Compare cost and ammo selection for .308 Win vs .300 Savage. Except for Savage 1899 the .300 Savage chambering makes no sense to own at all. It is quite obvious that Savage 1899 was the best manual repeater ( a mano) ever designed and produced. The original rotary magazine w/ cartridge counter itself was a marvel of engineering.
I don't know where you live, but in the U.S. the majority of hunter aren't reloaders or high volume shooters, so they buy a box of twenty rounds every year or so. That makes the cost and/or selection/variety of factory ammo of little concern to most of them.
The Savage 1895/1899/99 was a nice rifle, but if it really was "the best", don't you think that it would still be made? As far as manual repeaters that aren't bolt actions go, the Marlin 1893/36/336, Remington 760/7600, and Winchester 1894/94 have been pretty successful and remain in production.
