Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Anyone load 30-30 170 grain bullets in 300 Savage?

Anyone tried this combination? I have acquired a nice old Savage 99 that is not drilled and tapped for scope mounts. It is set up with a Redfield receiver sight. I was thinking that Hornady or Sierra 170 grain round/flat nose bullets might be just the ticket at woods ranges and with open sights. Since the 180 grain round nose bullets are getting so hard to find why not? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
TBB

I agree - "why not"? Should work fine.

I bought a couple thousand 150 grain corelokts a few years back and never fiddled with anything else but it sounds like fun to try.

I have Used 170 Flat Nose in Cast Bullets, Preform very well.-They'll Hold 1 1/2 Inch to 1 3/4 inches at 75 Yards and
And have loaded some in Hornady bullets also, They will do the Job,They Hold about 1 5/8 inches to 1 7/8 inches at 100 yards. Plenty Room for some improvement,but close enough for deer.

They work great in a 94 Winchester. I don't know why they wouldn't do well in a 99 Savage.

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess I was hoping someone might know how the 170 grain bullets behave at higher than 30-30 velocities and how they perform on game. I have found most 170 grain bullets to expand rather poorly on deer sized game at 30-30 velocites. I was thinking they might really open up at about 2500ish fps.

I use 170 gr. Silvertips meant for .30-30 both in my .300 Savage Rem 760 pump and in my .30-40 Hiwall. As you suspected, they do expand very well at a slightly higher velocity, as do Core-lokt Rems. Pushing them about 150-200 fps above factory .30-30 velocity isn't hard in the larger capacity cases, and is still a mild and accurate load. I never shoot at more than 150 yards and the flat point doesn't seem to affect drop noticeably at those ranges. I've killed blacktails, whitetails, and one 170# wild hog with them. Nice expansion in all cases, especially the Silvertips.

I just don't see the point of "premium" bullets on ordinary meat animals. If you're holding a once-in-a-lifetime elk tag somewhere or passing on all the "eaters" while waiting for a "bragger," that's a different kettle of fish.

Iam going to reload some 160 gr.30-30 in my 300 savage for deer season the gummie bullets

I AM GOING TO TRY 130 GR HOLLOW POINTS IN MY 303
any commends or suggestions

Norm

When I lived in Hanover, NH, from 1986 thru 1990, I used the 170 grain Remington RNCL 30-30 bullets in a couple of Remingtons and several different Savage rifles chambered in 300 Savage. I thought that it was an excellent bullet for whitetails, as it was very accurate and it opened very quickly. I'm 99% sure that if I was back in ME, NE, and VT shooting deer with a 300/307/308/30-06, 170 grain RNCLs would be high on my choice of bullets.

Jeff

Don't see why it wouldn't work well if the velocity is within the sweet spot for the bullet. Different bullets will expand well at different velocities, so just make sure yours will work well at 300 Savage velocities.

That being said.. I have to ask, why? 300 Savage was always intended to shoot spire point bullets. Don't see why you'd pick a 170 flat nose over a 180gr spire. The 180's work just fine for me.

Because they're there!

Ya know, I'm sitting in San Francisco tonight and just because there's a LOT of different things in this town doesn't mean I have to try them out! Many things are just better left alone.

Just sitting here with all the locks turned on the hotel door...

Lucky you. Right smack dab in the armpit of America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That being said.. I have to ask, why? 300 Savage was always intended to shoot spire point bullets. Don't see why you'd pick a 170 flat nose over a 180gr spire. The 180's work just fine for me.

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Good question. The reason I was thinking of using them is because I have lots on hand and don't have very many .308 pointed bullets on hand. I do appreciate all the responses so far.

If you are mildly worried about the 170 flat nose's holding up at increased velocity why not pick up some of the 170 Nosler partitions. I suspect they will hold up to 300 Savage velocity very well. They are more expensive for sure but what is peace of mind and venison in the freezer worth?

Hey Steve.

I was shooting Hornady 170GR (30-30 interlock FP's) in my 99's for years with great results on Whitetail deer. All of the deer taken were <100yards, and a few times over th years, I recovered a nicely mushroomed bullet from the animal. I looked at my load data notes and I was loading 38.- grains of IMR-4064 in .300Sav.

I used Sierra brand 170FP's once, but had a bad experience on a deer (shallow penetration) that required a follow up shot. I think the Sierra's are softer than the Hornady offering? I'm not sure, but I don't think Speer or Nosler offer a 170FP.

I now hunt 150Gr Nosler ballistic tips (green tip), as my shots can be a bit father, as I'm hunting land that is less thick and they seem to work fine.

Good luck! -TomT

I think a friend of mine used to load these in a reduced load 30-06, for his daughter. He said it did a great job on deer at shorter ranges where they typically hunted.

I use the exact same load as TomT, Hornady 174 gr RN over 38 grn IMR-4064. I took a 100 pound whitetail doe at a measured 110 yards last year and had no complaints about at all about how it worked.

I'm taking a very similar load 174 gr RN over 39.5 gr 4064 in a .303 British Martini Henry this year. At southern Alabama whitetail ranges (200 yards and under, mostly 100 and under) I don't think there is a noticeable difference between Rn and SP.

I had some 170 FN Noslers, they were a boat tail believe it or not. They were/are very accurate in my 300F. Absolutely perfect for deer. Blasted right through, expanded and smashed everything inside , small expanded type hole going out. 20 yard flop on a very big 8pt.-17 inch inside spread. 42 grains of reloader 15 in a Rem. case, fed 210 primer. They looked very weird cause they stuck out of the case a whole lot--and the cannelure was way out. 2.60" OAL. I think they would be great for black bear or elk.

If you're still there the food and music (Blues at Lou's) is pretty tasty, there's a WWII sub you can board near Fisherman's wharf, and the museums are world-class. The Marin headlands are lovely. The rest of it....lock your door.

I can remember the late Jack O'Connor writing about loading 170-grain .30/30 bullets in his .30/06. He said the velocity was about 2,500 fps. Apparently this combination dropped deer in their tracks.

I was reading a 2014 article in the Handloader on the 300 Savage reloads. It seems that 42 to 44 grains of Varget and 150 grain Speer RN worked very well for the author. I was sure I had a couple hundred 150 grain RN Remington bullets laying around, but I can't find them. I did find a big bag of 170 RN CL's though. That was my go to bullet for 30-30 lever action silhouette. At the ranges I was planning on shooting deer, I think that the difference in trajectory and energy between a spire point and a boat tail compared to a round nose bullet would mean very little.. So I was looking for loads with 300 Savage and 170 grain bullets. I understand that Sierra has good data for the 300, but not so much some other manuals. My Sierra manual is dated, I think it may have been their first or second manual. I looked in the Hodgon manual and the loads are way to high pressure for the 99.

I think that the 170 grain round nose will stabilize well in the 99. But I'm wanting to test.

I could buy some 150 grain Speers, but I have a lot of 170's.

My question was the same as TNBigBore's regarding game. I suspect that the 170 grain RN Core Lokt's will work very well on deer at 300 velocity levels.

Anyone else have a favorite powder for 170's in the 300 and care to share your load??? (I'll try TomT's IMR4064 loads) I was thinking Varget, TAC and some others.

I load the 170 Partition in a 308 for piney woods whitetail. Dead right there