Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors antelope beware

I put a Lightfoot mount and a Leupold M8 2.5 compact scope on my 99E 250-3000 (1930 vintage with medium weight TD barrel) and took it to the range. I had some odds and ends of various loads. The best group was with 36g IMR4064 and a Nosler 85g BT. My Nosler reloading manual says 99 barrels with a 1 in 14 twist won't stabilize any of their bullets. The first 3 shots were a 13/16" group. The next 2 opened the group to 5 shots in 1 3/8". See photo.

I only had 3 rounds of 34g RE15 with the same bullet. I had in my notes to load this round with 36g RE15. I thought this load might be too hot and fortunately I had only loaded one. I had a very hard time extracting the case after firing. The next photo shows the 34 g RE15 group. That's the group below the receiver.

I've loaded up some more of both and will try them in the next few days. Below are overall photos of my new antelope rifle.


David