Attention 303 Savage owners!

[Utica1899]

For anyone who owns and shoots their Savage 1899-99 in 303, here is some new
information. As we all know the .303 SAV was originally loaded with a 190 grain
soft point bullet, and when production of them was discountinued in the mid to late
80’s we were all sunk for a lack of ammo. Well for reloaders there is good news, Barnes
Bullet company has just introduced a new .30 cal 190gr soft point in their “original” line,
and it is designed to operate at 30-30 type cartridge velocity’s. I was able to get a hold
of a couple boxes, and using load data that was found in a 43rd edition of a Lyman manual.
Which states (this is published data not my own concoction)

IMR 4064. Starting load: 30.0gr - max load: 32.0
Respective velocity’s. 1855 fps - 2025 fps


I have loaded and shot these bullets and am quite happy to be able to load and shoot
the original bullet weight for the cartridge.

[Big Al1]

Good to know!! I've been shooting 180 grain RN's. I've tried spitzers but they don't feed well and jam up on the edge of the chamber. The old timers had it right in the first place, why fix what ain't broke!!

[Utica1899]

Absolutely Big Al1, The 303 is such a fine old cartridge. Here in NY I am only
and hour or so away from where the original Savage plant was in Utica,NY.
And all the old timers that hunted in the Adirondack mountains said that you
didn’t have a really good rifle unless it’s was a Utica made Savage and in .303!
I emailed Barnes last week to see if they were workingon any load data for the 190gr.
They said yes but for now only in the 30-30 cartridge. Which still is fine, because
as long as you use the starting load and work up until the first pressure signs
are noticed and then back off a little, there is no reason why we could use that data as well

[Barneyhunts]

For anyone who owns and shoots their Savage 1899-99 in 303, here is some new
information. As we all know the .303 SAV was originally loaded with a 190 grain
soft point bullet, and when production of them was discountinued in the mid to late
80’s we were all sunk for a lack of ammo. Well for reloaders there is good news, Barnes
Bullet company has just introduced a new .30 cal 190gr soft point in their “original” line,
and it is designed to operate at 30-30 type cartridge velocity’s. I was able to get a hold
of a couple boxes, and using load data that was found in a 43rd edition of a Lyman manual.
Which states (this is published data not my own concoction)

IMR 4064. Starting load: 30.0gr - max load: 32.0
Respective velocity’s. 1855 fps - 2025 fps


I have loaded and shot these bullets and am quite happy to be able to load and shoot
the original bullet weight for the cartridge.
Thank you for this information. I have a Savage in 303 and have some unprimed brass (Prvi Partizan) and some 180gr round nose Hornady coming, but I cannot find current load data for the 180. Can someone share their data with me. I did find some old Winchester load data using Win 748 and Win 760 for 190 gr. tips.
Thanks, Barney

[Slinky Pickle]

Although not quite the mass of the 190gr, I have a few boxes of 180gr Hornady Interlock Round Nose on order to try out. I'm wanting to use these primarily for hunting black bear and am looking forward to trying them this spring.

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/30-cal-308-180-gr-interlock-rn#!/

https://enoughgun.com/forum/download/file.php?id=1677

[Utica1899]

BarneyHunts and SlinkyPickle,
I have tried the 180gr round nose from Hornady
and while they shot well, these bullets are
constructed too heavy for the mild velocity that the 303
can produce. Another problem is if you try to seat them
in the canilure, the overall length is way out of specs.
Seeing as the 180gr are better suited to more powerful cartridges
like 300 Savage, 308 Win, 30-06 Spfld.

Before Barnes introduced their new 190gr, I was loading Hornady 170gr “30-30”
flat nose bullets and using 30-30 data that I worked up to in my rifle. And they
were very good for that rifle.

As far as data for the 190gr, I would recommend reducing
the starting charge of powder for the 190 by the same amount
as the 170gr is reduced from the 150gr.

this is 30-30 data from hodgdon ( I found this to be safe for my rifle)
USE CAUTION AND COMMON SENSE IF YOU USE IT IN YOUR RIFLE!!

For example: say you are using IMR 4064
A 150gr bullet has a starting charge of 31.0 gr
A 170gr bullet has a starting charge of 29.5 gr} 1.5 grains less
So if you keep the reduction of powder for bullet weight the same
then the starting charge for a 190gr should be 28.0 grains} 1.5 grains less than the 170gr
and then you would work up to the safe level for your rifle. And this would probably
translate over to other powders as well.

[Slinky Pickle]

I'm planning on starting with IMR 3031 at 26.5 grains to start and I'll work up from there.

I'm not sure what you mean about the 180gr being too heavy when the main factory round that was made available for the .303 Savage was a 190 grain round nose.

The location of the canilure will definitely be something to keep in mind. The magazines in these things are pretty picky when it comes to overall length.

http://i63.tinypic.com/21cs3ef.jpg

[Barneyhunts]

BarneyHunts and SlinkyPickle,
I have tried the 180gr round nose from Hornady
and while they shot well, these bullets are
constructed too heavy for the mild velocity that the 303
can produce. Another problem is if you try to seat them
in the canilure, the overall length is way out of specs.
Seeing as the 180gr are better suited to more powerful cartridges
like 300 Savage, 308 Win, 30-06 Spfld.

Before Barnes introduced their new 190gr, I was loading Hornady 170gr “30-30”
flat nose bullets and using 30-30 data that I worked up to in my rifle. And they
were very good for that rifle.

As far as data for the 190gr, I would recommend reducing
the starting charge of powder for the 190 by the same amount
as the 170gr is reduced from the 150gr.

this is 30-30 data from hodgdon ( I found this to be safe for my rifle)
USE CAUTION AND COMMON SENSE IF YOU USE IT IN YOUR RIFLE!!

For example: say you are using IMR 4064
A 150gr bullet has a starting charge of 31.0 gr
A 170gr bullet has a starting charge of 29.5 gr} 1.5 grains less
So if you keep the reduction of powder for bullet weight the same
then the starting charge for a 190gr should be 28.0 grains} 1.5 grains less than the 170gr
and then you would work up to the safe level for your rifle. And this would probably
translate over to other powders as well.
Thanks for this information!
Barney

[Utica1899]

What I meant is that the 180 grains construction is too heavy to expect reliable expansion.
Considering the low velocity that the 303 starts wit. Sorry for not clarifying that early.

[Slinky Pickle]

The 180 grain Interlocks seemed to work very well so far. The next step is to go kill some paper and see how they fly. I crimped them a little heavy because the bullet profile is about. 305" at the case neck but I think that will be OK.

The cannelure is buried inside the case but I don't see that as being an issue.

Now to try them out.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190408/5c1724bc616671de96b0dd6d549b24a7.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190408/5f56f31d0fd47435df4d96dfbb30fed8.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[sayak]

My .303 like Sierra 180 gr round noses, and I also hide the cannelure. I don't crimp though.

[Slinky Pickle]

I'm quite happy with the 180gr Hornady Interlock riund nose. 93% retention and very acceptable expansion.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190411/d7159976c9cecf0d0629b39d50a3249a.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[obssd1958]

That looks pretty good!
Any idea of the velocity?
What was your test medium, and at what distance?

Sorry for the inquisition, but a 303 is on my bucket list, and this info might be helpful when I get one!


I'm quite happy with the 180gr Hornady Interlock riund nose. 93% retention and very acceptable expansion.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190411/d7159976c9cecf0d0629b39d50a3249a.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[Slinky Pickle]

That looks pretty good!
Any idea of the velocity?
What was your test medium, and at what distance?

Sorry for the inquisition, but a 303 is on my bucket list, and this info might be helpful when I get one!

I didn't have a chrony on it but the QuickLOAD data says the velocity should have been around 2050 fps. To recover the bullet, I shot a line of milk jugs that were filled with water and I made that shot at about 25 yards. Now that I see how things went, I might push the powder load up to about 26.5 grains just to try and get a little more velocity out of it.


https://youtu.be/zW4GVwRrXVE

[Utica1899]

Slinky Pickle, That is amazing for a the interlock! I would have highly doubted that reliable
expansion could have been achieved. I am very glad to say I have been
proven wrong! I have been testing the Barnes Original 190 flat nose using a
modified (30-30 170gr load) I’m using Hodgdon Varget ——NOTE——- (I found this data to be safe in my rifle,
It may or may not be safe in yours so use CAUTION!!!) What I did was reduce the starting
charge for the 190 by the same percentage as the 170 is reduced from the 150. For each bullet weight the
difference between the starting load and maximum was 3.5 grains. So I applied that to the 190 gr and I came out with
a starting load of 28.0 gr and a max of 31.5, the rifle responded extremely well to this data. My group at 50 yards was about 3/4
of an inch with a Williams peep sight. Now just to check it over the chronograph

[Slinky Pickle]

I just acquired a 1965 Vol. #1 of P.O. Ackley's "Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders". In it he publishes a load for the .303 Savage showing a 180 gr bullet and 31 gr of 3031 powder.

That's significantly more than the 26 gr that I loaded up. I think I might need to creep my way up a bit and see how it goes.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190527/9693b4abe43a57c79564601d2d523ef1.jpg

[Utica1899]

Wow that’s a treasure in itself! And Holy crap, i remember my Great
Uncle talking about HiVel#2. I guess it was pretty good powder for its day.
I have seen that data before, but it’s always good to know that data is
still floating around. Thanks for sharing!