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

Be prepared for a long message from Ron_T.

I'll give my response to Ron now: I think you could have added a bit more Varget and hit paydirt.

I've tested Varget, but not a lot. Seemed to work very well.

Latest loading for my 300 is Barnes 150 gr. TSX and 40 gr. of IMR4064.

Will try a hot loading of 44.5 H4895 and 130 gr. TSX for accuracy later this week in my Model 14 American Classic.

Nope. If you have #7, as I do, you'll see that #8 is mostly a copy.

Cheater! If you don't shoot it in a 99 it doesn't count.

Original post by Lightfoot:
You will likely get lots of advice... (especiallly if RonT shows up)
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Gesshhhh, guys...

All I try to do is fully explain things... gee... gosh... shucky-DARN...

(Mutter... mutter... [CENSORED] )

I do. 40.3 gr Varget using Sierra Pro Hunter 150 gr RN. Shoots well in my 99 out to 200 yards.

I loaded up some Sierra 125gr Spitzer with 41 gr of Varget and some Sierra 150gr SPBT with 40.3 gr of Varget this morning.
After I got the reloading done, I headed to the range. I was pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of both loads at 100 yards. The 125 gr group was tighter than the 150gr. Both had the same POI so no scope adjustment was required. The 125gr had a 1" group and the 150gr group was 1.25-1.375". Good enough for Mr. Whitetail or Mrs. Woodchuck.

I have had astounding accuracy from 41 gr Varget and 150 SpBt in both Speer and Sierra from a 1964 "F" model. Velocity was 2560 fps, and extremely consistent.

Be aware that some early 99's show over 2700 with this combo, and that is too hot. I probably wouldn't go over 2450-2500 with pre-war 99's, so reduce accordingly.Once you get to the ones which were also chambered in 308, you're on pretty safe ground.

I am shooting a 99E made in mid 70s. I have found that it likes 150gr Sierra SPBT or 150gr Sierra Spitzer with 40.3 grains of Varget. The most accurate load for this rifle is Sierra 125gr Spitzer with 41 grains of Varget. I don't have a chronograph but with these loads I have not seen any signs of excessive pressure.

Here is a link to some good info on bullet selection and reloading (below the history section).

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.300+Savage.html

Today I fired my 1950EG .300 Savage for the first time. I put Lightfoot's mount and an older Leupold 1.5-5 Vari-X III on it. I loaded Hornady's 150gr SST bullet (#30303 .300 Savage) with H4895. I only fired at 25 yds to zero it in and chrono 4 rounds at each of 37.0 grains to 39.0 grains in 0.5 grain increments. Here are the two best loads of the 5 increments. I'm really pleased with this rifle.

Lookin' good!! Hope it prints as well at 100 yards.

You definitely cannot stuff a 300 Savage with 40 gr. of IMR 4064 with a 150 gr. Barnes TSX seated down to an OAL of 2.600 as per the Nosler manual.

Reworked the load down to 38.5 gr. in order to seat the bullets below the maximum OAL. A whole lot of tapping going on to compress the powder to make the load fit.

What's the problem? Bullet too long? I regularly stuff more than that under several 150 gr bullets. More information is needed.

Yes, bullet length. Of course there's not much of a reason, if any, to use the 150gr Barnes, when 130's are available.