Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 250 and 300 Savage Cast Bullets

Howdy All! Probably should have posted this in the reloading section, might do so also anyway, but wondering of those who reload cast bullets for the Savage 99 in 250 and 300 Savage calibers what bullets and powder combinations you've found most accurate in the 99. I'm a bullet caster, have been since '79 when I started casting wadcutters and SWC's to reload 38 Spec and .357 ammo. I was a LEO for 21 years and for quite a spell I shot PPC competition and then what if I recall was called 'a combat revolver course', CRC. You shot at silhouettes, but only duty rigs and guns were allowed. It was all double action (unless the officer had a semi-auto) and set at four distance stages 25-7 yds. Higher speed SWC bullets were used vs 38 Spec target loadings. Liked it over PPC as it was more realistic to police work vs the target PPC course. More of a challenge and a lot more fun IMO. Ain't bragging, but I always shot in the 95% and above-was one of those everybody else tried to beat. I was one of around four in that category, we all tried to outshoot each other, didn't worry about the rest of the department, they never did beat any of us four, but they tried.

Anyway, getting out of subject, I reload and cast for seven handgun calibers and eight rifle. The rifle calibers are mostly WW1-2 military bolt action rifles, cast and shoot lead bullets in all except M1 Garand and 5.56 AR15 and Ruger Mini-14. Reload for those but use jacketed bullets. I reload for every thing I have, including black powder revolver and rifle. 22LR ammo and some shotgun is all I buy. Enjoy reloading as much as shooting, cheaper also. Only thing I despise is case trimming-hate it with a passion.

Some time back I bought two Lee molds to cast bullets for my two Remington 81's in 300 Savage. A 150g RNFP and a 160g RN. Just got around 450 rounds cast and sized around 80 at .309" and an equal number at .310". Besides the 81's, I'd like to load some of them for my 300 Savage 99R. Wondering what cast lead bullet, powders, and grain weight (if you care to post) you who have loaded cast bullets in 300 Savage for 99 shooting have found accurate. I've a lot of info I've found for the 300 online and from Lyman's last two issued cast bullet reloading manuals. As noted I'm going to try both .309 and .310" diameter bullets for best accuracy. Note--these loadings will be used for target and plinking. Bottleneck rifle calibers are not allowed for deer hunting in Iowa and we have no elk, moose, or bear. I don't mind loads that 'sing along', but aware of possible load limitations using cast/lead bullets. Have no problem shooting moderate loads, don't load squib loads for any of my rifles, but don't need 'killer' rounds either. I have a variety of on hand powders I've used for other rifle cast load reloads. 2400, Unique, 4227, 5744 and have 3031, IMR and Hodg 4895, 4064, Varget, and W748. The last six I've used mostly for jacketed loads. Really like the Acc 5744 in rifle for cast loads.

I also want to cast for my Savage 99G 250/3000. I've had best luck and accuracy with it using 75g Hornady and 87g Speer's. Have had great accuracy with those bullet weights in a Ruger 77 250 Savage (3031 and Varget) using them on coyotes. Don't really need anything heavier, in fact have never loaded anything beyond 100g in the Ruger, no need. Knowing the history of using heavy bullets in the slower twist early 99's, the lighter bullets are fine with me. The 250 caliber is the only caliber I don't cast for, but would like to get a mold. That's my question to any of you who do cast for the Savage 250, shooting them in a 99 Savage. I've been looking at several 87 grain molds as that bullet weight has been accurate in my 99G and Ruger 77. I realize both rifles are two different breeds having two different twists just for starters, what works in one may not in another, but be nice if one worked in both. I was reading on another forum where one 250 Savage shooter who loaded 87 g Speer's, was having excellent accuracy with cast lead bullets in his 99 using 100 grain cast.

I have a variety of molds, Lee, Lyman, a few RCBS. The Lee's are not bad in price, but Lyman and RCBS double cavity molds will eat up close to a $100 bill, as will NOE's. I don't want to play 'Roulette' with molds buying 2-3, maybe four before I find what works best. Would like to find one that works well in both my 99G and Ruger 77, but mainly would like to cast loads for the 99G. One thing I noticed was that mold manufacturers don't have as large of a variety of styles and weights as they do say with 30 calibers. If I recall, I don't think Lee even offers a .257 mold. NOE has a good selection and has a lot of favorable reviews and high fives. Just not sure what would work the best.

Checking on any cast bullet recommendations from any of ya that cast or buy cast for your 99's in 250 Savage. Wondering also what powders you find that work best. As I penned above inquiring on 300 Savage loadings, I have a variety of powders available, plus some I didn't mentioned. As with the 300 Savage, I'll just be target and plinking with the reloads, no hunting, although I get a good accurate load worked up, a Iowa coyote may get a poke tossed his way. Don't desire any what are called 'mouse fart' loadings, desire good accurate moderate loads, but the higher loadings don't scare me as long as they are within reason for the rifle and cast/lead loadings. Don't need deer killers, but ain't afraid to load or shoot em. I long ago quit loading handheld and shoulder howitzer rounds. They were part of my youthful manly loadings, but once in a while I'll load up a short box of killer rounds just for old times sake in a few firearms.

I'd better end this or it'll take up a whole page. I do get wordy and windy at times. Any information on 250 and 300 Savage cast bullet loadings any of ya can pass my way will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I bought an 80 grain mold from N.O.E. and it has been a hoot.

I also have shot/tested some in the 300 SAV,i have used 170 and 180 grain cast in this rifle.

They give hunting accuracy at 100 yards but i have some more shooting to do.

I have been using 2500+ lube with Lyman gas checks.

You can get some nice speed but the powders is where the hunt gets hard.

I don't know where to start........

Gary can start in a lot of places. Give him a little bit of time and it's my guess he'll respond with a lot of good information.

Careful! if you make him think that hard, he might fall asleep?

All right. In a nutshell, the beloved .300 Savage is not one of the .30 calibers that's ideal for cast bullet shooting. Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of the .300 to begin with, and don't own one right now, but with the couple I did own during the last decade and a half I tried- I really tried- to warm up to it with cast bullet use.

In a word, the neck is awfully short which is no big deal with jacketed bullets but presents unique problems for cast bullets. This results in a couple issues. One, is with alignment- a cast bullet depends on alignment with the bore much more so than jacketed stuff does, and the short neck doesn't help matters. Not a deal breaker for sure, and in terms of hunting accuracy probably a moot point. The second is the fact that because of the typically short throats in our Savages, cast bullets with sufficient weight for hunting or wind bucking end up with their bases protruding way down below the neck into the powder space when seated deep enough to fit in the throat. Again, not a 100% deal breaker, but does pose some issues in terms of powder contamination from bullet lube (can you say hot summer days when lube viscosity gets a little oozy), and the "sandblast" effect on the sides of the bullet from the hot powder gasses before it gets moving into the rifling (proven by close examination of recovered bullets). Again, like I said, these aren't real deal breakers for shooting cast bullets in a .300, just mild annoyances which can frustrate a devotee.

Another limiting factor, if a specific rifle has a sufficient throat to permit longer seating of bullets, is the overall length constraints presented by our magazines- probably the biggest limiting factor of all.

There do exist .30 caliber mold designs intended for .300 Savage applications. I know Lyman/Ideal made one (discontinued I believe) and also NOE but don't quote me on that. They are designed with very short bodies that can be contained within the short .300 neck and bore riding noses that are shaped to accommodate the short ball seat of the Savage chambers. Don't ask me the mold numbers- you can Google that info as well as I can.

As for powders and loads- get yourself a copy of the Lyman cast bullet handbook, if you don't already have one, and consult it. They're good folks who know their business. For velocities in the 1600-2000+ fps range, 2400, RL-7, 4759 (my favorite, but don't go looking for any because it was discontinued a few years ago- I have a lifetime supply), 4198, and 3031 all work. For milder plinking/target loads Unique is your friend. Your manual(s) will tell you how much to use. Don't ignore old out of print versions of the Lyman manual either- lots of good info therein.

The .250-3000 is a little friendlier for cast in my opinion. Due mainly to its slow twist in our Savages- short light bullets are called for, which tend to fit neatly in the necks and permit OAL's that work through the magazines. Pick gas check designs (for best versatility) of a round or flat nosed design weighing 85 grains or less. Plain base designs of the same dimensions are viable too for low velocity plinking/target ammo- you can achieve basic .25-20-level performance which is plenty good enough. A gas check design will permit velocities a fair bit faster which can certainly be a benefit but not necessarily for deer hunting, unless a 70-80 grain bullet at 2000fps muzzle velocity or less is your cup of tea for that pursuit. I use an old Lyman/Ideal mold #257283 85 grain plain base pushed by 5.0gr. Bullseye for a load that's death on empty soda cans. (A very mild load or I wouldn't broadcast it.) I have no interest whatsoever in exploring the use of the .250 with cast bullets for deer. I have plenty of other much more viable rifles for doing that. Again with the Lyman manuals for powder/load recommendations.

This ^^^^^ and all the carnal knowledge to boot, Gary is the Total Package!

I have used Lyman's 311291 mould for over 40 years with excellent results. It is a 170 grain bullet, sized .311. It has a very good bore riding nose- tight fit to bore. I use a Lyman #2 mix mostly. I use Re 7 and Re 15 in the 1800 fps range for all my 30 calibers- 30-30, 303S, 300S, and 30-06. I have not noticed any less accuracy in my 300s compared to the other 30 calibers with longer necks. As Gary said the bullet is seated very deep but I have not had issues with it. I used these loads mostly for offhand practice and they will shoot under 2moa from the bench.

I load the 250-3000 with cast and they shoot well . The 87 gr mentioned is what I cast and shoot. I have used shotgun powders in much of my cast loading.

It has worked well for me. I am starting to powder coat my cast bullets. I am liking what I find sofar .

The Lyman cast bullet load manual is your friend.

To clarify: I'm not saying the .300 is awful with cast, my point is it's not ideal, IMO.

Hello All-Been gone a while, busy with family funeral, son-in-law overseas deployment, and spring outdoor lawn/garden needs. Thanks for the replies. I get the 300 Savage being a challenge, but that's one thing I like about it. Not only a old time nostalgic round, but provides a challenge for tight groups. My idea is if ya can develop a round and have a rifle that gives 1" MOA or even 1/2" MOA accuracy and ya can go out and shoot those MOA's every time out without any problem, there's not much of a challenge. Of course tight groups is what's strived for, but if there's no challenge, no fun IMO. Anyway, like thee Ol' Savage 300.

I have been looking at various 250 Savage molds, reading about them online, both manufacturer and various forums. 'plainsman456'-The 80 grain NOE bullet you mentioned is a highly rated one by a lot of 250 casters/reloaders. On the NOE forum one poster advised how his .740-.820" length 25 caliber cast bullet of his 250 Savage gave poor accuracy in his 14" twist Savage 99. He advised he started filing down the nose of the .740" bullet until he got to .700" and started seeing tighter groups. Advised at .685" groups were fairly tight and he stayed with that length.

Due to the Chinese Flu shutdown of gunshows this spring and early summer, I haven't been able to 'haunt' them, as at several of the bigger ones there were always a lot of sellers with various new and used molds to paw through. Lyman and RCBS don't really offer what I'm looking for (new), I checked with NOE, talking with the owner a few times (nice guy). They still have the .260 dia 80 grain bullet 'plainsman456' mentioned, it's a .635" length bullet. What I was told it was developed by a guy who calls himself 'Ranch Dog', a long time Texas caster and shooter. Was advised it is a popular 250 Savage cast bullet, but is out of stock and no date set yet for production. It comes both in plain base and GC.

The other bullet of interest and the owner advised it is very popular with 250 casters is a 87 grain 260" diameter, .686" length bullet. Available in GC or plain base. The NOE owner advised it has been very popular also and has given shooters very good accuracy. The length is also in the ballpark accuracy area of the guy on the NOE forum who filed down his long bullets. Unless NOE starts to produce the 80 grainers pretty quick, I might go with the 87 grainers as the inventory on those is low and I don't want to play a wait game with two bullets. Anyway-the search goes on. Appreciate anymore info if it is available.
The Noxen, PA get-to-gether/shoot looks interesting. Possibly if things click right in August I could make the drive, would be a interesting time.

Hey there Savage 94C,

Neat to hear of your interest in cast bullets and I have done so in the past in these cals that you mention. I don’t shoot as much as I did in the past but am always interested in cast rifle loads and anyone else interested in them. I won’t go into detail here but if you are interested PM me and I’ll give you my address. I seldom check in but will eventually find you.
Of interest that I have yet to try is teflon wraps, and if you have experimented I would love to hear about it.

I experimented with wrapping .30 bullets with Teflon tape and found zero improvement over conventional lubed bullets, but with a lot longer prep time.

The trick with any wrapping is to start with a bullet that is way underize than normal. For a .30 that would be .300" or whatever bore diameter of the particular rifle is. (Not groove diameter. Measure across the lands, ie: diameter of bore before rifling.) Then wrap sufficient paper or whatever to bring it up to throat diameter or groove diameter whichever works best.

The main advantage to patching a bullet in this manner in this day and age is to be able to utilize a soft alloy and drive it at high velocity, if the need for that is perceived.

Higher velocity is the advantage of powder coating or so the story goes.

People who have more experience that I have reported speeds approaching jacket speeds with good accuracy.

This is in both pistol & rifle. We will see.

Howdy All! In response to 'T', nope never have tried any Teflon wrapped bullets, probably won't. I love reloading, take extra care and time to produce as high of quality a cartridge as I can, but wrapping each bullet with Teflon tape just isn't in the cards. I shoot a lot of (percussion) black powder cap and ball revolvers, a few that I know and others that I've read about, roll 'paper cartridges using black powder and either a ball or conical bullet, then ram the result into each chamber of the revolver cylinder. Seems to be to much of a time killer, long drawn out process. I enjoy pouring the powder into a chamber via a flask and ramming a ball with the rammer with the cap guns anyway. I get my black powder cartridge kicks shooting three Colt conversion style open top revolvers using brass cases loaded with black powder and a cast lead lubed bullet.

I did 'bite the bullet' and get a 25 caliber mold for my 250 Savage rifles. I talked again this week with the owner/founder of NOE bullets and he advised due to the high volume of mold sales, he wasn't sure when they would make a run of the 80 grain bullet molds I was interested in for casting 250 Savage bullets. Advised they have them 'on the list', but may be a bit. NOE only had four of the 86 grain gas checked molds left in their inventory, so I rolled the dice and ordered one of those. Thought those four may get sold out resulting in both styles I was looking at out of stock. Have read a lot of 'high fives' in regards to that bullets accuracy in 250 Savage. Previously had labeled it as a 87 grain bullet in previous post.

Sat 6/20. Just rec the NOE 25 cal bullet mold in mail today. Had never eyeballed a NOE mold before. Real impressed with the quality. Ordered a top punch, gas checks, and some lube also. Have to fire up the lead pot next week.

Hello, Im with you ‘S’ on the cap and ball revolvers and am pleased with the Uberti product. I had got a close out price on 6 of the Rem 1858 patterns in 44 and not only was the fit and finish great but they all shot to the correct point of aim. All cast bullet shooting is more challenging but rewarding.

My interest in the teflon wraps is mainly to overcome leading alowing higher velocity. I have a book by Snooky Williamson called ‘The Winchester Lever Legacy’ including the results of the old big bore rifles that he worked up. He notes when leading begins in the various cals and how much he was able to increase his loads using a teflon tape wrap. Well documented with photo’s of targets and chrony. Having tried paper patch in the old slug guns I have to agree it’s too much trouble to be fun. But with teflon tape you can eliminate lube altogether and I see the possibility of cast bullets with no lube grooves at all. Probably not practical under .38-55, maybe 32-40.

I have been shooting cast in Savage 303 very successfully. While the heavier gas checks are great I have a fun load of a Lyman spire point 115gr gc that I have loaded to 2000fps with hard cast beeswax/alox that does not lead the bore (a good one) and is accurate. It shoots so well that I load a version of it in all my .308 bore diameter cals.

Gnoahhh covered cast in the 99 300 Sav. pretty well. Not the easiest gun to cast for. I'll add what I found that works in mine, after a lot of trial and error.
The Lee 150gr flat point with gas check shoots 1 1/2-2" at 100yds with 29gr/3031, clip on wheel weight alloy, velocity is right around 1900fps. I did have to enlarge the diameter of the bullets with aluminum furnace tape between the mold halves, and shoot them unsized, to get the best accuracy. Seated right to the base of the neck.
I also use the Lyman #3118 118gr plain base flat point loaded with 8.5gr/ unique, sized .311, velocity around 1500fps COWW alloy. Averages less than an inch at 50yds, 1 1/2" at 100yds. No problem to kill ground hogs with a head or chest shot.
I also shoot the Lyman #311227 90gr round nose, but with long obsolete AL-7 powder. Good plinking bullet at 1400fps.
I also tried four other molds, all over 150gr, with complete disappointment.
Hope this helps the OP.

Hey Tomygun-saw your PM, will respond back ASP.

quack1-Thanks for the info. Your furnace tape on your 150 grain Lee is interesting. Does doing so leave any fins or irregularities on the cast bullets. I'll have to PM ya if OK to get all of the 'skinny' on doing so in case the .309/.310 sized cast bullets don't work out.

What Gary said about the difficulties in loading cast for the .300 is so true although they can be overcome.
The 99G in .300 Savage was the first rifle I experimented with cast bullets. IIRC it was 1977 and I had read an article in American Rifleman about hunters using cast bullets for deer which set me on fire to do. My best friend had a Lyman 311466 mould which I borrowed and made several hundred. The load I used was 18.2 grains of IMR-4227 and I killed 2 bucks that year with said load and one was about 200 yards away on a pipeline right of way. I know, I know but, I was inexperienced with cast bullets and it killed just fine with a single shot. This put me on a never ending romance with cast bullets. In 2005, I chronoed some of those loads and found they were sizzling along at 1724 fps.
A couple of years later I bought a Lyman 31141 and started loading it for hunting since it had a nice flat point. I found 44 grains of surplus H-4831 (a case full) would send that bullet out the muzzle at 2083 fps. The deer I killed with that load were much deader than with my previous load. Really the wound to the lungs was emphatic with holes 2 to 21/2" in diameter.
I also hunted small game using Lyman 311356 and 7 grains of Unique. Head shots were preferred.
Last year I picked up an H carbine in .303 (the first .303 I've owned) which is better suited for loading cast and that would be my recommendation. Have fun!

I shot a deer once (yeah, I really did!) with a .30 cast bullet of a load that was totally inappropriate for the task at hand. While not a .300, it was a .30-06. 180 grain RN gas checked bullet cast hard as sin out of monotype metal, probably 25-30 bhn, and guaranteed not to expand one iota. 16 grains SR-4759 as I recall- a very very light load, probably no more than 1400 fps.

It was a total mistake. I grabbed the wrong cartridges for the day's hunt, and discovered my mistake as the sun was coming up and I was loading the rifle (a Browning BR-78 single shot). Dammit. Too late to stop. Sure as shootin' an hour later a shootable buck moseyed past at around 50 yards. I swiftly conjured up in my mind how much I had changed the elevation in the scope when I had sighted in for my hunting loads after switching over from the namby-pamby (but crazy accurate) target loads I found myself with that day. The beast stopped a second and looked right at me, and I held according to my faultless (hah!) memory. That bullet skated dead nuts into the spine at the base of the neck and it went down like a five year old at a peanut scramble.

Pretty awesome, but admittedly pretty stupid too. I got lucky that day.