Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles loading for the 300savage 99

anyone have any intrest in the 300savage, i have been reloading for mine for several years and have a couple of interesting combos. 125gr nosler balistic tip at 3000fps and a 170gr rn partition at 2500fps

Sure let's hear about them. I just finished my first session with Varget in my 99F circa 1963. In my .300 Savage, 42 grains pushes a 150 grain Sierra Pro Hunter at 2575fps and puts 5 shots in 1.75 inches at 100 yards. A friend is tinkering with a 99C in 308. Punching holes with Hornady 130 Spires at 2950. He's wanting to try it out on whitetails this season. What's your story? Have you used those 125's on deer sized game or varmits? What kind of results are you getting on deer sized game?

i have used the 125gr balistic tip on deer and coyotes and on the deer it was a complete penitration behind the shoulder at about 90yds fist sized entry and thumb sized exit wound with all lung and heart material turned to liquid. on another deer at 250yds i was up on a rock knob shooting down at about a 60deg angle. the bullet struck the deer high in the shoulder and exited thru the lower rib cage on the opposite side with the effect of turning the heart lungs into jelly. the load data is 125gr nosler balistic tip, cci 200 lr primers oal of 2.590", 46grains of reloader 12 for an average 15' velocity of 3073fps. accuracy in my mid fiftys model 99 is under 2" at 100yds with a 3x9 redfield.

with varget i am using the same 42gr with 150gr partitions at 2625.

Baltz526,
I have a 50's vintage M99 R in .300.
My favorite load for elk, lion, bear or deer is WW brass, WLR primers, standard trim, 43 grains REL 15 pushing a Speer 165 grain GS bullet.
I do a partial resizeing.

The rifle is scoped with a Lyman Alaskan 2.5X 7/8" tube and that load in the 24" barrel of the heavy R rifle will shoot aggregate MOA out to 200 yards with sling or bipod..
I think the 165 is the best weight bullet for the .300 Savage.

Suprisingly lethal even on elk so long as one keeps under 200 yards and puts the shot where it oughta go..
The REL series powders seem to give excellent accuracy with good velocity and slightly reduced pressures..jim

for my open sited mod 99 late fiftys model i shoot 170gr rn partitions oal 2.555"fed 215 mag primers 45.1gr w760 crono of 2500fps. i picked this one up this year, on a trade. so this deer season will be the first year i use it. it has a great trigger, unlike the scoped mod 99 i just gave to my stepson, for his elk rifle. for him i load the 150gr partition. and for elk or bear i would say a 200yd max range is prudent. and for elk i would hesitate past 150yds on a broadside shot.

What size deer (dressed weights) did you take with that 125 grain ballistic tip? Blacktails or whitetails?

Thanks for sharing.

Jim in Oregon:

Have you chony'd your 165 grain loads with RL 15? If so what speed are they moving out at?

Thanks.

22" or 24" barrel???

both of the deer where small about equal sized 150lbs one a muledeer one a blacktail. barrel on both is 24"

from my crono experence i would say about 2550fps on a load of 43gr reloader 15 with the 165gr bullet.but that is a wild guess, some books would have you believe about 2700fps is possible. but without cronographing it a guess is just a guess.

Baltz:

That's about the size of a 2-1/2 year old whitetail here in the midwest. 125's should give good performance on deer I would see. Did you get "drop 'em now" performance or did the deer run off after the shot?

I think your guess-timate on 165's going 2550 is on target. I've handloaded for (3) 99's so far and they are all slow compared to the book. I think it is the long throat and or optimistic manuals.

they both dropped in their tracks, but if you compare a 125gr in the 300 at 3073fps to a 270 130gr factory load, the only real difference would be accuracy and 5grains of bullet wieght.

I hve'nt shot any deer with my '99E in .300Sav,but I can give you some accurate loads.
180 gr lead PP 36 gr IMR 4895 2231 FPS
" 38 " 2407
" 42 " 4350 2286
" 44 " " 2412
150 gr Rem PSP 41 gr IMR 4895 2498 FPS
180 gr " 38 gr " 2240
170 gr Hornaday 38 gr " 2305
" 39 gr " 2383
Frank

300 Jimmy, The 165's chronoed at 2510-2530 FPS on five three shot strings in the .300 M99 w/24" barrel..Fairly low SD.
Not super fast, but accurate & effective..Largest bull I killed was at about 60 yards, shot thru the near shoulder-high heart-lungs quartering away.About 900#s live weight, 5x6 and he went down hard and stayed down..Jim

I also load the 165 Nosler Partition with Reloder 15. 42.0 grains in a Win. casde with CCI 200 chronographs 2573 at 15 feet from the muzzle in a 99-EG (24" barrel). So it all depends on your barrel etc. Knocks the snot out whatever it hits to 200 yards or more.

Reduce the above load one grain and it gives the 170 RN Partition about 2550 in the same rifle. Groups are not so good as with the 165 but OK for deer.

I have also had good luck with the 125 Ballistic Tip, but load with Ramshot TAC to around 3000. Good for everything from prairie dogs up to smaller deer.

For general deer hunting I generally load around 42.0 grains of IMR4895 and about any 150 spitzer. This gets around 2600 from most 24" barrels and generally shoots very well.

Just tried VihtaVuorhi's max load with 200-grain bullets, 41.0 grains of N540. I didn't have an VV bullets, so used the Speer 200 instead. Chronographed 2383 from the 24" barrel of a 99-G takedown, with decent accuracy, and very low velocity variations. The velocity is just about exactly what VV says it will do in their manual, so anybody wanting to use heavy bullets in the .300 might consider this powder.

MD

Mule Deer:

I could see that 200 grain Speer driven at 2383 fps doing a fine job on a dandy black bear in the north woods. BTW, I enjoyed your recent article on the 99. Looking forward to the next installment and more handloads. Keep them coming. I'd like to see that .300 around for many more years. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And to heck with the WiSSuMs. Shot placement is KEY!

300jimmy--

Glad you liked the 99 piece. I am working on the Savage-catridge handloading piece right now, so it will be in HANDLOADER in a couple of months.

MD

I enjoyed the article as well MD. I don't have a 99, but I hunt with a guy that uses one (308) and my Grand father in law has one in 300 Savage. If money wasn't an issue, I'd have one just for the heckuva it.