Has anyone used a 300 savage on leopards or in Africa ?

I have no idea of the caliber. I was talking to someone whose grandfather and mine were friends. This gentleman (the grandfather) was a serious hunter and had shot 72 leopards and 2 tigers.

I asked the grandson about the gun and he had no idea. He went and dug out a box with old papers and there were a few spent cartridges. I looked at the brass and it was 300 savage - a strange round for India. Gun was used 1930/40-1966 for hunting.

Thanks,

Mike

At one time the .300 Savage was held in high regard for it's killing ability. Fast follow up shots and accurate, basically the same effect as a .308 Win but long before the .308 was dreamed up.
It was a very successful Deer rifle and many used it on Elk Moose and Bears with great success.
Savage produced what were considered ultra modern rifles and cartridges when they were in their heyday (1900 through the 1950's)
I remember seeing an article in an old hunting magazine at my great grandparents house of a guy hunting Grizzlies and Polar Bear with a 300 Savage, I think some Moose, Musk ox and seals were shown too.
Worst choices have been made for Tiger or Leopards than the 300 Savage.

Mike,

I have one and after using it in RSA I'm seriously considering using it for moose in Newfoundland this year. It is on par ballistics wise with the 30-40 Krag and 303 British both of which have killed millions of animals. I expect with any cup and core bullet it would have worked nicely on leopard and with careful application tiger also.

Mark

The 300 Savage is more than enough for leopard!

The shooting of cats is more WHERE you put the bullet, than how big the bullet is or how fast it is traveling!

Wound him with anything and your in for a real dangerous follow-up, place the bullet properly and it is dead at the bottom of the tree.

Just like 303 Savage, 30 caliber plenty of umpf for about anything as long as one stays within hunting distance ( magnums need not apply )

Good article in African Hunter, Vol 15, No 1 on the .300 Savage. I didn't know before I read it but the calibre was also in the running as the NATO round but lost out to the 7.62x51/.308.

Will the round do the job? Yes.

While I have not killed a leopard. I own a German made BBC that spent most of its life as the only firearm on a farm somewhere in what is now Tanzania, I believe
According to the original owner's nephew, the old farmer kepy meticulous records. The 8x57r barrel has accounted for forty leopards. I wish I had the old fellows diariesand stories, but I at least have the gun.
To the original question, the 300 and the 8x57r are at about the same power level and capability class.
Bfy

I once killed a mountain lion in a cave in Arizona with a .22 Magnum Ruger revolver, so I'm sure the 300 savage would do fine.
When I was a kid growing up in south Texas you had arrived if you owned a 300 or 250/3000 Savage 99.

Savage 99 in .300 Savage would be a good choice for leopard with hounds.

Like I have said many a time...I would gladly shoot a leopard with my .22-250 with 60 gr Nosler partitions.

A 300 Savage loaded with 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips would kill any leopard deader than Hillary Clintons sex life!

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
A 300 Savage loaded with 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips would kill any leopard deader than Hillary Clintons sex life!

In her lifetime, Janet Reno would disagree with that statement.
Cal

Any 300. with the right bullets is more than adequate for Leopard.

Bullet construction is all important.

I grew up in an elk camp, ranching family and One uncle had a 300 Savage, and took a lot of flack about his big ole gun that ruined meat, kicked like a mule, and just wasn't needed, but when you heard his rifle crack, you knew he had an elk. Dad, myself, brother, cousins and uncles all used 25-35s, 30-30, and another Uncle used another magnum of the day a Win. 95 in 30-40 Krag, that was the typical elk camp armory of the day. Im 82 so that was 70 years ago up unto abou 1954 when I left home. I was and still am the only real gun nut in the family.

The 300 Savage back then was was the 30-06 of today, and it walks on the heels of a .308 just like the 308 walks on the heels of a 30-06..

It would be an excellent Leopard gun with 150 or 180 gr. bullets in WW Power Point or Rem corelokt, or a 150 gr. Nosler...

I've measured the actual capacity of fired .300 Savage cases and in some instances they exceed the capacity of military .308 brass. I mention this only to illustrate that, loaded to the same pressures, the .300 Savage and .308 are essentially equals.

Ergo: If a .308 is adequate for a particular species of game then it would follow that the .300 Savage is equally so.

I have several old Savage model 99s in my collecton. The .300 is a bit less powerful than is the .308 Winchester. The .303 is roughly equivalent to the old .30-30, but the prefered load for it was a heavier 190 grain bullet. The .250(/3000) Savage is a wonderful whitetail deer rifle, just a bit less powerful than the .257 Roberts. From left to right: .250 Savage with 100 grain Sierra Game King boattail; .300 Savage with 180 grain Hornady Interbond; and .303 Savage with 190 grain Hawk bullet.

The 300 Savage has always been measured by Sav. 99 Lever action standards, and that is on average 2 grs. less than max loads in the books, and as a rule its compared to bolt action book loads, bit time difference in the real world of shooting..

I have chronograph both the .308 and the 300 Savage in Remington bolt action rifles. The difference in full max loads was 106 GPS on average..The same with both in a Savage 99 it came out 126 FPS on average with max loads.

The 300 Savage to the .308 is the difference ina 308 and a 30-06...

Whats the verdict?, Damn near all "std. unbelted cases" are real close to equal in the real world of killing effect on game..Im not talking the exceptions of big bores, belted cases etc.
For lack of a better description I referring to 30-06 base cases I guess..You know what I mean, and if you don't, it makes little difference anyway!

Seventy two leopards! Now, those were the days.