Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 300 Savage for elk

Does anyone here hunt elk with the 300 Savage ?

I don't know anyone now that does, but when I was a young guy it was a popular round and a lot of elk were killed with it. I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

It's almost a 308 and that's taken many elk. However, it wouldn't be my first choice. Feed it 150 or 168 grain TSX's and it'll get the job done.

I've been hunting elk for the last few years with a Savage 1899 in .300 Savage. I haven't taken a bull with it as of yet. I hunt in the Gallatin and Madison Mountains of SW Montana and since the wolves have come in the elk hunting has become almost pointless. If I'm lucky enough to find a bull I'll be using 165 grain Partitions.

I wonder how that load would work on a wolf? Did I say that?

Had planned on carrying my recently acquired and open sighted 1946EG in 300 this fall but did not draw an elk tag. Going to pack it for bucks instead.

I have hunted but not taken and elk with a 300 savage. I have however taken 7 moose with the caliber and numerous black bears.
Outside of the teasing I get at camp when my fellow hunters see the size of the bullets it has been very effective.
I now use a 3006 as it offered extended range with more umph and better bullets ( out of the factory).
I only ever felt under gunned with a savage at ranges over 250 yards. I use federal 150 grain factory and the rifle will shoot MOA

I have a local acquaintance here in SW Montana who has been using a Remington 722 in .300 Savage for all his elk hunting since he was a teenager, and that's a while back. I don't know how many elk he has killed with it, but he alwasy has elk meat in the freezer.

And gee, not a one of them killed with a "premium" bullet. He mostly shoots factory 150 Core-Lokts, as I recall.

I would use the same bullets he is using. I believe the cup and core design goes back to about the same time rounds like the .300 savage were developed and they work great at those velocity levels.

A/K/A 300 OSM

osm?

Original Short Mag

Next thing, somebody is going to claim a 303 British will kill a moose!

kinser,
I once read "if you see someone in the woods carrying a 300 Sav. he probably knows something that you don't."

My dad got his in 1927. (99Sav) Hunted with it till 1986 and was never remotely under gunned.

Probably thousands of moose, elk, bear, and deer have been taken with them.

Try it, you probably will find it to be a great caliber.


Jim
We like the 165 Barns in it. Hole in, hole out

Understand, I'm not dissin' the 300 Savage...but, to me the highest form of Savage 99 is the 358 Win. I don't have one and I kick myself for passing up a few good buys over the years.

A perfect elk rifle.

I don't have a 300 Savage either, but I do have a 99F in 308 that I could count on for elk.

Don't be silly, Royce. Everybody knows you can't.....

.303!? Well, I don't know about moose, but I can vouch for the .303 as an elk killer. It's the biggest gun my dad ever used and he killed elk with it. My brother and I once conspired to buy dad a nice, modern '06 to replace the ancient Enfield he'd had "sporterized" - cut off the military sights and mounted see thru Weaver rings and a K4, and saw off the front half of the stock. He smelled the rat and gave us quite a bit of guff until we finally admitted the plan, and then he really let us know what he thought of the idea! I still can't understand a man turning down a new rifle.

Not a .300, but my aunt's dad from Wyoming shot a few elk with a .250 in a 99R. If the 250 worked, I'm sure a 300 will. My sisters and I went together and bought that rifle from him and gave it to my dad for Christmas a few years ago.

I agree, in the savage normal bullets act very well.
I like the 300 savage alot, and when I was the local and new where the game was, it was great.
Now it seems that I have less time to hunt and spend alot of it in unfamiliar territory. Where I hunt, it is 6 point elk or better and shots can be from 10 to 300 plus yards.
Please read this as big elk at extended ranges ( with limited time)
So when push comes to shove I take the ti in 3006 and leave the savage in the safe.
The savage 300 is good but I have more confidence in the 3006 past 250 yards.
Do I like the balance and shootability ( if that is a word) of the savage over the TI, you bet.. but for elk the ti in 3006 leaves the safe and the savage 300 stays home.
For me the 3006 is just a better tool.
The savage with normal bullets is good but the 3006, with 180 A frames gives me mor confidence at extended ranges abd bad angles

Not any more. I never killed an elk with mine anyway.

My cousin indicated he had killed 47 of them when he died a few years ago in his 70's. Of those around 30 with the .300 Savage. No special bullet or anything. He was a guide and packer until at least the late 60's.

He especially liked the Savage for use in saddle scabbards. He also used a 270 and an '06,and in his last couple of years a .300 Win Mag.