I have never owned one but am old enough to have known many who did. I think its GREAT cartridge in a super rifle. The long neck makes me think it would be a cast bullet shooting dream. Its a 30-30 class that if you ask those who owned them kills better than the 30wcf.( Kinda like a 32 special:biggrin I remember the 190 gr silver tips killing a buck very convincingly for one of the believers.

 

I have two old 99s in303 Savage. Both sport long barrels. I agree, the 303 Savage is a very cool cartridge. Ballistically, it's very close to the 30-30. You won't find ammo on the shelves of your LGS but you can buy custom loads at reasonable prices. I think my last batch was from Wisconsin Cartridge Co. I believe I have bought 303 Savage from Reed's Ammo too.

A few seasons back, I killed a whitetail doe with my Savage 99 (DOM 1904). First shot dropped her like a hammer to the head. I followed up with a second shot but it probably wasn't needed.

I love Savage 99s. I have eleven in various chamberings. You should go back to your local pawn shop and make her yours. And then, post pics!!

T.S.

 

I just bought a 99 H in 303 Savage. I also bought dies and brass to start loading for it. I found out it will feed rounds right up to 2.6" OAL so it gives you some choices in pointed bullets also.
I really like it !

Jedman

 

I just bought a 99 H in 303 Savage. I also bought dies and brass to start loading for it. I found out it will feed rounds right up to 2.6" OAL so it gives you some choices in pointed bullets also.
I really like it !

Jedman

The Savage 99 was way ahead of its time. One of the great advantages has been the rotary magazine accommodating spitzer bullets. As was mentioned above, the 99s were hand fitted. Typically, parts from one rifle will require work to fit another (including stocks and forearms). They are beautiful rifles with lots of machining. Hence, manufacture in today's world of stamped, assembly line rifles has rendered them economically obsolete.

The 99s served as the platform for some whizbang cartridges in the early 20th century like the 22 high power (a hot rod round that introduced the concept of high velocity as a killer vs large bore/heavy bullet), the 250-3000 (the first cartridge to reach 3,000 fps.) and the 300 Savage (still one of the best rounds for deer ever made.)

Savage hyped the effectiveness of the high velocity 22 high power in its ads displaying the picture below of a hunter that killed a tiger with a 22 HP. Unfortunately, others bought the claim and hunted large game with the little rifle and consequently wounded and lost their game. Thus, the 22 hp gained a reputation as an ineffective, game maiming round. It will whack coyotes all day long but is a poor choice for elk or tigers for that matter. :biggrin:

 

if it,s mechanicaly sound , why not, on another post I gave notice I purchased a very nice 99 300 sav, I only have a cromebook and can,t upload photos, so im going to see if my daughter can do it on her computer, any way that gun could be a great woods walking rifle , my father has a 99 in 303, bullets can be hard to get but not impossible , if the price is right remember you only live once !

 

I picked an old 303 savage 99c with lyman peep sight and folding leaves on the barrel.
I have trying different loads with it lead and jacketed.
I have shooting 25, 50 and 100 yards.
I had wanted one for years and finally found one.

 

New 303 Savage brass is available from Privi, and is good brass. Dies from Lee are okay. The Lee crimp die for the 308 Win, also is listed as and works on the 303 Savage. A truelly effective, dedicated 190gr Flat Point 303 Savage bullet is always in stock from Hawk bullets. I do load a lot of 170gr loads for the range, but use the 190gr for hunting in the 303 Sav & 300 SAv. 30-30 load data has transferred over with no issues, when loading the the 190gr load two grains less than max listed for the 170gr.

The 303 Savage here is a 1929 G model and is a great favorite. Have to love all the hand done machine work on those rotary savage 99 receivers.

Below should be a 303 on right and 30-30 on left, and bullets..Rem 170 gr HP, 190 Silvertip and 190 Hawk FP

 

I've been shooting one a few years now. I picked up 99A, I believe, take down with straight grip. the bore is a little rough but it shoots well with jacketed bullets, but will not shoot cast bullets well. I had a hard time finding .30 cal bullets for a long time. It shoots spitzers quite well but it does not feed them well. Sometimes the case mouth will hang up on the mouth of the chamber. I have the same problem with the .25-35. I finally found some 180grain 30 cal round nose and 117 grain .25 cal round nose. Haven't loaded them yet, to hot in the shop!

 

120 years ago it was considered all that was needed.

 

love mine! have fun with yours. I have reloading tables for the 190gr bullets if you need someplace to start (the old lyman and ideal tables have both cast and jacketed loads for the 303.)
mind yer topknot!
windy

 

I have one made in 1913. Cool gun and cool cartridge . I plan on filling a doe permit with it this season. Buy that rifle !

 

Always liked the old Savage rounds, but then I'm old too.

 

I've never owned a rifle in the caliber, but could become a fan really fast if ever picking up a Model 99 in one... :biggrin:
Good luck to you.

 

For a bit of history on the cartridge. It was called the 303 and there was some controversy about it. According to one of my sources, Savage designed it to use 311 bullets and squeeze them through a 308 bore to get higher velocity. I do not remember which but between Remington and Winchester, one loaded 311 bullets and one 308 in their ammo. It is very similar to a 30-30 in power and while the magazine permits the use of spitzer bullets, I have always questioned their effectiveness in cartridges used at this level. Bullets are designed for a velocity range and this might be on the low side. The new LE bullets for the 30-30 may just work very well. Some claimed the 303 designation was also for Canadian trade. It had its followers and those using the 190 grain bullet claimed it would shoot through a moose stem to stern???
When I loaded cast in my 30-30 I thought it would be fun to try and duplicate the 303 Savage 190 load (there were others). I loaded a 188 grain cast bullet (it was the Lee 303 bullet) at very close to 2000 fps. By water dropping the bullets and annealing the nose I was able to get about the best performance I have seen from any bullet. I took a very nice deer with that load at 140 paces from my tree and the deer dropped on it bellly such that I had to roll it over to gut it. The bullet also performed on other deer. One taken through the shoulder went down on the spot and the shoulder while damaged was very salvageable, which I could never say about my 270 and even 150 grain 30-30 jacketed. No the 30-30 was not a 303 Savage but a 188 grain 30 cal bullet driven at about 2000 will perform the same from whatever its shot from. I also used a similar combination, a 208 grain bullet in a 303 British, to take another deer. It also worked very well.

DEP

 

A little more history. The .303 Savage was developed for the 1895 rifle that was put in military trails, but lost out to, if I remember right, the .30-40 Krag. Marlin produced the 1895 rifle for commercial sales until 1899 when Savage started his own company, then it was re-designated as the 1899 rifle.Lock, Stock, and History, The Savage Model 1895 and 1899 Lever Action...

 

If I'm not mistaken,Marlin made some of the early rifles for Savage. I always had a soft spot for Savage, since we both started out in Utica, NY. :biggrin:

 

Shawlerbrook, you are correct. That is what Big Al is referring to in his post above. Marlin produced the Savage 1895s until Arthur Savage set up his own manufacturing capabilities. In effect, my Savages descended from Marlins. Sure wish Marlin made 99s now. But, given the problems they are having producing decent Marlin levers, can you imagine what a "Remilin" or shall we call them "Ravage" 99s would look like. :ahhhhh:

:biggrin: T.S.

 

Actually Savage came close to getting the 99 down before it went bust. The later ones did not have the rotary magazine but used a removable magazine type and had a tang safety. Also they quit the Savage calibers and went to he more popular ones like the 308 and 243. They also had hardwood stocks and 20 inch barrels which may not have helped. there were other carbines out there already. As I shoot left handed I found the trigger guard safety on the 300 Savage I had to be an abomination. Its trigger pull could have been improved also. I made a very pretty shot with it at longer range but traded the rifle off and never looked back.

DEP

 

Yes, the older models (the pre-mils) are the ones valued by collectors. As sales waned, Savage cheapened the 99s to compete and the round counter window, brass spindle and quality build fell to the wayside. That said, even the later 99s are still nice rifles compared to others on the market. I'm pretty sure the removable magazine models and the rotary magazine models were offered contemporaneously to address individual preferences among buyers. I am generally a fan of tang safeties but the location of the tang safety on the 99 is a little to far up for me to engage/disengage without shifting my grip more than I care to if about to make a shot. Nonetheless, I do have a 99c with the tang safety and removable magazine in .308 Winchester. :biggrin:

 

Did/does the .303 use .308 size bullets? My understanding is that there was a switch to the more common diameter at one point. Thanks!

 

Yup, .308 jacketed. Some sources I've read call for a .311 cast bullet.

 

Just saw one for sale in the Tulsa, OK area; -99 Savage rotary mag.

 

99s were introduced with the .243/.308/.358 chamberings pretty early on in the cartridges existance. As I understand it, the steel was improved to hold them.

The 99 triggers were easy to clean up. Remove the butt stock to gain access, I used doubled wet/dry paper of about 600-800 grit to polish trigger and sear at the same time ( keeping things square) by inserting the paper between them and pulling it through while holding light tension with the lever.

i killed a good many deer with both the .243 and the .300 savage. I never figured the deer could tell any difference between a .300 and a .308.

The most spectacular shot that I ever made on running deer was with a .300 wearing a 2.5X Weaver with a Lee dot. The deer was running up a canyon wall. I held where I thought the deer would be when the bullet got there a little over 200 yards away and guessed right. One shot kill from back in the rib cage angling to the heart. I would not want to call that shot and try it again.

 

Putting a thin washer under the trigger return spring on the pre-million rifles (switch to tang safety) is an easy and safe way to drop the trigger pull.

 

If you want to hunt the 303, take a serious look at the Hawk 190gr load below (load #3 can be reloaded in 303 Sav) , it performs right along with some highly favored woods loads.

load/bullet.................FPS ....Penetration....Expansion.... Retained weight (grains)
.............................................inche s................................................. ......................

1). 170 Win PP Fac.....2257.........17...............515............129.....(30-30 Winchester factory)

1A) 170 Rem RNHP....2018.........15................497........ ....119.....(handload)

1B) 170 Speer FP.......2088.........12...............575........ .....159.....(handload)

2). 170 Rem RNHP.. ...2353.........9.5..............535............10 7.....(300 Savage load)

3). 190 Hawk FP ........2010.........12 ...............630...........180.... (30-30 load, no pressure signs)

4). 190 Hawk FP.........2392.........12.25...........540....... .....144.....(300 Savage, massive wound channel)

5). 35 Rem 150 Fac.....2380 ........10 ..............560 ...........121....(Remington factory load, 24 inch barrel)

6). 35 180 Speer FP....2262.........15.25...........490............ 154.....(35 Rem handload)

6A) 35 180 Speer FP...2690..........15...............625........... .119.....(358 Win/35 Whelen)

7). 35 Rem 200 RN.....2050.........12.0............575........... .166....(35 Rem factory load, 24 inch barrel)

 

Here is my 1920 99F take down carbine in .303 Savage. Sweet rifle; if I close my eyes and pull it up, when I open my eyes the sights are perfect. Last week I fired some Super-X 190 Silvertips; they chrono'd at an average 1791fps.