Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Reloading for Older Savage 99

I have a Savage 99 in .300 Savage that I inherited from my father. It appears to have been made in 1946 based on the serial number and was given to my father by an older friend. It's a cool rifle in good condition and has a 24 inch barrel and Schnabel foreend. It shoots quite well with Remington 150 grain factory ammunition.

I would like to work up some loads for hog and deer hunting. I'm planning to use 150 and 165 grain Hornady Interlocks and am thinking about using Varget, AA2520 or RL15, all of which I have.

My question is about how close I should load to published maximums. I have read some comments that it's best to keep Savage 99's a bit below published maximums because they use a single bolt lug. One person cited Ken Waters as a source for staying 1.5 grains below maximum. Should I keep my loads a bit below maximum or is it safe to load up to max? Of course I will use a chronograph as I work up my loads to verify that my velocities are in line with load data.

99's don't have "a single bolt lug." Instead they lock up at the rear of the bolt, which allows slight compression of the bolt during firing.
They're very strong actions, but with too much pressure cases stretch in the chamber, making extraction difficult.

Published maximums for Savage cartridges are relatively low because of this, but individual rifles may show difficult extraction, or even lock up, with lower-pressure loads than other rifles. That said, I've never had any trouble with the maximum RL-15 load of 44.0 grains and 165-grain bullets published in the Speer manual, which shows the fastest velocity for 165's.

Thanks John! It sounds like I can work up loads as I normally do as long as I pay careful attention to any extraction issues.

I think that the greatest potential danger when reloading for the Savage 99 deals with the fact that they weren't designed to handle escaping gas particularly well in the event of a case rupture/separation or blown primer. While good quality eye protection is always recommended when shooting, perhaps it should be emphasized even more when shooting maximum or near maximum loads in the Savage 99.

OTOH, I am the soul of caution when it comes to shooting sports and tend to err on the lower/safer side of the pressure curve whenever a cautious approach is a viable option.

EDIT: PS - the Savage 99 that you have described is their Model 99 EG.

I usually useH 4895 in my 300 savage loads with 165 grain speers or sierras. However I have gotten excellent results using the Hornady FTX 160 bullet made for the 308 marlin express, the cannulure matches perfectly to the 300 savage brass, and I use the lever ever lotion powder and 308 marlin express data. This combination really shines with shorter barrels as in the T s or F s or custom cut off barrels.


I also have found that the 99 actions that I have owned, do not perform at their optimum,at max loads.

You dont have to hot load a 300 Savage, the kill just fine the way they (fps) came from the factory.

I load 44gr RL15 and the 150gr Sierra in my .300 with great accuracy. For a friend's pre-war 99, and respecting his injured ribs and shoulder, I loaded 40gr, same powder and bullet. Soft shooting and no problem killing deer. One shot to a customer.

The Hornady 150 gr .308 SST bullet comes in two versions. The version linked below (#30303) is specifically designed for the 300 Savage with the cannelure located to give the proper OAL for the 300 Savage.

This has been a very accurate bullet in my 300 Savage 99, with VV-140 (41.0 gr), H-4895 (40.0 gr), or RL-15 (42.0 gr), all giving between 2570 and 2600 fps, which is as much speed as I like to get out of a M-99.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/11...ge-308-diameter-150-grain-sst-box-of-100

What about OAL? Normally I start with the bullet out close to the lands but given the 99 magazine and all perhaps I should start at a shorter OAL. Any thoughts on this?

I'd use the book COAL in the case of the 300 Savage. I used the plain old 150 SST (not the 300 Savage version) in mine with AA2520 for about 2600. Shoots well with the peep.

For dad's 300 and the wifes 250 always tried to duplicate factory ballistics. No problems with case stretch. Known a couple of people who tried to hot rod them and ended up with issues. 99s ime seem to have rather large, chambers. Not setting the shoulder back too far seems to make a difference.

bowmanh,

The book OAL of 2.600" is the practical limit for two reasons:

Obviously, like many rifles, that is pretty much the magazine length limit.

Even more importantly, if you get much longer than 2.600", you can chamber the round, but it won't clear the receiver when you try to eject a loaded round. Oops. This is not as easy to clear as a bolt-action.

Don't worry about trying to get close to the lands. With almost all bullets at a OAL of 2.600" you will be .10" or more off the lands in most Savage 99s. Very good accuracy can usually be found in spite of the jump.

I load most all bullets for an OAL of 2.580" to 2.600" for smooth functioning and don't worry about the lands.

I like to use the Lee Factory Crimp Die on these short-neck cases for all bullets, and especially like that the 150 gr SST crimps into the cannelure. Good luck with your efforts.

Thanks for all the responses! I'll stick to the book OAL and keep things simple. It should be fun to work up loads for this classic rifle.

You'll have a good time, those old Savage Model 99 are great rifles.

41

99s ime seem to have rather large, chambers. Not setting the shoulder back too far seems to make a difference. [/quote]

Ill second this fire form your case to the chamber and dont over size the case.

H4895, R15, Varget and I4064 have all worked well in a variety of .300 Savage chambered rifles for me over the years....

+1 on 4064. My EG loves it with 150SSTs (made for the 300) and 165 Speers. I load it pretty light 'cause I only use it for short range work. Great hog gun

40.5 Varget, 165 Hornady Spire. 2498 average. 41.5 varget, 150 gr. 2641. This was 10 years ago with a 52 vintage EG. I didn't find all my notes, but remember having a spread of 6 fps total on the 150's. Enjoy the gun.

In 2004 I saw a takedown Sav 99 in 250 savage for $200 on a gunshow table in Monroe WA. I offered $175 and he took it. I think it was made in 1917.
From Ebay I got 6mmPPC Stainless Shilen select match take off barrel with 460 rounds fired for $75+ $12 shipping.
In 2007 I cut threads and extractor relief cuts on the barrel breach for the 99. I chambered in 6mmBR. I drilled and tapped scope base holes in the 1917 receiver to match the factory holes in my 1969 Sav99 308. I had to build tooling to hold the tapered receiver in the mill vise.
Because of the small rifle primer pocket this case does not get loose at 70kpsi like 243 case, nor loose like a 223 case at 80kpsi, the primer pocket never gets loose in a work up, but instead, the primer pierces first. The toughest primer is the CCI450 small rifle magnum primer. The pressure at which it pierces is dependent on things like firing pin size, shape, and fit to the firing pin hole.
Also in 2007 I worked up loads in the old Sav 99 until the primer pierced. I backed off 2 grains and fired 3 groups at 50 yards and one group at 100 yards, shown.







While the Sav 99 can handle pierced primers better than a Rem700 in terms of stopping function, the Rem 700 with the same hot loads does not stretch the brass. The Sav 99 locking up in the rear with stretch the brass ~~0.002" at ~~ 80kpsi.
This is nowhere near as stretchy as a Lee Enfield 303Brit, but still an aggravating inconvenience for hot loads.
The Rem700 action does not stretch the brass at 80kpsi, and avoiding pierced primers, I prefer it to the Sav 99 for these super high breech thrust loads.

Very interesting and quite impressive. Couple of questions:

How do you know what the pressures are?

Why do you operate with pressures that high?

Thx