Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Caliber value .303 vs .300 Savage

the 303 savage is worth a lot more in value, but if your not a handloader a 300 savage for hunting would be a better choice ,but I agree with one of these other posts buy both I have !

All of my "serious" .30 molds are 180 grains and heavier and therein lies the rub. With so much of the bullet dangling down in the powder space is where the issues lie, though admittedly minor in nature. (Such things as bullet lube contaminating powder, "sand blasting" effect of the hot powder gases on the soft lead before the bullet starts to move out of the way, the risk of the gas check falling off and into the powder, etc.) There are molds on the market intended to circumvent the issue with short bodies that are contained within the short case neck and long bore riding noses, but they require attention to detail to work properly- the bore riding noses must just barely perceptibly be engraved by the lands so as to be guided straight up the barrel and the short body must closely fit the throat, which dimensions can change from gun to gun. With a large number of .30 rifles I can cast for, and only one of which being a .300 Savage, I'm not inclined to invest in special molds for just that one gun.

When deer hunting with cast .30 bullets, weight is needed to provide the energy for clean kills. The limiting factor is bullet alloy hardness: that which is soft enough to mushroom reliably isn't hard enough to drive much past 2000fps (with accuracy and lack of leading in the barrel). Ergo, to get the 'oomph' one needs to go heavy. (The alloy/velocity thing isn't determined by weight, it's the same if the bullet weighs 100 grains or 200 grains.) While some will argue the killing properties of 140-150 grain .30 cast bullets, I personally don't have that faith. For me a .30 flat nosed design weighing from 190 grains to 220 grains is where it's at if driven at .303/.30-30 velocities- and that is where the .300 Savage falls when the above mentioned limiting parameters for game bullets are adhered to.

I tried to get my best molds to work for the .300, and got fairly decent accuracy in a couple instances but not enough to choose pursuing the "X Factor" with cast bullet accuracy with that gun.

I too think the 303 is a "Jim Dandy" cast bullet cartridge and I'll even go as far as to give it a nod or two over the 30-30 due to its longer neck. If I seriously started pursuing prewar guns I think I'd focus on the 303 alone. But to me "300" and "Savage" pretty much sum up the 99. The 300 may be a bit too ubiquitous for many, especially in the EG, but it is an icon of American firearms history and I never heard anyone complain about over saturation of that other American icon of firearms, the 94 Winchester (well maybe except for the post-64 guns). To me, Savage 99 and the 300 go together like day and night, flapjacks and maple syrup, Barbara and Feldon (the other classic 99), and Kentucky and Long Rifles. The 300 is the classic 99 and I'd be more than happy taking one of those old "mater stakes" off anyone's hands who may find it a bit too pedestrian for their needs.

30 WCF is one of the 'original' cartridges......

I can't argue your logic of the 300 and Savage, but for me, it's the 250 and 99 that go hand and hand. But, now I'm getting off topic.

I'm on board with what S99VG said.

Forget value, if you are a hunter the 300 Savage wins hands down! I have killed Michigan white tail deer for 30 years and the 300 Savage is the boss king!

Eh, I suspect a little bias with a handle like yours 😁

PS - though I do agree 110%!

My experience is that I killed an elk with a 300 at 200 yards and another one at 120 with a 303. I wouldn't have attempted the 200 yd shot with the 303. I also addressed this distance thing in my post that started out with me killing an antelope with a 257 Weatherby at 400 yds.