Sav. M 99 and cast.

[Pereira]

Playin around with a friend's 99 in 300 Sav., got a nice hunting load worked up with 150gr Speer.
Decided to try some 173 gr fngc boolits and unique.
Not bad for the first guess/try.
Was wondering if anyone here has tried cast in a 300 Sav.
I have several powders to work with.
Red dot, rl7, 4198, 3031, 748, and of course the unique.
Here's what the unique looks like at this point. Low, of course, as the scope is set for hunting.




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[atr]

nice looking group, well done!
I have not tried cast in my 300 Savage 99, but have in my .308 Savage 99 and I found the 168GR RN cast and sized at 0.309 very accurate / 18 gr 2400. Anxious to try that in my 300 Savage

the 300 Savage has a short neck, so I am wondering if you crimped the boolit?
best
atr

[Larry Gibson]

The 300 Savage M99s have 12" twist barrels and will shoot cast very well from very mild plinking loads up through 2300 fps with 170 - 180 gr FP cast bullets. Your 748 will work very well with top end loads with the heavier bullets. If you can find some LeveRevolution powder in will do very well indeed with those heavier bullets.

[Pereira]

I have plenty of the lvr, the only bullets I have are the 173 and 174s.
I have some 178s but they a little fat for the 300.
I'll give the 748 a try.

RP

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[Rusty Goose]

I'm shooting a lino RCBS 180 gr. spgc over 37 gr. of IMR3031 in M99 300 Sav. That is right at the max of the load data.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've been shooting cast in Savage 99 .300's for a very long time. Most any decent .30 cal bullet 150-180 grains just fine, I usually go with .310's, my 300's have long throats, .309 works in some, .310 and .311 work about the same in MY rifles. Mostly I've used mild loads, 20-25 grains, 5744, Rldr 7, 4198 with 'pointy' 160-180 grain bullets for practice. Pointy because I am always fighting the Wyoming wind. With care, 1.5 MOA should be attainable out to 200 yards plus with cast. Jacketed bullets can do a little better. For heavier bullets 180 going faster I like Rldr 15, for 150's - Varget, 165's - Varget or Rldr15. The 'modern' LONG action (2.8") Savage 99's made since about 1954 in 300 Savage really benefit from loading long to just touch the rifling really shoot, with 5 shot groups with all shots touching not uncommon.

[JDL]

The first rifle I tried cast in was my 99G. Borrowed a friend's Lyman 311466 mold and used 18.2 grains of IMR-4227 for 1724 fps. I didn't know the velocity until years later when I got a chrono. Killed 2 bucks that year with this load, my first with cast. Later I bought a Lyman 31141 mold and loaded the old surplus H-4831 at 44 grains, a case full, for 2083 fps. This is a deer killer par excellence, making 2" holes through the lungs. When I ran out of H-4831 I used MR-3100 which I had a good supply of and at 44 grains, gave similar velocity to the 4831. Yes, the .300 Savage started me out on this cast journey but, the .303 Savage is a much easier round for cast.

[TurnipEaterDown]

I have a 1941 vintage 300 Savage M99G. Fairly pitted bore. At first wore a 4x Unertl Hawk post & hair, now a 2 3/4x Redfield post & hair. Either scope post tip would cover a 2" target circle at 50 yd. I have to "halo" the post tip w/ a 3" dot at 100 yds. Makes groups a bit of a challenge. Jacketed spitzers 0.030" short of magazine. Some loads I liked:

13 gr of 2400 w/ Lyman 311291 & WLP gave me a 50 yd group of 0.5" (5 of 5 bullets -- 5/5), 0.5" (4/5), 0.25" (3/5)
18 gr of SR4759 w/ Lyman 311291 & WLP gave me a 50 yd group of 0.75" (5/5), 0.5" (4/5), 0.25" (3/5)
14 gr of 2400 w/ LEE 170 RF & WLP gave me a 100 yd group of 1.875" (5/5), 1.75" (4/5), 1.1875" (best 3)

Not only did I find LeverEvolution a Very good powder for the cartridge as noted by Larry in post #3, but MR2000 seems very good a well.

Hornady 180 SP, LeverEvolution 39 gr, 2350 fps, 100 yd: 2.5" (5), 1.0" (4), 0.75 (3);
Hornady 160 gr BT Flextip (30-30 Bullet) -- 2000 MR 42.5 gr, F210, 2480 fps, 100 yd - 2.75 (5), 1.875" (4), 0.8125 (3)

[Pereira]

Thanks guys for all the info, surely some stuff to try.
But for now I gave the rifle back to the friend to finish out the hunting season.
Be cool if we both were to score with it this year after such a long hiatus.
Will play with it after the season, first of the year.

RP