Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Load for Savage99 in 300 Savage

It isn't a 99, but it is a very nice 300 Savage. I really like the blueprint.

For those using Remington Core-lokts, how's your performance? I bought a bunch of 165 - gainers back in the 90's and had a lot of difficulty with accuracy at velocities exceeding the .300 Savage. Up to the .300, all was okay. Over it, say like in an .30-06, and not so good. I even tried 140 - grain Core-lokts in a 6.5-Swede and had a point of impact way higher than their factory loads. I weighed out a bag of 500 and found a lot of variability in individual bullet weights, which got me thinking that the bulk bullets might have been seconds, or what?

Nice looking EG, Joe.

Does anyone use Sierra Spitzer boattail 150 grain bullets in the 300 Savage and if so what kind of accuracy do you get?

I've shot them from my 700 Classic with very good results.

Well, I wasn't having much luck finding brass for the 300 Savage right now, so I just bought 2 boxes of Hornady 150gr Interbonds for it. I will shoot these, and reload when I get through with them, as long as they shoot well from the rifle.

Why buy empty brass, when you can buy loaded ones for about the price of the empty ones for now...

Here is a pic, of the inside of the rifle, It doesn't look to me like it's been shot a whole lot...

Interesting with a "B" stamped in there! I dont know if i have ever seen a letter stamped in there before. Don

The reason I asked about the boat-tail bullets in the 300 Savage had to do with information I read in Ken Water's "Pet Load". According to information in his article, he stated, it was not a good idea to use BT bullets in the 300 Savage because they extend too far into the case when seated and could lead to increased pressure.
I was wondering if anyone uses BTs when reloading for the 300 Savage and if they have noticed any signs of increase pressure?
Thanks for any information you can supply on this matter.

Don't believe everything you read.

You did see that I load 130gr Barnes TTSX's, right?

It's going to depend on the bullet and it's OAL. A boat tail is going to use more room in the case when you have to keep the COAL short enough to fit in the 99 magazine, but how (if any) much pressure increase that might lead to is dependent on the bullet, the powder, and how much powder you are using.

I've tried boattails, but never worked up to a max load and never saw any pressure signs. If you use them, see if the mfr has load data for that bullet for 300 Savage and follow it.

I don't know if boat tails cause excessive pressure, but they have always just looked all wrong for the .300 case to me. Face it, the .300 has a very short neck and, compared with other rounds, it doesn't have much meat to support a long bullet. I tend to think that cases with longer necks have an edge on accuracy. Will a BT work in a .300 Savage, hell yeah; it just wouldn't be my first choice. Try some BTs and then try Water's recipe for Spire Points and see what you get.

Hornady loads a 150 gr. sst boat tail in there sprerformance line!

There are lots of 300 Win. magnums out there very successfully shooting long bullets, short neck and all. Assuming proper sizing, the 300 Savage has plenty of neck to hold onto a bullet.

Accuracy wise, I have a Rem. 700 Classic in 300 Savage I could probably use to lighten your wallet. If I were a betting man that is.

Please read beyond the bolded red script to get to my point. I never said the .300 Savage didn't have enough "neck to hold onto a bullet." That's obviously an interpretation way outside of the scope of it's history, or for that matter the .300 Winchester Mag's too. What I did say is that BTs [/u]would not be my first choice when it came to selecting an optimum bullet shape for the .300 Savage[u]. That's all.

I've used boat tails in 300 savage loads quite a bit, Norma, hornady, Sierra, and Noslers. No problems that I've ever seen. They shoot fine and kill deer okay too. I use 4320 in my rifles but I'm sure 4895, 4064, 3031, Varget, and a host of others will work just as well.

I got what you said. What I'm driving at is I believe you're putting undue emphasis on the neck length per se in coming to your conclusion about bullet choice.

There are certain circumstances, using bulky IMR4064 for example, where I too prefer a flat base bullet in the little 300.

mathman - Its all good. I guess I also fall into the bulky IMR powder crowd. We all have our own preferences. Good shooting!

I haven't tried it at '99 overall length, but IMR4895 is scary accurate under a 168 match bullet in my 700.

Rory,
I am using my older (4th edition) Sierra Handloading Manual. It does give information on both the 150gr FMJHPBT and the 150gr Spitzer BT. Also, my 9th edition of Hornady manual gives info on the BT. I reloaded some of each yesterday using a variety of powders IMR4895, H4895, and H380. I kept the COAL at 2.600" and they cycle fine. I have not had a chance to shoot them yet.
After reading the article in "Pet Loads" I just became a little concerned about pressure. I tend to get that way when there is a possibility of bodily harm. Better to be safe than sorry.