Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk Hunting with the 300 Savage

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I just bought a 1950's Savage 99 in 300 Savage.

What were your results while using a 300 Savage on elk?

What were your successful bullets and loads for deer, black bear and/or elk?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

One of my older hunting partners nevered used anything other than the Savage 99 in .300 Savage, loaded with the cheapest store bought 150 gr ammo he could find. In his 40 years of hunting, I'm not aware of a single elk or deer that ever escaped him when he popped a cap on them. Most important though was his judgement on when to shoot and when not too.

The 300 Savage is in all reality just a tick away from the 308, both in design and performance. Anything that performs in the 308 will work in the 300 Savage. 150-180 grains bullets will perform best, just as in the 308. There is a TON of info here regarding the 308, just do a search and enjoy reading for days!

If you reload, be sure to use 300 Savage data though, not 308.

If a 300 manglem can roll an elk over @ 550 yards. And an -06 does a good job @ say 400 - 450 yards.

Why couldn't a .308 work @ 350 and a 300 Savage get it done @ 300 yards?

Or so,
I have not comparing the exact speeds at distance, but I think they would give somewhat a more exact answer.

Sold my 99 .300 Sav. this spring..but it worked fine with 150's on deer and antelope..When I first hunted this valley 40 years ago, a couple guys used the old 99's in .300 Sav..As I recall, both shot 180 grain Rem. CoreLokes..In those days most of the elk hunting around here was in the timber..shots were not long..

Brother is still using dads 99/300 and still keeps knocking them dead. Longest shot was 380 yards on a cow, but a good one and got it done.
Uses the Rem 180gr for elk. Is really bummed that he finally ran out of Winchester Silver Tips for deer though.

Grandpa used a .300 Savage on el for a BUNCH of years.Never went hungry.
A dude one day told him it wasnt enough gun. That was almost too easy for grandpa...

There will be a 99 Savage EG in our camp this year, it dropped it's first elk 60 years ago this year.

The 300 Savage is so good the 1950's the Army Ordnance Dept used it to develop the 7.62 NATO. They just modified the cartridge case a bit. They said it was for reliability. Maybe... If the Army had simply adopted the 300 Savage they would have needed to pay Royalties to Savage.

I know a bunch of old timers that used it in the 50's and 60's. The elk are still the same.

[quote=Yalie]Ladies and Gentlemen:

I just bought a 1950's Savage 99 in 300 Savage.

What were your results while using a 300 Savage on elk?

What were your successful bullets and loads for deer, black bear and/or elk?

Thank you.]


My uncle has been using his Model 99 300 Savage on Elk, Deer, Speed Goats, Black Bear and Moose since the early 1960's and has been very happy with the results.

I know that he doesn't handload and he's partial to Remington factory ammo (180gr. CLKTS) and was a fan of WW Silvertips when they were available.

He's only ever needed one follow up shot on a raghorn that was heading for the dark timber, he admitted that he put the first one too far back.

I can't argue with over 50 years of success.

Good luck, have fun hunting with that old rifle.

My 1951 M99 EG .300 S will take a couple of long walks through the elk woods this Nov. It will have Fed 180 factory loads in it. Given the number of elk killed with a .30-30 pushing a 170 at 2100, I figure a 180 at 2350 will have no problem getting it done if I do my part.

Expat

A 99R .300 Savage was the first dedicated big game rifle I owned. I was 12. That would make it 1959. I had a .32-20 of my own and the use of a .25-35 before that but the .300 was a big gun to me. It killed 2 or three dee a year for me those years.
There were lots of tags available then.

I never killed anything but deer with the .300 though. They all died just fine to 150 grain bullets. Winchester Power Points or handloaded Hornady FB PSP-Over 40 gr of Ball C2 if memory serves.

In 1972 I moved on to a .308 in a 99. I shot several deer with it and four elk. I continued to use 150 and 165 gr bullets for the .308. In the late 80's i started shooting bolt guns, .30-06's at first.

I use a .30-06 or .338 most of the time now. In truth the differences in the animals reaction to a bullet strike are not all that different.

I like the idea of a light weight .300 sav....

Can't imagine a 130gr. TTSX not killing an elk.

Thank you for all of your replies.

I should receive the rifle next week. Can hardly wait.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Me, too!

I've worked up a load (good for 2950 fps) for this new-fangled bullet, in an old-fangled 722. Now I've gotta work up the time and the $ for an elk hunt to test the hypothesis.

FC

Past uncles, grandfathers and others of my family did very well with 300 savages in 99's. Back in there day it WAS the hot rod.

I know with the combination of everybody back in the 40's and 50's and there 300 savage 99's one 99 being in the 250 savage, all game found in the rocky mountains short of possibly sheep had fell to them.

Bullets did not matter, it was were and how you placed them.