M99 300 Savage 150 AB PP2000

[SJB358]

I was goofing around last night with my grandpas M99 300 Savage. Decided to see if I could work up a good load for the old rifle without a ton of shooting. I browsed thru a few manuals and Hornady had some data for 150’s using PP2000 that attained 2700 FPS. I said that might be a good all arounder, that mimics the reason the old cartridge was created.

So I cheated and fired one shot over the Magnetospeed at 1/2 grain increments until I got to 2700FPS on the monitor. Cases came out of the gun slick and primers looked very rounded and nice so I said what the heck, I’ll load three and see what happens.



That was the first three. I was pretty okay with that as it shot just about like the Hornady 150 SST factory stuff I had which seemed to shoot great as well.

Decided to load 3 more and get it a bit closer to zero.

I cranked on the old friction dial and hoped for the best.



Little bigger group than before but this rifle doesn’t do well with heat. 3 shots is about all it wants before it’ll start opening up.

I ran out of daylight but I’ll finish it up tonight.

For reference it did real nice with the Hornady factory stuff I was using to get some brass.



Overall I’m pretty happy with the load and hope to use it hunting a bit more. I’d like to find an M8 4x for it one of these days as the old 2x7 Redfield is a bit cloudy but good enough for fair weather hunting.



I also forget to mention I loaded the first batch at the books 2.6 OAL but the gun was not liking them for function. So as I went along I shortened them to 2.590” and it ran real smooth. Just a good reminder to check stuff out, even though the book says something is good, your rifle may not like it.

Same for sizing. I sized them to bump the shoulders 2 thou and while it chambers fine you need to squeeze that last little bit on the lever to get it fully into battery. I will try to take another thou off them next and check to make sure they’re good. I like to keep stuff snug but not at the detriment of function.

The old 300 Savage is a cool cartridge though. So modern looking to me and really quite a lot of performance from it.

I tried catch a 150 AB at 100 yards but it made it through 2 - 2.5 gallon DEF jugs end to end. I’ll have to regroup and find some more jugs to try and catch one.

 

[DrMike]

Pretty slick workmanship, Scott. The old Model 99s can be a joy to handle.

 

[DON]

I was goofing around last night with my grandpas M99 300 Savage. Decided to see if I could work up a good load for the old rifle without a ton of shooting. I browsed thru a few manuals and Hornady had some data for 150’s using PP2000 that attained 2700 FPS. I said that might be a good all arounder, that mimics the reason the old cartridge was created.

So I cheated and fired one shot over the Magnetospeed at 1/2 grain increments until I got to 2700FPS on the monitor. Cases came out of the gun slick and primers looked very rounded and nice so I said what the heck, I’ll load three and see what happens.



That was the first three. I was pretty okay with that as it shot just about like the Hornady 150 SST factory stuff I had which seemed to shoot great as well.

Decided to load 3 more and get it a bit closer to zero.

I cranked on the old friction dial and hoped for the best.



Little bigger group than before but this rifle doesn’t do well with heat. 3 shots is about all it wants before it’ll start opening up.

I ran out of daylight but I’ll finish it up tonight.

For reference it did real nice with the Hornady factory stuff I was using to get some brass.



Overall I’m pretty happy with the load and hope to use it hunting a bit more. I’d like to find an M8 4x for it one of these days as the old 2x7 Redfield is a bit cloudy but good enough for fair weather hunting.



I also forget to mention I loaded the first batch at the books 2.6 OAL but the gun was not liking them for function. So as I went along I shortened them to 2.590” and it ran real smooth. Just a good reminder to check stuff out, even though the book says something is good, your rifle may not like it.

Same for sizing. I sized them to bump the shoulders 2 thou and while it chambers fine you need to squeeze that last little bit on the lever to get it fully into battery. I will try to take another thou off them next and check to make sure they’re good. I like to keep stuff snug but not at the detriment of function.

The old 300 Savage is a cool cartridge though. So modern looking to me and really quite a lot of performance from it.

I tried catch a 150 AB at 100 yards but it made it through 2 - 2.5 gallon DEF jugs end to end. I’ll have to regroup and find some more jugs to try and catch one.

Scotty,
That's a cool rifle and cartridge. My Uncle had the exact combo, one I always admired.

Don

 

[DrMike]

Years ago, I helped a young native friend work up a load in his Savage 300. He was insistent that he wanted to use 180s. It was an accurate load and he managed to take a nice moose with the rifle. I was quite impressed by the little Savage. It would be a neat cartridge to have even in this country.

 

[SJB358]

Years ago, I helped a young native friend work up a load in his Savage 300. He was insistent that he wanted to use 180s. It was an accurate load and he managed to take a nice moose with the rifle. I was quite impressed by the little Savage. It would be a neat cartridge to have even in this country.

I remember that. I don’t remember the boys name but I do remember your write up Mike.

My grandpa shot a lot of Adirondack bucks with it, a moose, couple elk, bear and antelope with it. All I know he ever used was the Winchester 180 Silvertips.

 

[DrMike]

The name of the young man, who has become a great friend and helper in many of my projects, is Nahum. He has turned out to be a good hunter. However, his youngest brother is truly the hunter. He really brings home the meat for his family. I helped him work up his first load and take his first moose as well. He definitely exceeds me now in the realm of hunting. There are three of these brothers, and they are fine men who work hard and excel at about everything they do. The 300 Savage certainly earned my respect from seeing the performance in the hands of these men.

 

[SJB358]

That’s pretty cool.

It’d be fun to carry it out after elk.

 

[ScottinTN65]

I have 3 rifles in 300 Savage, it's a dandy and you have a good one. If you ever feel frisky, try the 130gr Barnes TTSX. I've killed quite a bit of game with them and they shoot lights out. You can launch them at about 3k.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Nice rifle with family ties. Groups look consistent. Long ago outdoor writer Ben East used the same rifle in some of his stories. Dan.

 

[SJB358]

I checked it again tonight, just to make sure it’s on point.





I’m pretty happy with the load. Not sure about that danged old Redfield though. Tried adjusting it and I swear if I had anything else 1” I would’ve put it on it.

I have 3 rifles in 300 Savage, it's a dandy and you have a good one. If you ever feel frisky, try the 130gr Barnes TTSX. I've killed quite a bit of game with them and they shoot lights at. You can launch them at about 3k.

I’ve heard that is a devil! I would like to try those maybe in the future.

 

[JD338]

Nice work Scotty. That old 99 will fill a lot of freezers with that load.

JD338

 

[Joec7651]

If you could find an old steel tube Weaver K4 with an actual crosshair reticle in good shape. Would be nice scope for a great shooter. The 300 Savage doesn’t recoil enough to beat it up too badly.

 

[SJB358]

Well those old scopes, while looking correct they don’t do much for my shooting Joe!

I have a little older 2.5x8 on my 7600 I might swap off that rifle and put a newer Trijicon on the 280 and move the 2.5x8 to the Savage. It’s an older gloss model so it wouldn’t look to outta place.

 

[grry10]

The 300 Savage is a great cartridge and in a model 99 it is a classic. You are lucky to own such a fine rifle. I picked up a 300 Savage in a model 81 Remington about 10 years ago. Seeing yours gets me thinking maybe it should go to the deer woods this fall.

 

[ScottinTN65]

The 300 Savage is a great cartridge and in a model 99 it is a classic. You are lucky to own such a fine rifle. I picked up a 300 Savage in a model 81 Remington about 10 years ago. Seeing yours gets me thinking maybe it should go to the deer woods this fall.

That's one of my bucket list rifles. I have a Model 8 in 35 Remington, but I can't seem to have enough 300 Savages. I have two 99's (EF & F) and a custom built 300 using a short action M700 action. I've been hunting with the 300 Savage since the mid 80's.

 

[ShadeTree]

You got that old rifle cranking Scotty! Good stuff. My Grandpa had the exact same gun. 99 EG like yours. My one older brother has that one. Never had a scope put on it. They are a neat cartridge and no question the 99 is a good lever rifle for sure. Good work.