Accuracy at 100,200, and 300 yards with a 99E 300 Savage

[Camper]

Just wondering if anyone has tested the accuracy of a 300 savage 99E with a 150 grain federal off the shelf factory load.  I was handed down this 1968  99E and I wanted to know the maximum capabilities of this rifle.  I hunt deer in the thick stuff and in the fieds.  I understand that 250 yards is pretty much max distance for shooting at a deer with this calibre.  Just wanted to know for interests sake.

Any info on models made in that time frame would be helpful as well  Positive and negative.

PS.  I do not reload but I am thinking of starting off just to get the maximum from this rifle and others.

Camper  :grin:   :grin:

[tscott]

My 99f 1955 .300 is my go to deer rifle. I've shot deer with many calibers.
My 99 was originally hunted out of my quest for nostalgia. Not any more!
I shoot less than 100yds, and at this range coreloks 150's and 180's group the same. I have shot deer with both. I prefer 180's for better mushroom, knockdown and less meat ruined. Deer don't go far, but with 180's they go less.... Just a great deer rifle.. and surprisingly accurate. Put a 1.5 x 5
Leupold small scope... What a nice gun to carry also.

[Camper]

Tscott,  I find the ballistics on the 150gr are considerably better and do just as much damage to the deer that I have shot ( 8 deer,  3 with 180grain and 5 with 150gr)  I would like to know what I should  expect for accuracy at ,  100,  200,  and 300 yards

BTW,  I have a 3x9 busnell on it.
Thanks Camper

[tscott]

Camper, I agree 150's are superior ballistically. My preference in 180's is the slower larger mushroom stopping, rather than a bit more meat loss,
which I've experienced with 150's. I think I'm splitting hairs! Of the 81 deer I have shot I think less than 10% over 50yds. Hunting mostly the Hudson Valley (temperate rain forest), and NC Mts. So I'm not your guy for long distance, particularly .300 sav. But I'll tell you who can...
Try the savage collectors forum at www.savage99.com. There are some guys there that know stuff connected to 99's that is totally mind boggling!

[Camper]

Thanks tscott,  I will look at that website!!!

[Camper]

Well I checked out that website but could not find any info on accuracy???
That is unless I wanted to buy a book.  What about you reloaders,  what kind of accuracy do you get at the above mentioned yardages?

Thanks
Camper

[Pinkerton]

My father has hunted since 1952 with a savage 99 in 300 savage, more deer than I know of have been taken with that rifle than I know of.  My first rifle at age 12 was a .300 savage on a sporterized 98 mauser with  19" barrel that my brother gave me, He had purchased it for 25bucks from a local gas station owner and that has been a great little rifle.  For years it only wore a redfield peep site and it could put 3 rounds at near an inch at 100 yards with a handload of 165gr Hornady with 42.5 grains of H 4895 (hot load but it's a mauser, the 99 may not be up to it) That rifle had spent alot of years in the closet after taking a back seat to many other rifles/handguns as my hunting tool. In 1999 I dug it out and decided to start playing with it again, Put a burris compact 3-9 on it and it is still an outstanding shooter, sub MOA out to 200 yards, (never tried 300yrds but wouldn't shy from it if my range had a berm there)

I've never tested my father's 99 but witnessed him taking a whitetail on the plains at about 350 paces, deer put about 2 lunges in before pilling up and calling it quits from the heart/lung shot with the old 150 gr winchester silver tips he to this day still has a couple of boxes of.

Horandy fifth edition lists the 150gr spire point can be driven (from a Sav 99) to 2800 fps and at 2" high at 100yrs hits dead on at 200yrds, and is about 8.5" low at 300yrds, it's still traveling at over 2000 fps and has over 1500ft-lbs of energy. Good enough to take any deer on this continent.

[Camper]

Thanks Pinkerton that is what I was looking for.  I do have a silly question however.  What does MAO stand for?  

Thanks
Camper

[Ron T.]

I am “one of those members” of the “Savage Collectors Forum” at another site, but I haven’t seen this question posted in our Forum.  If I had seen it, I would have responded to it just as I am responding to it now.

“MOA” means “Minute Of Angle”… which translates into 1 inch at 100 yards, 2 inches at 200 yards, 3 inches at 300 yards, etc.. and is used to illustrate the degree of accuracy when shooting groups, usually at 100 yards.

I have & use a Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle and have put a lot of time & effort into developing very accurate, “hot” hand-loads for my Model 99 in .300 Savage caliber.  My hand-loads push a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, boat-tail bullet at 2680 feet/per/second (“fps”) which is about 50 fps faster than the muzzle velocity claimed by factory loads using 150 grain bullets.

The developed hunting load’s (41.5 grains of IMR4895) accuracy averages ¾ of an inch in 3-shot groups at 100 yards and my best group (fired at 50 yards for best sighting purposes) was a .112 inch, 3-shot group using 41.1 grains of IMR4895 at a MV (muzzle velocity) of 2648 fps.  My best 3-shot group using the maximum load (41.5 grains of IMR4895) at 2680 fps was .191 inches at 50 yards.

CAUTION:  This is a MAXIMUM LISTED LOAD… reduce your load 10% and “work up” slowly, watching for high pressure signs.

I used many different combinations of four different rifle powders, four different primers and three different 150 grain bullets in once-fired Winchester cartridge cases to develop these loads.

Using standard bench-rest techniques, I modified or, as I call it, I “accurized” the Winchester cartridge cases prior to loading them… and trimmed all cases to minimum case length (1.865 inches) after each firing to insure uniformity with all loads.

That is about all the muzzle velocity you can squeeze out of the rather small .300 Savage cartridge case.  The .300 Savage cartridge was introduced by Savage Arms in 1920.  This shortened .30/06 cartridge case was loaded to approximate the then-.30/06 ballistics in a shorter case that would “work” through the lever-action of a Model 99 Savage rifle.

The .300 Savage cartridge was used as a “model” for the development of the very popular .308 Winchester cartridge, but oddly enough, the newer .308 Winchester case has a 20º shoulder while the much older .300 Savage as a more modern 30º shoulder.  However, the .308  Winchester has a slightly greater powder capacity and is loaded to yield considerably higher chamber pressure thus giving it a greater muzzle velocity using the same weight bullets compared to the .300 Savage.

Sighted-in 2.75 inches high at 100 yards, my hand-loaded rounds have a “point-blank-range” of 265 yards.  “Point Blank Range” is the range within which the bullet does NOT rise or fall more than 3 inches ABOVE or BELOW the line-of-sight from the muzzle out to the maximum “point-blank-range” indicated.

The advantage of knowing the “point-blank-range” is that is it generally accepted that a hunter can hold “dead on” the point-of-aim on his target ranging from 0 yards to the maximum point-blank-range without using “hold over” and still have his bullet strike the target within 3 inches of the aiming point.  Since a deer’s “kill zone” is about 9-inches in diameter, this is more than sufficient accuracy to give one shot kills all the way out to the maximum “point-blank-range”.

My handloaded .300 Savage cartridges maintain sufficient muzzle energy (1,000 ft/lbs) all the way out to approximately 500 yards, but bullet drop at that range would be extreme… and any rifleman’s ability to place a killing shot on live game at those ranges is questionable.

If you are using ONLY factory loaded rounds with a muzzle velocity of 2630 fps, then I would think your maximum “point-blank-range” would be about 250 yards.  Frankly, few hunters have the skill or an accurate enough rifle to shoot at game beyond 250 yards.

I realize a great many hunters THINK they shoot game at ranges FAR beyond 250 yards, but their range estimations are often quite “generous”.  These relatively new laser range finders will cure some of that… BUT as an old hunting buddy of mine once said about the ranges at which hunters "guestimate" they took their shots… “All hunters are liars except me and thee… and sometimes I wonder about THEE!”.    


Strength & Honor…

Ron T.

[Camper]

Wow,  Thank's Ron T.  That is exactly what I was looking for.  In response the question being posted on the Savage99.com forum,  I did not post the Question there.  I just got back on the website and found under the Links section the Savage collectors forum.  I will be sure to check it out when I have more time.  

Again
Many thanks
Camper

[Ron T.]

Camper...

No problem, ol' buddy... glad to have helped you.  That's a big part of the  purpose here on Graybeard's forums, ya know.    :-)


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.