The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Is the Remington 700 Classic in 300 Savage a good choice?

**Mike Irwin** · March 1, 2012, 07:46 AM

The .300 Savage is a classic.

It was one of the first modern high-intensity cartridges designed specifically to take advantage of WW I driven advances in smokeless powder technology.

The original aim was to give .30-06 ballistics in a shorter cartridge that could be fired out of the Savage 99 lever gun.

It came close.

Over the years the round developed an excellent reputation as deer and black bear cartridge in the east. Part of that popularity was the 99, which gave the lever gunner a cartridge that was head and shoulders ahead performance wise over the traditional lever action rounds that were available at the time.

The round was popular enough that Savage also chambered it in the Models 20, 40, and 110 bolt action rifles, and Remington picked it up for the Model 81 autoloader, the 760 slide action and, over the years, the 700 and 722 bolt actions.

Winchester also chambered a few Model 70s in .300 Savage in the early 1930s. It is the second rarest chambering and one in good to excellent shape can bring close to 5 figures.

The biggest problems with the .300 come from the short neck and in reloading.

The short neck makes the cartridge impactical to use with heavier bullets, they simply occupy too much of the powder space and ballistics fall off rapidly. Fortunately, the .300 absolutely sings with 150 to 165 gr. bullets.

The other problem is the short neck combined with the extremely short, sharp shoulder. It can make adequate resizing, especially for lever and autos, a challenge.

As for accuracy, the .300 is as accurate as the .308 over the same distances as long as the rifle is up to it.

The only real problem you might have are finding an adequate supply of ammunition. Since the introduction of the .308 (the .300 Savage served as the original test bed for what became the .308) the .300 has been losing ground, but it's by no means dead yet.

Back in 1982 Charles Askins wrote an article for American Rifleman talking about which cartridges were on death's door. I need to find a copy, because 30 years on it would be interesting to see how close he's been to being right, but I know that the .300 was on his "soon to be an obit" list.

I'm very happy to say that he's wrong, and the round is still kicking.

I like it so much that I have three, a Savage 99, a Remington 81, and a Remington 722.

March 1, 2012, 07:46 AM	#4
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,381	The .300 Savage is a classic. It was one of the first modern high-intensity cartridges designed specifically to take advantage of WW I driven advances in smokeless powder technology. The original aim was to give .30-06 ballistics in a shorter cartridge that could be fired out of the Savage 99 lever gun. It came close. Over the years the round developed an excellent reputation as deer and black bear cartridge in the east. Part of that popularity was the 99, which gave the lever gunner a cartridge that was head and shoulders ahead performance wise over the traditional lever action rounds that were available at the time. The round was popular enough that Savage also chambered it in the Models 20, 40, and 110 bolt action rifles, and Remington picked it up for the Model 81 autoloader, the 760 slide action and, over the years, the 700 and 722 bolt actions. Winchester also chambered a few Model 70s in .300 Savage in the early 1930s. It is the second rarest chambering and one in good to excellent shape can bring close to 5 figures. The biggest problems with the .300 come from the short neck and in reloading. The short neck makes the cartridge impactical to use with heavier bullets, they simply occupy too much of the powder space and ballistics fall off rapidly. Fortunately, the .300 absolutely sings with 150 to 165 gr. bullets. The other problem is the short neck combined with the extremely short, sharp shoulder. It can make adequate resizing, especially for lever and autos, a challenge. As for accuracy, the .300 is as accurate as the .308 over the same distances as long as the rifle is up to it. The only real problem you might have are finding an adequate supply of ammunition. Since the introduction of the .308 (the .300 Savage served as the original test bed for what became the .308) the .300 has been losing ground, but it's by no means dead yet. Back in 1982 Charles Askins wrote an article for American Rifleman talking about which cartridges were on death's door. I need to find a copy, because 30 years on it would be interesting to see how close he's been to being right, but I know that the .300 was on his "soon to be an obit" list. I'm very happy to say that he's wrong, and the round is still kicking. I like it so much that I have three, a Savage 99, a Remington 81, and a Remington 722. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.