Getting ready for elk!

[taylorce1]

I went to the range yesterday and took my .375 Ruger and .300 H&H to test out some loads to find one to use for elk season. I just got my .300 Savage back from the GS and threw it in as an after thought. I had the Ruger loaded up with 260 grain AB and the H&H with 180 grain Partitions. Low and behold my Ruger didn't like the AB pushed by RL 15, nor did the H&H like the PT's pushed by I4350 so back to the drawing board with different powders with these two. However my .300 Savage liked 165 grain BTSP and SP bullets with RL15 so it might get the nod this year for my cow elk and mule deer hunt.

If you had your choice would you rather shoot Accubonds or Partitions in .300 Savage? I haven't ran the load across my chrony but I'm hoping it will be in the 2500+ fps range. Magazine length is a non-issue as it is on an intermediate length Mauser action and I can load 180's and not take up powder room. My rifle seems to shoot both flat base and boat tail bullets in this weight equally well both hovering around 1" for three shots. My bullets I shot at the range were Horandy Interlock BTSP and Speer Hot core SP bullets. I used up my stock of bullets in this weight and now need to buy some more anyway.

 

[DrMike]

I'd think that either the AB or the PT will work well in your 300 Savage. I'd probably gravitate to the Partition for nostalgia sake. You'll shortly get the load you want in the other rifles.

 

[SJB358]

Yep, 165gr PTs the whole way. That would be a cool cow elk killer in my book. Good luck with your H&H and Ruger. Scotty

 

[taylorce1]

I'd think that either the AB or the PT will work well in your 300 Savage. I'd probably gravitate to the Partition for nostalgia sake. You'll shortly get the load you want in the other rifles.

I've just started loading the .375 Ruger I finally used up all the factory ammunition I bought to get my brass stocks up. Who knew it would take me so long to shoot up 60 rounds of factory ammo! :wink:

My .300 H&H has puzzled me though, it is a 1917 sporterized rifle, I've had great luck with some 150 grain bullets through it but no luck with 180, 190, and 200 grain bullets I've tried so far. May have to go down in weight and use a monolithic or other premium bullet. I've tried RL22 H&I 4350 as well as H&I 4831.

 

[DrMike]

The H&H has always seemed to me to be easy to load. It doesn't seem fussy. I'm sure you'll find what you are looking for. That big cartridge sure feeds nicely in most rifles.

 

[taylorce1]

I'll keep working on the H&H and Ruger that is for sure. However my bullet choice was decided for me. I wound up getting Accubonds and SW didn't have any 165 grain PT's in stock last night. Picked up another box of Hornady's as well to fine tune the load with in my .300 Savage.

 

[DrMike]

When supply is limited, it makes choosing easy. Fortunate, you really can't go wrong with either the Partition or the AccuBond. I've always had good accuracy in most rifles with Hornady Interlocks. They work well for me.

 

[gerry]

My 375 Ruger didn't like RL 15 either, tried Ramshot Big Game with the 260 AccuBond and my search was over, really like this load. Guys have done well with H 4350 and you would think Varget would be a good choice too. It shouldn't take too long to come up with a good load. Good luck on your hunt with the 300 Savage, it will work well.

 

[taylorce1]

I just really like RL15 and it works so well in a lot of my rifles I was surprised it didn't work in the Ruger. I've got a pound of big game the other day to use if RL didn't work in the rifle. Anyway I've got a few other powders that I can try as well.

 

[C.Smith]

A friend of mine just took his 90 year old grandfather in law (sort of) out with a cow elk tag last weekend, he was shooting a 99 Savage in 300 Savage and some old box (unknown what) other than it was 180 grain bullets. Shot a cow at 120 yards and she dropped right there. I wish I could have seen it.

Corey

 

[taylorce1]

I managed to sneak off to the range this afternoon and found a load I think I can hunt with in my .300 H&H. 62 grains of I4831 gave me a group just over 1.5" at 100 yards, it could have been under an inch if I hadn't shanked the 3rd shot. That said I'm sure I can kill a cow with it even if it is only running 2800+ fps.

My .300 Savage shot better today as well and I managed to pull off a .6" group for three shots with it. The rifle seems to shoot better the more powder I put in the cartridge. Got scared to push the rifle too hard as it is on an old M93 action, so I quit while I was ahead and I'm still about 2 full grains under max with RL15 in that one.

Anyway I'm going to spend the weekend loading up some more ammunition. Next weekend I'll shoot 10 shot groups with both rifles over the chrony so I can work up the dope for my scopes. That is another thing I'll brag about I'm sure impressed so far with the little 2-7 Vortex Viper scope on my Savage, it tracks well and I can see the bullet holes easily at 100 yards with this little scope.