303 Savage project

[mjcmichigan]

I have a friend with a 303 Savage. (He's going to get me a barrel length)

He's got some Winchester silver tips that pass through white tail no expansion. Pencil hole in, pencil hole out. There's 15 pieces of brass if I take apart some of these old ones. I'm not familiar with that bullet. Looks like 80s vintage. Anyone know the silver Tip? It's basically a round nose with some sort of metallic cap/tip.(nothing like a modern tip or lead tip)

I'm thinking a 150g Bt or InterlockRN, maybe a FTX or HP?

I haven't found any recipes yet.

Anyone have recipes for 303 Savage?




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[Nimrod84]

I've seen a 170 grain 303 Savage load on Hodgdon's reloading site. http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle.

Win. Silver Tips are (last I checked) were lead tipped with a Nickel and Zinc coating. My understanding is that they were designed to be a bush buster / protected point concept with just a nod & a wink towards expansion. Although there is a huge amount of lead up front, so if you do hit bone or other hard things it will deform and or expand pretty well. There might be some collectability with those rounds; I'm not a collector, but I would check into it before breaking them down.

I'll add my personal experience. The 30-06 silver tips I've used readily mushroom. Nickel and Zinc don't prevent the deformation of lead at those speeds.

Good luck.

 

[mjcmichigan]

Thank you very much.
I've learned an old lesson again...keep reading.

303 Savage is a nightmare for Ammo manufacturers.

Some of the 303 Savage barrels are 308 and others are 311.

Neither is labeled as such. Slugging the barrel is the right course of action if you don't know which you have. The general recommendation, when in doubt, use lead.

I did find in my Lyman 45th edition manual, after all the cartridge data, there is one more section for obsolete cartridges. The 303 Savage is there..and in their notes, they mention this 311 vs 308 thing. The gun they tested with was a 308 caliber.
As noted above, the 170's are there for the 303 Savage. Again, wasn't where I was expecting it. The Hodgdon recipe is for a 311 bullet.

Amazing these guns are not known for hurting people!

Thanks again!


Also, I found a writer, Bob Shell who gave me his 10 favorite loads for that gun(hunting, plinking, and CowboybAction!

Since I have a few rounds of Silvertips that grouped find from the gun, and they mic out at 308...I think we got lucky.



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[PJGunner]

Keep it simple. You can use 30-30 Win. data and it works just fine. I know. I've done it.
On another note, if you do not have dies yet, I have a set of Redding dies with shell holder that I'd let go for $45 plus $6.00 for shipping. Dies are in excellent condition.
Paul B.

 

[mjcmichigan]

Thank you Paul! You are confirming what I was realizing yesterday.

Thank you for the die offer. I think they are supposed to deliver tomorrow. I love the Redding dies! I think the ones Matt ordered is the Lee set that includes the Lee factory crimper.

Thank you!


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