Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 250 Savage for whitetails

I am the proud owner of a Savage 99 in 250-3000. I have read a bunch of the Savage Collectors' comments about how this caliber works great(historically and currently) on all sorts of soft-skinned, medium sized game with the 87g bullets.

I'm a northeast woods hunter, where deer disappear after taking two steps, not too many 200yard shots make sense to any of us. Everyone I hunt with are big fans of knock-down power and good blood trails...so, I'm not getting much support for taking this sweet little gun afield....I'm thinking it's way bigger than what a compound bow throws, and these guys are mostly bow hunters too.

I'd love to arm myself with your real-world stories of taking whitetails with this caliber.

Thanks!

I'm jealous. Don't let the nay sayers tell you different, the 250 Savage is a great deer gun. Savage now offers them in their bolt guns too. I think I'd lean towards 100 grn bullets though.

+1
That cartridge will kill any whitetail alive with the right bullet and shot placement. My son killed several deer with his youth Model 7 in .243. It's on to it's third youth and the deer are still dying. That .250 with a 100 gr bullet is all you need. Recoilwon't be a problem either.

Have fun with it!

Ron

Mr. JeffG;
Between our daughter and me, we've shot 3 whitetails and 3 mulies so far with her .250AI, which is close enough to our .250-3000.

Her last buck was a nice mulie that went somewhere around 145lbs into the cooler, shot with a 100gr. Hornady at something like 200yards. It made about 6 weak hops and was laying there patiently for us when we got to it.

So far all the deer have been shot with the 100gr. Hornady, but I do have a box of 100gr. TSX we�d like to load up to try. I�m also waiting for the 80gr. TTSX to cross the border.

Oh lastly as I recall, my late father shot at least 2-3 moose with his .250, so we�re not too concerned it won�t work on a deer.

All the best luck with your new rifle.

Regards,
Dwayne

To date I have killed only 2 deer with the 250 Savage loaded with 100gr Silvertips , both of them dropped in their tracks


Mike

I been hunting with a couple of tang sighted Savage 1899's in .250-3000 for quite a few years. One I use for mule deer and antelope, the other for coyotes. It's been a long time since I've hunted whitetails. I handload 100 grain Speer Hot Cores for big game and 87 grained Hot Cores for coyotes. I just feel more confident in the 100 grain bullet on deer sized animals. I'm not a big believer in "knock down energy". I want a bullet to expand reliably and penetrate through the vitals. I have always experienced good bullet performance and quick kills with the .250 Savage. In regards to using the .250 in heavily forested areas, I'd have to defer to the tens-of-thousands who hunted, and still do, the Maine woods, eastern US and Canada carrying 99's in .250-3000 Savage. It's where the cartridge cut it's teeth so to speak. If they trusted it, then I see no reason not to.

My brother shot his first fallow deer (about the same size as a white tail) with a 100 gn Corelokt at 60 yards. The bullet exited the offside of the chest and the buck fell in his tracks. I have downed heaps of pigs with 100gn Ballistic Tips, so I would say go for it.

Thank you very much.

Haven't taken a whitetail yet, but had no problem dropping antelope at 200 yards with an old 99 using 87gr Speer Hot Core. At 50 yards that deer will drop if you can put the shot where it counts.

If you typically end up with 50 yards shots, I'd try it out with shorter 100gr bullets at 50 yards. I'll bet you'll easily still be minute of deer. Out here where I can end up with 200 or 300 yard shots, I'd rather have the accuracy of the 87gr than some more knockdown power with a 100gr.

Jeff: If all your shots are 200 or less, you might consider the 117gr Hornady Round Nose bullet. It's an outstanding deer bullet, which I have found to be very accurate in several quarterbores. It expands quickly and penetrates well.

I use my Model 1920 for both mule and whitetail deer with the Hornady 87gr sp. Never had any problems. It will work great.

If you want to get a good look at the .250 Savage and whitetails, find a copy of Larry Koller's book, "Shots at Whitetails".
This is one of the very best books ever written on the subject (and written back in the '40s)

If I remember right, that Model 1920 in .250 Savage was Larry Kollers all time favorite rifle for whitetails...
Really good read BTW...
Ingwe

My next door neighbor is 85 years old, and loves to talk about when he was able to hunt. He goes on and on about his old Savage 99 250 and how he thought it superior to the .30-30. Said that fast bullet "struck 'em down like lightnin'".

Anybody I have known that used a .250 Savage, loved it. I was going to build my daughter a bolt rifle in that caliber, but she prefers my .30-30, so I'll have to keep campaigning...

The 250-3000 wont work in the east, send it out here to the west! (100 gr core-lokt rn)

Now that is just cool.....
Ingwe

No 87gr bullet@ 3000f/s for me in the Maine woods. Many shots will be less than 50 yds. When Savage first came out with the 250 they used a 87gr bullet to get to 3000. Hunters experienced lightning like kills, and I'm sure they did with cup and core bullets in the chest..then came the blowups at close range on less than optimal placement. So, for me, I would use a premium bullet or a big ol' heavy for caliber RN..IMO

These are perfect! I guess I'll just have to prove my knock-down-big-blood-trail-brethren wrong, and show them how good old school skills still fill the freezer.
Thanks!

I killed my first deer and at least 100 more Texas Whitetails with the .250, virtually all with various 100 grain bullets(mostly the 100gr Nosler Solid base) at modest(2650 fps) velocities. I never recovered a bullet! Given a free choice though, I would have to agree with Mule Deer, who likes the heavier 115-120 bullets in the .250.

First you need to check and see if your Savage will handle 100gr or heavier bullets. Early guns had a slower twist that favored the 87 grainer. If you do have a slow twist, choose the toughest 85-87 grain bullet you can find.

On the other hand A friend's pair of 1930 era 99's shoot the 100 gr Remington Corelokt very well. For your shooting distances, a round nose or semi spitzer (with a flat base)might be the best choice, since bullets would be shorter and easier to stabilize.

If you keep velocities modest (below 2700) you probably won't have to worry too much about using cup and core bullets 100gr and up. The 100gr. Nosler Partition is a fantastic deer bullet if it will shoot accurately in your rifle.

I don't own a .250 anymore, but it is a wonderful deer rifle and I still have a soft spot for the '99--it ought to be a blast in the deep woods

Savage rifles chambered in 250-3000 prior to 1960 had 1 in 14" twist barrels and will not usually shoot bullets weighing over 100 grains well. Some will, but most won't, that is why the 87 grain Speer HotCore is a good choice for the 1 in 14" twist barrels.

The post-1960 Savage 99s, 11s, and 110s had 1 in 10" twist barrels, so they would usually shoot any .257" bore bullet into pretty good groups.

I think that the best bullet ever made for the 1 in 14" twist 250-3000 is the discontinued 75 grain Barnes X, as it gave the shooter a nice balance of accuracy and penetration.

Jeff

LK wrote alot about his Savage 1920 in 250-3000 and his mannlicher stocked 30-40 Krag in Shots At Whitetails.

For several years during the 1990s, Larry's son, Paul, guide me for a couple of days of trout fishing on the Blackfoot and Clarks Fork each summer. Paul told me that Larry had over 1,000 firearms when he passed away in 08/67 and that many of them were purchased by Larry's "friends" who were willing to pay a premium price to "help" Mrs. Koller liquidate them. Paul told me that the premium prices paid were often in the $0.10 on the $1.00 range, some help.

Paul helped me track down a couple of his Father's rifles and I am currently the owner of Larry Koller's Savage 1920, #15xx, and his Winchester 1885 Highwall in 256 Newton, #416xx.

Jeff