Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Load for Savage99 in 300 Savage

I am sure this topic has been beat to death, but anyone have any pet loads for their 99 24" in 300 Savage. I plan to use a 150gr bullet, probably the Sierra Pro-Hunter SPT, or RN.

Not looking for anything other than a nice accurate round to kill whitetails with out to 100 yds. COL? Is it going to be restricted by the rotary mag?

I picked up a 1947 vintage 99EG, and want to kill a few deer with it.

Nice find! Ken Waters book "Pet Loads" has always been my "go to" place for starting reloads. Everybody has their own recipe, but I find his stuff works pretty well. Follow his notes for recommended use. Waters wrote for Handloader Magazine for years and the book can be obtained through Wolfe Publishing, or just about any outlet that carries outdoor literature.

Hard to not like 130gr Barnes TTSX in front of 43grs of H4895. Pushing 3K and deer don't like it.

I'll have to pick up a copy of that book.....

39 to 40grs of the same powder works nicely with 150's.

I gotta admit that if I were to take a stab at using jacketed bullets in the .300 I would have to try those 130 TTSX's.

I've Always liked 150gr 30 cal bullets for deer, I guess it's hard to break old habits.

Been killing them just fine with Nosler Partitions in 165gr and 180gr and IMR4895. Wouldn't be my first choice for open prairie or wide open mountains, but at 200 yards and less they don't go far.

1945 99EG:

Weight means NOTHING, construction and placement EVERYTHING.

I'd take a Barnes 130gr over ANY of the bullets you mentioned.

I bought a bulk lot of 150 grain Core-Lokts years back and I'm still shootin' 'em. Several powders work well in the .300 for me: H4895, I4895, and Reloder 15. I settled on Re15 because I use it in the .250 as well. 42 grains of Re15 over the 150 Core-Lokt is what I shoot.

You will likely get lots of advice... (especiallly if RonT shows up)

RL15 and TAC should work equally as well. If I didn't start years ago with H4895 I'd have gone TAC/RL15 to simplify things.

At 300 Savage velocities and at 100 yards or less...

ANY bullet that's not a varmint bullet will kill any whitetail dead if the bullet goes where it should go.

Pick what your rifle will shoot well, and what you're confident with. Hornady, Speer, Nosler, Sierra, Barnes.... 125gr to 200gr.

It'll be dead if you do your job.

I still prefer having a bullet that will work when everything is wrong.

Southbound shot into a northbound hog with a 130gr TTSX.

1st load I tried with my "new" '51EG was 38gr IMR4895 and some old 150gr BTips that had been sitting on my bench for years. That load worked so well, I haven't tried anything else

Is that a .300 Savage? Seems to be missing the lever

Some favorites in the .300S.

150 grain Win Power Point with 38.5 grains IMR 3031, 2575 fps
150 grain Win Power Point with 43.0 grains Varget (1 grain over book max so it may be too hot for you. Start at 40.0 and work up with care and a good chrony). I get 2650 fps
180 grain Win Power Point with 43 grains of W760 extremely accurate, 2250 fps.

Thanks for all the input, I have a friend that works for Sierra, and always been happy with their bullets. Just looking for something that has a velocity in the 2500-2600 range. I have a bunch of RL-15, I may give that a try...

I don't plan to scope this rifle, just leave it as is, or at most at an aperture sight. Be hunting with it in tight cover, as my place is a jungle in most areas.

My all-time favorite woods deer hunting load for the 300 Savage is the Remington 170 grain RNCL 30-30 bullet ahead of 41 grains of H4895. This is a load that shot great groups and killed whitetails quickly when I used them in my Remington 722 and 760. If you're shooting a less rigid action, I'd drop back to 35 grains of powder and work up from there until you find the combination that works best in your rifle.

EDIT: 41 grains of H4895 is a compressed load if you seat the 170 grain RNCL to the cannelure. I only seat them to the base of the neck in Winchester/Olin brass. Federal or Remington brass may, or may not, have different case capacity than the W/O.

The Nosler 150 gr. accubond over 42.0 gr. of Varget works well in my Reminton 7600 300 sav. You might want to work up to that charge from below in your 99.