're going to shoot bear or elk or take it to Africa I'd hold the shots to 100 yards.

Well - there is a big variance in how far it is effective and what bullet weight is best among these "experts" opinions. I'm taking it all in and trying two loads: 170 gr Speer FP at 2450 fps and the 165 gr Remington Core-Lokt at 2600 fps. When I return from SHOT and SCI I plan to shoot a deer, hog and ram as soon as possible.
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WCF3030
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by WCF3030 »

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Last edited by WCF3030 on Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by O.S.O.K. »

I'm betting that you will get virtually identical results from those two loads.
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crs
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by crs »

I am only an expert in that I nearly purchased a Model 99 .300 Savage as my first centerfire rifle.

The .308 cartridge won out because of the trends at the time and the fact that I was able to buy a good used pre 64 M70 featherweight in .308 for only $80! The M70 worked out well and I still have it, as it became my go to deer gun after it was accurized and scoped.
Had I gone with the Savage, it would have likely become my main deer rifle, as the deer seem to have dificulty telling which .308 rifle fired the bullet that kills them. :lol: .

PS Have fun at the show and you can tell us about it at the hog hunt.
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deerwhacker444
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by deerwhacker444 »

The first handful of deer I killed was with a .300 Savage from a Remington 760 that belonged to my Great Grandfather. At the time I was in High School and didn't reload so I was limited to factory fodder. Remington 150 gr. SP killed like lightening and I never lost an animal when hunting with that rifle. Most of the time it was bang flop. I'm looking forward to your game experiments with your 81.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by Pisgah »

Within 200 yards, I would take absolutely any shot I would take with a .308 using a rifle chambered for .300 Savage. I know the .308 edges the .300 in velocity regardless of bullet weight -- but not enough to make much of a difference until the shots get long. If I hunted in areas where a short shot was 200 yards -- and there are places like that -- the .300 would not be my first choice. But the vast majority of hunters, especially in the east, just don't see those types of situations -- and even if they do, most of their shots come at closer ranges.

But, for that matter -- a 150 gr. 30-caliber bullet at 2500 fps is perfectly adequate for deer-sized stuff out to 300 yards, if a shooter knows what he's doing. Zeroed for 200 you'd only see maybe 9 or 10 inches of drop at 300.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by BigSky56 »

86er, The 180 RN bullet in 300 savage is comparable to a 220 RN in a 3006 heavy for caliber bullet works better on large game like elk and moose. danny
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by nemhed »

I would most value the opinion of the person who has actually spent some time hunting with the 300 Savage and actually put some meat in the freezer with one. Uncle Jerry's was the only statement that didn't sound like it came out of a book or magazine. Keep us posted on your results.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by iceman »

I am no expert and I have only shot 1(my first) deer with a 300 savage. The 150 grain entered behind the last rib and passed diagonally across the chest and exited at the base of the neck on the other side. The deer didn't know it was dead and turned around and I placed another bullet near the exit hole and it exited near the entrance of the first bullet. The deer gave up then and fell in its tracks. I am working on some 165 gr loads and I am almost there now with an estimated 2500 to 2600 fps.
The 300 savage was considered a great all around rifle in my neck of the woods and was considered more than enough for deer, bear, and moose. It was and still is used with good success for all the previous stated animals. Up here the 303 British was considered the all around rifle and unless the more recent animals are bullet proof it sill could be. There is alot of hype about needing 3000 fps or more, but as we all know the right bullet in the right place does the trick.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by Bullard4075 »

"I would most value the opinion of the person who has actually spent some time hunting with the 300 Savage and actually put some meat in the freezer with one. Uncle Jerry's was the only statement that didn't sound like it came out of a book or magazine."

Lets tread lightly with each other , I enjoyed ALL the replies.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by Buffboy »

I've done the load development for her but my wife has been the one to do the shooting with the 300. I've only loaded 150gr Hornady for it. So far she's taken three deer, none went more than 20 yards from where they were hit. One was a mule deer buck weighing #250+ at 250 yards. In the right place, IMO, it's as good as anything else. In the wrong place a 300 Ultra Mag isn't enough. I expect your experiments will bear that out.
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Pete44ru
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by Pete44ru »

IMO, for all practical purposes, there's no difference between the .300 Savages I've used and various .308's - unless there was some special app involving distance of heavy bullet weight that would favor the .308.

IIRC, the original premise behind the .300 Savage was to dupe early .30-06 or .30-03 ballistics in a sporting rifle, before the -06 became generally available through surplus sales, etc.

I would be more guided by the gun than the particular cartridge - some great guns just aren't meant for the .308.

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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by Hobie »

I plan on loading my .308 Win chambered Savage 99A to .300 Savage performance levels albeit the advertised levels.

I have only one personal experience comment to add. SOME of the old guys who hunted with the .300 Savage M81s preferred the RN bullets saying they fed better in their rifles. I know that is true with my .35 Rem BUT the .35 Rem cartridge doesn't have nearly the same shape as the .300 Savage.
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Re: 300 Savage "Experts" Opinions

Post by PaulB »

What the heck is wrong with 2500fps? I often load my 308's down to that just to have a more relaxing load. Don't virtually all bullets expand above 2000 fps?

I'd be a little leery of using 30-30 bullets unless you load down to 30-30 velocities.

Nosler Ballistic Tips and some Sierras (Gamekings or Pro-Hunters, can't remember which) have a reputation of being a bit softer. BT's, the lighter ones anyway, are supposed to expand down to 1600fps! They might be the way to go.
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