Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Winchester 190 grain 303 ammo

Same experience here a couple rolled in their tracks.

Yeah, I just love to talk about this stuff.

I really like the idea of a 190 grain bullet. And that's just it- an idea. Any .30 bullet, cast or jacketed, heavy or light, moving at supersonic speeds is an awesome force of nature the like of which would tear any living flesh asunder. Sometimes we loonies tend to overthink this stuff.

I think the next frontier for me to conquer will be big soft 250gr. .45 bullets out of a rifle going 12-1500fps or so- think .45 Colt on steroids. Perhaps a switch-barrel 1899A TD short rifle (for the thicker barrel)? Take a .303 case and blow the neck out straight to .45. I think it would overshadow Roy's .225 Winchester for sheer "whomp" factor.

That or a .17 Savage.

I've decided I'll just reload for them. I kinda figured there wasn't any magic in a Silvertip.

What's it take to make 30-40 brass work in the 303? Turn the rim down? I've got almost 600 of those.

I would buy the correct brass, they have a long life

"What's it take to make 30-40 brass work in the 303?"

That reminds me of some discussions we had in the early days of the Forum that I would prefer to forget.

So you're selling it?

I remember those discussions. Weren't guys making them out of .30-40's, and something else I forget? And then PRVI brass became available and "poof" all the oddball approaches were gone. I remember one guy insisting that .30-30 brass was viable....

30-40 brass is way more scarce than .303 brass these days, Roy. I would scare up a .30-40 in order to use that brass . (Or sell it to me! )

Roy, just buy Privi 303 Savage brass, under 50cents each + shipping at https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/75913

My personal opinions are just that, MY opinions. But here is my logic. In the last 40-50 years, brass has come a long way. Much better today than yesterday.
Second, my hand loads are tailored to my specific 99s (1899s). If I buy old stock, I have to re sight for it, and re-sight for my tailored hand loads. Not worth it to me. If you want to buy em for potential collector value, so be it. But for hunting, which is my focal point, leave the ancient ammo to the collectors. If its 50+ years old, it will almost certainly go bang. Will it be consistent? I don't want to test that theory with a freezer fillin deer in my sights. Again, only my 2 cents worth. Having 50+ year old brass split necks on the first firing, when new brass hods up for 8+ firings is the casting vote.

I regularly use truly ancient brass. Some 1930's-vintage Frankford Arsenal .30-06 brass is some of the jewels in my arsenal, and 98% of my Lovell .22 wildcat brass is minimum 70 years old. .22HP brass from the 20's-40's, no problem. .303 brass from before WWII likewise. Anneal the neck/shoulders and go forth and bang away. Old doesn't necessarily mean frail.

Agreed.

Per one of our members, using 30-40 brass was a big no-no! Should only use .220 Swift brass.

Here is one of those postings.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/152990/1

Bought some 303 Sav that was shipped up from Oz back then. Still got it. Never used it.

Shot my first 303 this afternoon. Took the 99E out with the Lyman tang sight. Took a gander and roughly centered the peep, and guessed on height of the peep, and locked it in. Loaded me up 5 hoping I could get minute of small rock within two magazines full.

Leaned the old girl over the hood (careful, this is a family friendly forum here) and letter rip. Said rock exploded, chips and shards littering the snowy hillside. Savage Rock-B-Gone dialed with one shot. My work here is done, time to hit the rum and coke.

Why haven't any of you guys told me that 303's come pre-sighted in? Damn, think of the 30-30 ammo I coulda saved if I'd just went straight to tha tree OH tree.

I can ship you some 303 brass if you want to sell your factory stuff. I got some new privi I can spare.

You have to read the small print on the box for that. Now just be careful not to let any of the 30-30 guys know about it.

Pretty cheap, and you guys have said it was good stuff. Angus, you don't need to send me anything, you and the miss bought dinner, we're good.

I use 42 grains lever lotion powder 180 grain silver tips cci 200 primers.

I would recommend starting at the bottom of the 30/30 data with the lever evolution powder. For some reason I believe the Hornady FTX projectiles build up less pressure than the older silver tips.

I will study this more next time I get home.

I had good results on paper targets with Winchester 190 grain Silvertips. However on deer, I had one blow up on a nice 8 point Michigan White tail buck on a left front shoulder shot. Left a fair amount of blood that I tracked for 200 yards, until no blood. Lucky another hunter in camp shot the deer later that day and I identified by the severe shoulder wound. Looked really bad, but no penetration pass the front shoulder. I have killed deer with broadside lung shots with Silvertips. I had heard they blew up, could not believe what happened to me with 303 Savage velocities. But I stand by what I saw. I have had much better results with Hornady 150 grain Interlock Round Nose bullets. Killed several deer with them, full penetration with nice exit wound. No blow ups with Hornady Interlocks. I still think the Silvertips look cool.

300 Savage