Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles The Spiteful Crack of the 250-3000

Because it would answer your questions in this thread and would also make you look less like an idiot, maybe.

Thanks to jay and pacecars for posting the article.

Is the Savage rifle in the picture a 99F?

I ordered the book "The Eastern Trail"

Where was Layne Simpson's article published? I would like to read it.

Holy smokes Pacecars. Thank you for posting that article. I enjoyed the heck out of it.


Off to Gunbroker to find a 250 Savage!

Thanks pacecars for posting that article - can’t believe I never saw that one….great article!!

I was introduced to the .250-3000 on my older brother’s farm in the early 1970s I wasn’t yet 10 years old but was fascinated by guns and anything to do with them. I found a cartridge on the window sill in an out building that I was not familiar with - it was shorter than the .270s and .30-06s that the majority of hunters in my family used and was much sleeker looking than the .30-30s, .32 Specials and .35 Remington’s that the rest used. I was familiar with the .300 Savage also as my grandad used that one and the found cartridge was sexier looking that that one too….it had the silvertip so that helped! Well since that time I have developed a sincere appreciation for the cartridge and now have 15 rifles in that chambering - Savage 99s, Remington Classics and a custom based on the 700 action, Ruger 77 ultralight and RSI, a custom Sako L591, two custom Kurz Mausers build by Griffin & Howe and Clayton Nelson, and an FN Mauser. I’ve used it on whitetails, mule deer, black bear and elk…..it does have magical properties (of course not really but for me it’s the nostalgia) and have only had one instance where it “let me down” out of dozens of successes.

Love the stories about Jim from those that knew him - sounds like a looney that would fit right in😁

PennDog

I've read that article. Not recently but I remember having enjoyed it

Lanyne's article on the Savage 1920 is full of errors. It appears that he wrote it based on a sample size of one, so he didn't recognize that two features of his rifle, a checkered bolt knob and a barrel band, like that on the Savage 340 series, weren't cataloged attributes of either the 1920 or 20/26.

It is one of those articles that puts out bad information and is accepted by the general public as being accurate because it came from a professional writer. It is an article that shows that even professional writers cut corners and do incomplete research on the subject that they are writing about. Since reading it, I have questioned everything that Layne has written.

I've owned a lot of Savage 1920s and 20/26s and about half of them had serial numbrers on the stock/buttplate and action that didn't match. The wood to metal fit of the 1920s and 20//26s is a lot less critical than on the 99s.

The rifle in the picture appears to be a post-1970 99A, the only style of post-WW2 regular production 99 that had a straight grip stock and a tang safety. There were only 4 post-1960 tang safety 99s cataloged 250-3000, the ultra rare 99DL/M and 99F that were cataloged briefly in the very early 1960s and the more common 99A and 99CD that were cataloged in the 1970s. I've only seen 3 99DL/Ms in 250-3000 and have 1 of them. I've seen several tang safety 99Fs in 250-3000, owned a couple of them, but sold the last one when times were tough in the early 90's.

Once upon a time I owned a mint 1976 Savage 99 250 CD with a medallion mounted in the butt stock. Because I didn't like the way it didn't feed from the detachable magazine I sold it for a sincere profit. Being a younger fool than I am today I thought I'd find another one soon enough. The older guy I sold it to probably has the rifle to this day...







Wonder if he'd consider selling it back to me?

Yes, thank you for the article

Weird, I didn't know November had 31 days in 1941.

That was back when things were great

PennDog

I used to buy 99CDs in 250-3000 to rechmber to 257 Roberts, 257AI, and 25-284 and to use as donor actions. I saw and bought a lot more of them in 250-3000 then in either 243 or 308. At one time in the early 1990s I had a dozen or so of them most of which were rebarreled during my 284 wildcat phase and none that cost over $250. I still have a dozen or so of those take-off barrels on the shelf.

"This gun doesn't go BANG! It goes MEAT!" was what Dad said more than once, referring to his father's 99 takedown. It had 83 deer, three bear, and a horse (had to be put down) to its credit when he died. I've been able to add five more deer to the total. Plus more taken with a 700 Classic, Dakota 76 Alpine, and a M70 compact classic in .250AI. May need another .250, though.

Bob Milek article?

In his famous book, Larry Koller listed around 11 cartridges as being most frequently carried by guys he associated with in the 1930s and 40s. They were the 250 Sav, 257 Robts, 30-30 Win, 30 Rem, 300 Sav, 303 Sav, 30-40 Krag (another of his favorites), 303 Brit, 32 Win, 32 Rem, and 35 Rem. Most shots were taken at 150 yds or less in the Southern NY counties in which they hunted.

I averaged a few stats across this group: ave caliber .306 with sample standard deviation of .028; ave bullet weight 165 sd 30; ave velocity at 150 yd impact 1855 fps sd 234; and ave kinetic energy at 150 yds 1240 ft-lbs sd 225. These values vary a bit based on whether spitzer or roundnose bullets are used but they are within the standard deviations above. Most of these above don’t improve much with bolt action chambering with the clear exceptions of the 250, 257, and 300 Sav.

The 250 improves a great deal. The 120 grain Speer Grand Slam at 2825 fps produces more than 2415 fps and 1550 ft-lbs at 150, and beats these group velocity and energy averages at 250 yds. The 115 gr Nosler Ballistic tip at 2875 fps beats them out past 300 yds. Sure, we have much more powerful cartridges now, but the 250 Sav has substantially improved over time with better bullets, powders and actions. Handloader that he was, favoring heavier bullets anyway in his 250 Sav, I’ll bet Koller would be delighted with the modern possibilities for his little favorite.

He called the Savage .250 " a wonderful little jobber for women and small statured men " .

I love that book .

In the last edition , written in the preamble , his son and daughter stated he never took them hunting or fishing ?

I guess he was ornery fellow ?

Wouldn't take his kids hunting or fishing??

Sounds like a real dick head!!

Always liked this way of thinking. As if a critter will die easier from a smaller caliber/cartridge when shot by a kid or woman than if same cartridge/caliber were used by a big ol boy.

My 250 did a nice job on several pigs last year, one shot apiece. 100 grain Game Kings. I guess the pigs didn't know I'm 6' 2'' and about 225.