Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 303 Savage load data

I've lost my old sheets with data for the 303 and was wondering if there was any current info available? The guru at the local shop stated to load no more than 93% of what is called for with the 30/30. I recall that it was closer than that but do not trust my memory. I could believe this with 190 gr bullets but believe the 150 and 170 gr bullets would be pretty close.

I tried the search but came up with just about everything but what I wanted. Probably my lack of skills but I am not feeling up to figuring things out right now. Thanks for any help.

I just saw a bag of hand loads with the recipe on a card. In the morning I'll check and see if I can find them. I just got lazy and bought 2 boxes of loaded ammo from Grafs, I think it was only about 28 bucks a box, Joe.

I used to brew my own loads and then I discovered Ken Waters and decided I was wasting my time. His stuff works good enough for me. And if you can't find it in "Pet Loads" then there are always copies of older Lyman manuals to be found. I can look it up if you are interested.

30-30 data works fine

plab

Yeah, just use .30-30 data and be done with it.

If using .308" bullets, then go with 30-30 data starting with minimum loads a and working up. If for some reason you want to use .311", that's totally different.

In this day and age I can't imagine anybody wanting to use .311 bullets, Rory. (116 year old theory not withstanding.) Although I suppose there are those dim bulbs out there who might insist that since .303 Brits use .311 bullets, then by god a .303 Savage should too.

Yep.. just wanted to put it out there. I know Lee's manuals still show .311" bullets for the 303 Savage since the SAAMI spec is for that.

30-30 data works well enough for me.

Thanks for the help. I am running out of "factory" loads and my old reloads are in short supply so am in need of running up another batch. I seem to have lost my old Lyman manuals, both Water's Pet loads and his Notebook, Sharpe's reloading manual, a book on cartridge conversions, a few binders of info that I had packed away, and some accessories for my reloaders. I haven't seen them since I packed things up to remodel the basement (a work still in progress) and am afraid they got tossed. The wife rid her corner of some things and I am afraid a box of my stuff ended up there. Hopefully, they are packed in a box I haven't opened yet.

Again, I greatly appreciate the information.

The old manuals had the .303 loads hotter than the .30-30 so using .30-30 data should be quite safe.

Funny thing, the only hunting bullet I ever loaded in the .303 is a 190 grain flat nosed cast bullet, over 28 grains 3031. I never in all the bazillion shots I put through the .303 have I fired a jacketed bullet. It was the first load I tried. It worked so well I never bothered changing up. (I do fire other weight cast bullets and various powder charges for "playing". This is my tried and true hunting load, for ever and ever, amen.)

Proof is in the pudding: (Rory and I are in the running for who can post the same old dead deer pic the most often )



This is the trophy I care the most about when out in the deer woods :

Huh. Didn't know that.

I didn't even know there was a SAAMI spec for a .303 Savage.

Gonahhh, Rory wins with more pics of same dead deer but you win with the nicest gun.

Mike

Cartridges of the World refers to the spec, Lee refers to it, a couple other sources also - but it's not published anywhere that I can find.

I always considered it a mistake by SAAMI, the bore was always .308 and by the time they got around to it the commercial ammo was almost surely .308 also.

Try this: 303 loading data

31.0 grains of IMR3031 behind a jacketed 150
28.0 grains of IMR3031 behind a jacketed 170.

Both are really accurate loads in the .303 Savage.