Savage 99: Strength of the 99

I first reloaded 300SAV around 1966 or so. Dad had a 99E. The load was a 150gr WIN Silvertip over a mid-range charge of 4064. MV was stated to be 2694fps in the 1964 Speer manual. We also loaded the 150gr Hornady IL (#3031 IIRC) with the same charge. Very close to the load that made the '06 famous. We never had any problems with the load, and since I acquired my 99 about 15yrs ago I've loaded for it about the same with no problems.

The 99 has been chambered in several cartridges as you all well know, notably the 308WIN and the 243WIN. Those cartridges have SAAMI pressure ratings over 60Kpsi.

Why then have there been cautions to load the 300SAV down to the mid-40K levels? I've heard comments online the 99 was "made with steel not strong enough for today's standards". A quick look at old manuals will show considerably higher powder charges before the late 1990's or so, then suddenly all started publishing lower levels in their data. I say horse feathers to that line of talk since Savage was chambering the 99 with 308 and 243 among other high pressure cartridges. The 308WIN and 300SAV are so close as to be twins, and were the two cartridges competing for the military trials that lead to the 308NATO in the early '50's.

I would appreciate your comments.