I just bought a "shooter" because I wanted one. It has very light hardwood(I'm guessing Birch?)stocks and a 20" bbl. The rear sight has been removed but I am guessing that almost any folding sight will do since it is not a collectors piece.
I like shorter rifles and I have had a 20" 99 before. I shoot left-handed and would have rather had a tang mounted saftey but having handled some of a shooting buddy's 99s I think I will survive.
I have dies and bullets on the way and brass awaiting. I have also been reading everything I can find on the 300Savage round. I know that realistically ,as a hunter, I would have been better off with the 308 but I just wanted the 300. It would be extremely rare for me to have a shot at 250 yards and most will be inside 100. At that range dead is dead.
Any suggestions about loading or hunting with the 300 Savage?
Thanks,
Goat

Steelhead swears by 125gr TTSX's out of the 300 Savage, I do believe. You might give that a try if you're wanting something with 308 like performance.

I shoot shorter distances, so I use 150/165/180 grain depending on what the gun likes. Killed a bunch of deer dead at under 150 yards with 180gr Partitions and H4895.

should be some info in the "misc.info" link, the .300 will do very nicely

try sierra gameking SBT 165gr they shoot really good for me I'll tell you a critter will never know the difference between a 300 or a 308 they are both just great deer rounds

plab

Given your hunting parameters any good bullet will do including those designed for the 30-30. Find a bullet the rifle likes at a speed the rifle likes. Low power scope and you're good to go.

Bullet weight depends on what you'll be hunting with it. I like 150s for deer but it depends on the rifle as Rory's "go to" 99EG likes 180s.

Two other guys around here and I have killed elk with .300 Savages. See photo at left. This is my first elk shot with a .300. It killed the elk just as dead as the .300 Weatherby I normally use. David

Welcome to the Forum, Goat...

My "pet" deer hunting load for my pristine 1953 Model 99, .300 Savage (EG) is a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip (boat-tail) bullet in front of 40.8 grains of H4895 sparked by a standard Winchester larger rifle primer in "accurized" Winchester cartridge cases.

I also like the 150 grain Sierra, flat-based ProHunter bullet using the same load as above.

I chose the Hodgdon 4895 powder because it is one of their "EXTREME" powders meaning it is not effected by the outside air temperatures which, was you probably know, yield lower & lower muzzle velocities as the outside air temperatures surrounding you as you are hunting or shooting drop. Of course, as your rifle's muzzle velocity drops, your bullet's point-of-impact also drops.

This advantage means that whether you work up and sight in your hunting load at your local rifle range on a 90� day or a 30� day, your bullet's point-of-impact won't change whether it's warm or cold when you are hunting where the daily temperatures can be drastically different.

These loads both yield minute-of-angle accuracy @ a chronographed 2635 fps � 3 fps (+1 fps/-2 fps) out of my EG's 24-inch barrel. Your 20-inch barrel will probably get approximately 2550 fps (a 25 fps drop in muzzle velocity per each less inch of barrel length).

Good luck in your hunting & shooting with your old (but new-to-you) Model 99...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

My 99EG likes the Sierra Spitzer Boat Tail 150gr bullet pushed by 38.5gr of H4895. I use CCI Large Rifle Primer. Usually able to keep 3shot groups under 1 1/4" at 100 yards. IMHO that is good enough for anything I am going to shoot.

I am trying out the Sierra Pro Hunter 150 gr RN, so far I like it. Using Varget. So far 40 grains have been very accurate at 150 yards. When the rifle gets back from the Smiths I will keep working up the load to the max of 44gr. We will report back then.

I've yet to hndload anything that'll out shoot, or kill stuff any deader than the factory Remington 150 grain loads.

Can't argue much with that. Years back I had a chance to buy 2500 150 grain corelokt bullets for 75 bucks. Have shot hundreds of 'em in a bunch of different .300s and only had one F that didn't like them. Used to push them with milsurp I4895 'til I discovered Re15.

I load the 125 grain bullets in my .300, and load them at 3,000 fps. The accuracy surprised me. I have yet to shoot a deer with them but others on the Internet swear by it and say its a bang-flop load. On another note, I was with my 82 year old father in November when he shot a 1,200 lb 11 x 12 bull elk, at about 90 yards. He shot it with a .300 Savage 99 using a 150 grain bullet, factory load actually. A 300 Magnum would not have done any better than this 150 grain did. From all that I have read, the problem with the bullets over 150 grains is that they don't go fast enough to mushroom properly, per the reloading handbooks. Enjoy your gun.

We'll be wanting photos of an elk like that!

Ok, still having trouble with photo bucket.
Here is the photo, if it works this time.
Not the prettiest rack, but it was huge.
[img]http://[IMG]http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h364/bobramsay/HPRondeckw-bull.jpg[/img][/img]

What a set of clubs on that beast.

I tried that Sierra 150 RN with Varget. 44.0 gr. was much to hot for my rifles. IIRC 41.5 gr. was the most I could use.

That doesn't surprise me. I've found that Varget and Re15 run pretty close to one another. The most I could get to was 42.0 grains without pressure signs. It is also the most accurate load.

Goat, great minds run in the same track, so do ours.

I recently bought a 99E in .300 Savage. The previous owner had installed a Williams peep and a cheap sling.

I tried the Federal 180s and the Remington 150s on paper at 100 yards and the Remington loads are slightly more accurate in my rifle.

I haven't shot anything with it yet but I'd like to whack a whitetail and maybe a black bear with it.