Savage 340 Action strength

I recently bought a Savage 340 chambered in 225 Winchester. I am a sucker for odd calibers! I was looking at loading for it, and several places I came across people who felt that the action strength was marginal for the 225 Winchester. I searched but could not find anywhere an example of one failing. What are your thoughts? I do not plan on going any beyond the manuals. Would any of you have qualms about loading a 52 grain bullet to 3600 fps in this gun? (34 grains IMR 4064 as per Nosler manual). Edit, yes, I will start lower than that!!!)

I wouldn't worry. I have to guess that the single locking lug put the jitters in folks (like the Krag action - which it mimics pretty close) but they made 340's for MANY years. If there was a natural flaw in the design or chambering it would have been more widely known.

But I certainly wouldn't try pushing the envelope with high pressure maximum loads. The .225 Win is a moderate 50,000 cup, same as the .222 Rem. The .30-30 which is another 340 choice with similar head size is only 45,000 cup. 3600 fps with a 52 gr is a hot load, especially with the shot barrel of the 340 (weren't they 18", or maybe the .225 Win was longer(?)). Nosler's load is from a 24" barrel. I wouldn't try, personally. I'd keep it to around 3,400 fps and go for accuracy.

I know the barrel is longer than 18..it is at least a 22...maybe a 24

For some reason I was thinking the M340 had a shorter barrel. I know the .30-30 a friend had was short.

I checked Numrich Arms and they list an 18", 20" (Model 840), 22" and 24" barrel depending on caliber (but no .225 Win listed).


In any case, start 10% below max and work up. My Hornady (6th Ed) manual shows 32.9 gr IMR 4064 as the max load w/55 gr bullets. 34.0 gr would be hairy & scary for their bullet, case and primer choice in the chamber they used to work it up.


I recently found a load with the relatively new IMR 4451 power & 143 Gr ELD-x bullets in my .260 Rem that auto-ejects primers when fired and opens the pockets so primers will fall out from their own weight. It was 5% below the max listed on the Hodgdon Load Data site. Happily I now have confidence in the "emergency" gas ports of my M11 and I was going to glass bed it after hunting season anyway so the burnt wood isn't a bother. Not recommended to help with your concentration for the next few shots (I pulled the bullets from the rest of that batch!) That was a first (and second - D'oh!) for me.