Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 300 Savage 150gr Loads

By all accounts the hoary .300 Savage is still dishing it out in regards to its original objective of returning performance similar to the original 150 grain government .30 M1906 cartridge (.30-06) that held sway until the 1920's, 2700fps, give or take. The .300 fell behind the '06 in the 1920's when they upped the game with the new standard round, the .30 M1 Ball, which fired a 172 grain boat tail bullet at pretty much the same velocity or a tick more. They dropped the bullet weight back to 150 grains again in the 30's after getting a lot of bitching from the field about heavy recoil in the Springfield, and the widespread adoption of the .50 Browning machine gun for long range enfilade fire. (One of the reasons for the heavier boat tail .30 bullet was for use in .30 water cooled machine guns to extend their kill zone.)

Throughout all that malarkey, the .300 just kept quietly marching on, killing stuff with alacrity. The War department finally woke up to the efficiency of the .300 and studied on it with the aim of using it as the basis for the next generation of semi-auto service rifle after the Garand. The .308 was born of that.

I'm here to tell you there's no moss growing on any .30 150 grain bullet moving at these velocities, no matter which cartridge launches it, and no matter what wild-eyed experimenters do to "improve" upon it.

Reloder 15 has worked well for me in the .300 Savage.

Have you considered a 130 Barnes? They shoot well in my 99, hammer pigs, haven’t killed a deer yet.

Gents, I tried some of your recommended loads, specifically, the 3031, Varget and 4064. Very good accuracy, but the best velocity hardly broke 2500 fps. I guess I have a slow barrel.

39 grains of H4895 was very accurate with 150gr Sierra Game Kings in my #1. Three shots were a cloverleaf at 100 yards. I was just tossing some things together when I first got the rifle so I didn't chronograph anything. I found some 150 grain Accubonds I'll try with H4895, R15 and IMR4064. I'd like to try the 130 TTSX if I can find any.

Does anyone have experience loading either the 150gr Nosler Partition or the heavier 165gr Swift A-Frame for the .300?

I've used the 150gr Partitions. They work very well.

Used IMR4895, iirc.

How easily do the fired cases extract? If you're barely breaking 2500 I don't see you being near the limit, especially with Varget and 4064.

But on the other hand 2500fps will knock deer ass-over-tincups.

For many of my spots that's certainly true.

Gary, you ever considered writing? You're little knowledge 'articles' are outstanding.

easily, they fall out. I have some IMR 4895 coming and will also plus up the 3031 and see what happens. I'd be ok circa 2600...

Absolutely. That is all that is needed. I have not heard "ass over tincups" for years. One of my father's favorite sayings from long, long ago.

I run some Hornady round nose 150 grain bullets ( for the .30WCF) through my 1960 F this past fall @2500 fps. It does knock a deer for a loop and it put a big hole in and out at around 90 yards. Great deer load but the short round nose bullet looks odd in the .300 Savage case. No feeding issues.

Darryl

Yep, .30-30 bullets in larger cartridges than .30-30's are an often overlooked. Just drive them at 24-2600 fps to witness an improvement over .30-30 performance, faster than that and probably start writing off entire front quarters to bloodshot meat. I got carried away like that way back during my mis-spent youth with a .30-06 and had a butcher tell me "I wouldn't give that deer shoulder to my dogs".

Garden variety 150 grain Interlocks are fine deer bullets at 300 Savage speed.

If you're shooting at distances where 30-30 velocity will do the trick, then give the Nosler "accuracy load" of 36 grains of IMR4895 a try. Super mild shooting and it clustered five shot groups nice and tight out of two lightly tuned 700 Classic rifles tested.

Midsouth Shooters Supply still has Speer 150gt BT bullets on sale for $26.49/100ct box. That's generally a pretty soft bullet and the price is right. I bought several boxes to feed a 16" AR10 .308win, which won't be making blistering velocities.

Good morning. Back from the range. I upped some of the loads and I think these three are the keepers. I am waiting for some IMR 4895 that is supposed to be the powder for the 150s. I'll report then and I'm thinking of adding another grain to the H4895 load. Thoughts, gents?
42gr IMR 4064
Average: 2644.5 FPS
SD: 13.4 FPS
Min: 2635 FPS
Max: 2654 FPS
Spread: 19 FPS
the three shots in the red.


39gr H-4895
Average: 2500.7 FPS
SD: 48.0 FPS
Min: 2452 FPS
Max: 2548 FPS
Spread: 96 FPS

Average: 2494.8 FPS
39g IMR 3031
SD: 14.0 FPS
Min: 2477 FPS
Max: 2506 FPS
Spread: 29 FPS

Stick with the 4064.

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