Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors 220gr in 300 Savage ??

Anyone ever load the Hornady 220gr RN in the 300 Savage ?


Mike

Nope, but I could load some up. Guessing 2200fps should/could happen.

What powder/charge weight ?

Mike

Don't know, maybe 4895 around 36 grains.

I guess I could try it , if it kersplodes the rifle , well it ain't like I can't spare one

Mike

That's a Barnes load for solids, so a CC should handle it fine I would think.

I gotta ask... What kind of critter are you planning on shooting?

Lee

Whompuscat



Mike

... Well, good hunting Mike!

Lee

The heaviest jacketed bullet my reloading books show for the .300 Savage is 180 grains. The "factory duplication" load for the 180 grain bullet is 39.4 grains of IMR4320 yielding 2336 fps. The "accuracy load" for the 180 grain bullet is 38 grains of IMR4895 yielding 2315 fps.

The 220 grain bullet is 22% heavier than the 180 grain bullet. Therefore, I'd reduce the powder loads by 26% as a "starting load" and try it IF I'd decided to ever try such a thing... which I would NOT do and I strongly advise you NOT to do it either!

But if you're dead set on trying it, here's the "numbers"... 26% of 39.4 grains (IMR4320) is 10.244 grains. Therefore, the starting load for IMR4320 would be 29.1 grains. 26% of 38 grains (IMR4895) is 9.88 grains, therefore the starting load for IMR4895 would be 28.1 grains.

HOWEVER, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND EITHER OF THESE LOADS SINCE THEY TAKE YOU INTO THAT AREA KNOWN AS "UNPREDICTABLE"... I.E., we really don't know WHAT would happen! So why even TRY it?!?!?

One other important caveat... even the 180 grain bullet in the smallish .300 savage case takes up more powder room than is conducive for efficient bullet performance... I.E., the longer bullet limits the amount of powder the cartridge case will hold and, thus, limits the accompaning muzzle velocity of the bullet which, in turn, severely limits the foot/pounds of bullet energy imparted to the game animal being hunted. The 220 grain, .30 caliber bullet limits the cartridge case's powder capacity even MORE because the bullet is even LONGER thus taking away even MORE room inside the cartridge case for the powder.

Remember... if you double the bullet weight, you double the ft/lbs of bullet energy. If you double the velocity, you quadruple (!!!) the ft/lbs of bullet energy and thus, you quadruple the "killing power" of the bullet. Therefore, we can't disregard or ignore the bullet's VELOCITY.

In my opinion, the best bullet-weight "efficiency range" for the .300 Savage cartridge case is either the 150 grain bullet or the 165 grain bullet. Anything you can't kill with one of those two bullets indicates (to me, at least) that you need to go to a larger capacity cartridge like the .30/06 or even one of the magnum .30 caliber cartridges. If the "fast 30's" (.300 Win. magnum, .308 Norma magnum, .300 Weatherby magnum, .30/378 Weatherby magnum, etc.) aren't enough cartridge, you should consider even a larger caliber bullet like the .35 Whelen or possibly the .338 Winchswter Magnum or one of the .338 or .358 Magnums using their 225 or 250 grain bullets.

I.E., you now have that "perfect excuse" to buy a NEW rifle!!! How 'bout a Model 99 in .358 Winchester?!?!?


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

Sweet Jesus, or you can just work with a published load because they do exist.

I swear folks are getting paid by the word to post.

There may be a good reason to load 220 gr in a 300 Savage, but I can't think of it!

However I once bought a bunch of 220 gr cast bullets at a garage sale and I cut the ends of them off to bring the wieght down to 180 gr and loaded them in my 300 Savage and other 308 bore guns. Killed a lot of rabbits cheaply with those and it was fun.

I have used 200 grainers and they work great for deer.dead deer less meat damage. I am now using 180 gr silvertips.

Round Tips
130 grains x .025 RT..........$35.50
130 grains x .035 RT..........$36.00 c3
150 grains x .025 RT..........$36.00
165 grains x .030 RT..........$37.00
165 grains x .035 RT..........$37.50
180 grains x .030 RT..........$37.50
180 grains x .035 RT..........$38.00
200 grains x .025 RT..........$37.50
200 grains x .030 RT..........$38.00
200 grains x .035 RT..........$39.00
220 grains x .035 RT..........$41.00
250 grains x .035 RT..........$44.50

These are from Hawk bullets. I was going to try the 250 grain, but they stuck out the end of the barrel.

I don't see why not. I never tried the Hornady 220gr. in the .300 but I have fired a bunch of 220 gr. Lyman #311284 cast bullets, a round nose design, cast hard out of linotype. No big deal other than the bullets sticking way down into the case. I didn't try to hot rod it but I was getting velocities in the neighborhood of 18-1900 fps without straining things. I think the limiting factor in attempting 2200 fps with a 220 is case capacity because of the large volume taken up by the long bullet intruding. Maybe a slower powder better adaptable to a compressed charge?

Ron T , I got a 99 in 358 Win , it won't shoot Hornady .308 220gr RN boolits worth a damn.


Mike

Mike, 'ol buddy... that's probably because .308 diameter bullets don't shoot very accurately through .358 diameter barrels. They're just a "tad" too small in diameter. Nuthin's ever easy, is it?

Maby a 300 gr 308 would work they are bigger.

So, Mike, do you have a bunch of 220 Hornadys laying around that you just want to experiment with/use up? Or are you overrun with Whompuscats down there? It's been my understanding that those bullets were designed to perform at .30/06 and .30/40 Krag velocities in which case they should do fine in the .300. You've given me an idea to play with in my next handloading session as I think I have a few of those bullets stashed somewhere.

Yeah , I got a sack full of the 220s. I read somewhere that the low end of their useful velocity range is about 1400 fps , if that is so then they should make for a short range boolit in the 300 Savage.
Lots of whompuscats around & about.


Mike