I am one of those members of the Savage Collectors Forum at another site, but I havent 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 loads (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 deers 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 riflemans 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.