Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 250-3000 savage questions

Hey guys, I'm new to the savage 99 game, and have my first one on the way. Always wanted one, finally pulled the trigger. Anyway, I think it's a 99R, in decent shape, chambered in 250-3000 savage. Serial number is 643xxx, lever boss appears to have an "N" in the circle(based on pics sent to me). I'm thinking from all the reading I've been doing that this will have a 1 in 14 twist. Given that, and my desire to hunt deer with it, what bullets would be best? Will 100gr Sierra pro hunters stabilize and shoot decent? Or should I give the 90gr hollow point Sierra game kings a try? Those appear to be the shortest bullets I can find, without hunting down some 87gr Speer hot cores. Second, based on the few pics I recieved of the rifle, it appears it may be missing a screw, right above the brass counter in the reciever. Are those hard to come by? If that screw is indeed missing, what all else might be missing(i.e. What does it hold together, or what is its function)? I know that's a tough question to answer without seeing anything, and I'll post up some good pics when it gets here. In the mean time, I'm just trying to get a jump on things, and have it ready to shoot as soon as I can. I'm a little bit excited, lol.

Oh, almost forgot. The rifle is coming with an old savage 4x scope. Anyone have any experience with those? Are they functional? Might be kind ofneat to keep it vintage, if it's not a hunk of junk.

The screw above the cartridge counter holds the rotary magazine adjusting disc in place. Without the screw there won't be any tension on the magazine and it won't feed cartridges from the magazine. The screws are available and adjusting the tension on the mag is no big deal. If the rotary mag is missing then you've got some expense.
That serial # should have a D lever boss code. David

They just made a run of 100 grain Remingtons. My local shop had 5 boxes. My 1950 R in 250 loves them. They are a bit pricey at $39 a box, but then you have a start on brass. A couple months ago Grafs had 87 gr'ers, but they show out of stock now, so there might be some around. Usually someone here has some. How many screws are on the side of the receiver, should be 2. If there are more it may have had a side mount on it. All post war R's were factory drilled, but mine still had a side mount on it. So, I have extra screws just to fill the holes. We just had a thread going about the old Savage scopes. I "think" it was said they were pretty good, not a Leupold, but not a K-Mart either. I'd love to find a couple. Enjoy your 99, I love mine, Joe.

Just 2 screws, the one above the brass counter is the one that appears absent. I should have the rifle on Monday. I just ordered some ammo from midway. I suppose it can't hurt to have some factory stuff on hand.

May be an optical trick that the screw seems missing. Certainly hope so since that screw is in short supply.

If it turns out that your rifle is really missing the screw and it's the screw that Wyo1895 thinks it is PM me. I've still got one or two.

Skidrow, much appreciated. As soon as I have the rifle in my hands, I'll check it over and post up some pics so you guys can help me figure out what it is for sure, and what I need, if anything, to get it up and running.

not up here Mike i have about 10 of them.

norm

The Savage Forum...your one stop shop.

They got bigger at the 900K range I think. Went from .120" to .136" screw shank. I've got 9 new ones and 1 old one.

mine like me are all OLD i' ll check dia later.

norm

I can only speak from my experience.

Some of the early slow-twist .250s will shoot 100 grain bullets, but some will not.

The Speer 87 grain Hot Core is a sure fire bet and a good bullet. May be hard to find but worth the search. Mine like 33.5 grains of 3031 behind them and a CCI BR2 primer. Usual benchrest prep.

This load delivers 1-1/4" groups from the bench at 100 yards for three shots. That is with a Marble's tang peep and gold bead. Target is a giant 1" wide black cross across a day-glo piece of poster paper. Makes a "cross hair" behind the bead. Try it sometime.

If you need a 100 grainer, others will have advice.

Best wishes, Marc

If you would like to try some 100 grain bullets I have Remington 100 grain PSPCL bullets. They are pretty short and might work. I could send you some 90 grain Sierras as well. It would not cost you anything to find out what your rifle likes. Let me know by PM and give me your snail mail address if so. Regarding 87 and 90 grain Sierras working on deer, quite a few guys have used them with success. I never shot a deer with either of those two bullets, but killed a pile of groundhogs with both out of a 25-06. I was impressed with how well they worked and always thought they would kill a deer if you shot one right - in the boiler room. Mule deer said the old 250-3000 rifles were supposed to have 1 in 14" twists, but sometimes had slower or faster rifling. The machinery wasn't precise in those days.

I had my eyes opened a little farther when I learned that elevation, temp, humidity, etc. effects the stabilization of bullets in flight. What may be marginal for us at sea level may be just fine for folks in higher elevations. That may explain why some guys get rotten accuracy with 100 grainers in older .250's (and 70 grain Hornadys in .22HP's) and others don't. I kinda knew that but didn't realize the extent of it, or didn't care because I haven't ventured very far from my bailiwick to hunt or shoot guns in a long time, or never messed much with marginally stabilizing ROT's until I got into Savages. Bottom line: you will only know what works in your gun where/when you shoot it by trying different stuff.

Also, in this day and age of accuracy freakonomics no one seems to be satisfied with a 2-3" 100 yard group anymore, when in truth there are maybe ten guys out of every hundred deer hunters who can deftly employ a rifle giving better accuracy than that. Too many computer jockeys, magazine worshipers, and gun shop bullshitters would have you believe that if a rifle won't put 5 into a half inch at 100 yards it is only use is as a museum piece.

As far as "the machinery wasn't precise in those days"- it was and it wasn't. What it was, was machines such as Pratt&Whitney sine bar rifling machines (typically used by just about everybody and his brother from the pre-WWI era on up) were up to the task but were dependent on skillful operation which wasn't guaranteed. Some of our best custom barrel makers still have some of those machines in service for odd orders.

Truth in what gnoahhh says. When I started hunting I was given a model 1898 30-40 Full Military Krag. It was as tall as I was. Dad being a WW2 vet said keep both eyes open when sighting. If I hit a paper plate at 100 yards all was good. Then I got to carry my dads custom .22-250 Heavy Flaig bbl. made with a P17 Enfield action. Shorter than I but heavier than the old Krag and open sights. A few years went by and I got my first Savage 99E in .243. Things looked up for me as a shooter. Then the 99 got a 4X Redfield Widefield and groups got tighter. Then I put on a 3X9 on the .22-250 and shot my first 300 yard groundhog. I was dancing in the grass. Then on and on and on until I was cutting holes at 200 yards and "expecting" to pull that off with other rifles until I realized one day that I was obsessed with group sizes and sometimes that wasn't possible and doesn't have to be for Pennsylvania Deer hunting (at least where I hunt). Now I'm back to having fun with open sights and starting to play with a .250-3000 made in 1917. Full circle!

I hear you guys. I just want something reasonable to hunt with, I'm not expecting a bench rest rife. The gun arrived today. It's in decent shape, all the screws/parts are there. I'll start a new thread with pics, so you guys can confirm the model for me, and let me know how it looks. Thanks for all the help guys!