and I stayed in for a change. Cleaning Savages that didn't need it, loading a few cartridges that I don't need, putting off starting my fresh new copy of James Lee Burke's new novel "New Iberia Blues" because I know if I do I'll be up until 4AM. Supposed to be some truly crappy "winter mix" tomorrow so I guess I don't care if I wake up at noon. The GF's 90 miles away and fighting the flu, but she wouldn't be much help with the gun cleaning/handloading chores anyway. I guess I could call Joe and get him stirred up.

My body is getting too old for the "night life", but my brain feels like it's still 1976. Sigh. I guess I'll cut some more flannel patches.

God I wish it was 1976! a Balmy 8 out now, wind chill may reach -30, got a hot fire going, in my recliner, dog at my side! Coke zero, and im on the Campfire!, Im like you Gary, wish I could sleep till noon but ill be up by 7:00 at the latest! couldnt sleep last night the Property next to me sold and they had a crew surveying it yesterday, looks like im loseing 12 ft. in the front of my yard and about 20 feet, in the back! Temped just to sell out!

Just wait until they leave, John, and go out and move their stakes.

When I hear y'all talk of temps like that I remember why I put up with Maryland's crap. Here by the Bay winters tend to be on the mild side. But, they're calling for temps in the teens tomorrow and tomorrow night with god knows what precip. People around here are freaking right the hell out at the prospect. Me, I'll just pile a couple extra chunks in the fireplace, let the crockpot simmer me up a pile of chili, invite Sailor Jerry to sit down and try to talk me into getting my first tattoo, and read the book. And harass all y'all from time to time!!

Been raining for days here. Rivers are mud. Got two truck and trailers stuck in the pasture that aren't moving w/o help. Said screw it. Drove 125 miles to a gunshow to get out of the house.

Lyman 56A box for a WInchester 94, 53, 64 etc $1. Who needs it?

RCBS loading block $4

Weaver offset ring set $10

Only Savage at the show was a 300 tomato stake in $400 condition for $900. Almost as bad at the area gunshops and pawn shops. At least they were only $700 for $400 guns. Called my buddy on the way home and he told me where two are locally that sound really good! Gotta go look tomorrow. Probly rained 6" today and drove all that way for nada.

Roy:

Any day at a gun show is better than a day at work.

Been to many and come home with nothin, but still enjoyed my day immensely.

Specially if spend it with other gun geeks...

I don't know Randy, a guy can only go by so many tables of purses, jerky, AR accessories, and chinese swords optics and flashlites.

And what is it about gun shows that someone always has to let one rip in a crowded aisle? And somebody either pisses themselves or hasn't bathed in a year. They obviously have lost touch with decent society! Gun owners are nuts!

Went to one of the guys in my deer camps wife's 40th Bday.

Truck was reading -30C on the way there. Wife was bitching on the way home that I didn't start the truck early enough before she got into it.

What more can I say.

Must have been the day for gun shows. Drove to one thirty miles away in snow/ rain freezing weather with wind gust up to 40 mph. Met a couple of 99 guys that I share my hobby with. Looked at a model K that I seldom get to see in this area. Introduced to another local Savage 99 collector that I had never met. Purchased nothing, but seen a 80's Winchester 30 30 trapper and a Randall knife that was tempting. Org owner on the model #4 knife from the 70's and had the small Catalog that he got with it new. Knife prices within ran from $20. to $30. I am being tempted to sell a very nice 50's 300 R to one of the guys I met. Would love to replace it with a 358R but have been unable to locate one.

Single digit temp tonight but the wind has let up. Bad weather made good by meeting with friends and sharing 99 stories. GW

PS: This sounds so good I may go back tomorrow. GW

I went out tonight....to the grocery store to get some English walnut pieces- gonna make banana bread tomorrow.
It’s 12 degrees and headed for a low of 6. On the way back from the store I was thinking of how in my early 20’s I would jump in my $600 beater car and head out somewhere without a second thought. Now, in my early 50’s I have an AWD car with traction control & tight fitting doors/windows and I rarely leave town in winter.

I may drive across town tomorrow to visit my dad if I can time it to avoid football game traffic.

No rain down here today. Two years ago that was so bad it blew out the emergency spillway on Oroville Dam. It was about 65 with the sun and no fog and just damn nice outside. I continued with my major bushwhacking and landscaping job in the yard, messed with a couple 1903 projects (with little actual progress being made) and I’m about ready to call it a day. Hope you all have a great Sunday tomorrow. If not then grab something Savage and make it so!

I don’t wish it was 1976 again, but I do kind of wish I was 16 again but with knowing all the crap I learned in the last 43-years.

Gunna have to get those trucks and trailers up above the house today, the river came way up overnight with all the rain.

rain in oregon? am shocked!. moved out of Salem in 1984 and still have moss on my back!

Roy - Sounds like a busy Sunday. Its raining again down here but that’s supposed to stop by tomorrow. My brother, who unfortunately passed away in September, lived in Springfield so I know how wet Oregon can be. I always liked driving through Yreak and over the Modoc Plateau on my trips up there. Which also reminds me I need to fish the Klamath again. Maybe steelhead this fall. One of the best rest stops ever is on I5 at the base of Mt. Shasta below the Oregon border. Best of luck with the trucks and rain.

I would almost rather go help Roy with his vehicles than do what I'm doing- filing my income taxes.

Just got a text from Jim Martin { ET } they are buried in Schenectady

Which reminds me I haven’t got my W2 yet. I found a great tax preparer a couple years ago. She’s well worth the cost in my estimate.

Update, if anybody cares or is so bored they'll read anything: the weather prediction came to naught. Because I had cleared my calendar for a day of weather induced sloth, I, in the tradition of slackers everywhere did absolutely nothing constructive today. A good day for contemplation/reflection which revealed a serious deficiency in my life: I have no Savage lever gun projects in my life right now.

Should I get some Hawk and Barnes 190 grain bullets and a barrel devoted to them, and contribute to the .303 lexicon? Or sit back and see what others cook up?

A more ambitious project would be to write a loading manual devoted to all the Savage cartridges- sort of be the clearing house/editor of contributions by all you guys who play with these things along with my own research, codified and indexed and clarified. What gave me the idea was being bored and logging onto the Hodgdon reloading data site to see just what they had cooked up for the .303 (given the resurgence here on the Forum), and guess what- there's one lone entry. That's pretty sad. What's worse there's zero data for the mighty .22 HiPower. We, dear hearts, are being shuffled off to Buffalo. This stuff we discuss/admire/pontificate over here on the forum is ephemeral in nature and needs to be recorded for posterity. (Not that the pixels and 1's and 0's ever go away but that the generations behind us may not want or care to know what they don't know.) David did a pretty good stab at the rifles themselves, we need to do the same for what goes into feeding the rifles.

There's an ulterior motive at work here, Whenever a newbie pops up and asks "What's a good load for my .300 EG?" or "What bullet works in my grampaw's .303 Savage?" we can simply say "The answer you seek, Grasshopper, is to be found in our book. Fork over the $11.95 for a copy and the Truth of the Ages will be revealed to you." That way the Great Unwashed Masses get their load info and we become millionaires. Truly a win-win situation. Whaddaya say????

(This'll teach y'all to leave me to my own devices all day alone on a Sunday!! Ha ha!)

Rained all day here. Gunshop closed. Car audio places closed (need 2 speakers for the Toy). Another day I'll never get back.

I’d buy a copy of your book if it came with an autograph. Hell, I’d buy two copies if they came with a centerfold! I think both of your ideas are good but the first may be a tad more accessible, and doable. The 303 is an accurate round, why not see what could be squeezed out of it. But now you have another burning question. What will your test vehicle be? A long barrel rifle or carbine? For wringing out maximum accuracy and efficiency I’d have to cast my vote for the rifle. But maybe the cartridge needs to be evaluated for both long and short guns and the different powders those tubes may prefer. Hmm, now to scope or not to scope? That is the other question.

By the way, it’s raining now but it’s supposed to climb into the mid-60s by the middle of the week. I wish I could bitch about it but I can’t. Well, on second thought the yard is a mud hole to dig in so I’ll have to give that a few days to dry out.

+1

"I’d buy a copy of your book if it came with an autograph"

However, consider not only the Savage calibers but also the early Winchester calibers for which the rifles were loaded: 30-30, [though almost identical to the Sav. 303] 25-35, 32-40, 38-55 etc. and others that have fallen out of popular favour.

Both long barreled and short. Dependent of course upon what the fellowship owns- between 20 and 26". Loads chronographed. (Anybody here have a pressure testing gizmo?) Test equipment/setups to be included- we aren't all created equal in our marksmanship capabilities, nor are our rifles. The more different barrel lengths are included the more fair/honest the data would be, and provide guidance to more gun owners. We could break the tradition of major bullet/powder makers of providing data for only one barrel length per cartridge.

This would be a layman's effort. No pressure barrels or machine rests. Scopes? Of course, I'm not opposed to their use in the pursuit of pure accuracy. (My campaigning for peep sight use is based entirely on ergonomics.) We're talking about a grass roots approach here, with suitable legal rejoinders in place.

Start out small, limit it to one caliber (.303?), and add to the database with other cartridges as we go along?

I feel like Bluto (John Belushi) in the "Animal House" scene where he excoriates the frat house to get even after Dean Wormer expels them. (The Germans bombing Pearl Harbor, etc. etc.)

Admittedly, some of this is in jest and/or tongue in cheek. But you know such an undertaking really does have merit.

Point taken, Bert. But ambition needs to be tempered with caution, at least at first.

I think there’s merit there and a lot of info and experience to pull from on this forum. Hell, I think it’s a great use of the power of the web. Now I have to ask, are you thinking about actually proof testing other guy’s recipes and will you be including centerfolds? Actually just kidding on that last part, but still...

I love the scene where Bluto is “rallying the troops” when they are all busted at the end of Animal House and says “do we give up? No. Did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Noooo!” As you aptly pointed out.

Will I actually proof test? Hell no, unless we pass the hat for some expensive digital proof testing gear. It's becoming more affordable but still too rich for my coffee. Therein may well point out the Achilles's Heel of my proposal.

As for centerfolds, yes indeedy. I propose Saddlering in the nude on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace for Volume 1 Issue 1. Joe Martin in a Speedo mowing grass for issue #2.

That’s funny but as tempting as it sounds I may have to steel you some centerfolds from old copies in the library. Have any preferences for months and years? Seems to me Ursula Andress was in there someplace. I wouldn’t mind seeing her cutting grass in the buff back in the day!

Volume 1 Number 1, Playboy. Marilyn Monroe.

Gnoahhh, I have a bunch of velocity data for IMR 4895 and Leverrevolution with 150 gr Hornady RN for 20, 22, 24, and 26" barrels that I have been meaning to post. I have some Barnes 190's on order, for my next round of tests. I would love to see some good loads for the 303 that are tested and approved by others to confirm what I have done with LVR especially, or to tell me I am on the wrong track and something bad might happen...

Hell, I’d buy two copies if they came with a centerfold!
pick a Femme Fatal from each year of introduction. wow that would be a blast from the past!

"Hodgdon reloading data site to see just what they had cooked up for the .303 (given the resurgence here on the Forum), and guess what- there's one lone entry. That's pretty sad. What's worse there's zero data for the mighty .22 HiPower. "

That ain't nuthin. They don't even have any data for the 300 Savage. Whiskey, tango, foxtrot...………….not like there are not a few of them in circulation.

need to look again. they have data from 100g to 200g and most in between