Has the .300 Savage always used .308 caliber bullets, or was the original designation a little less or more ? Thanks for your help.

The 300 Savage has always been .308. The discussion is on the 303 Savage. It seems to have varied by Mfg and period.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Beller:
Has the .300 Savage always used .308 caliber bullets, or was the original designation a little less or more ? Thanks for your help.

Certainly. The .300 Savage was an early attempt to duplicate .30/'06 ballistics in a cartridge short enough to be used in the Model 99 Savage action. When introduced, with a claimed MV of 2700 FPS with 150-grain bullets, it was the equivalent of the M1906 government load that was used in the Springfield during WWI. Later powder improvements allowed improvement in the '06's performance, outstripping the .300 Savage.

If it had had a slightly longer neck, the .300 Savage might have been the new service rifle cartridge after WWII, rather than the .308.

Don't forget that the extracter groove and the area around it are much more robust on the 308 than on the 300 Savage. All the better to extract from over-heated machine gun chambers and not rip the case head off.

Jeff

The .303 Savage originally used .311" bullets. In 1903 or 1904 the diameter was changed to the American standard .30 caliber diamter of .308".
Townsend Whelen used to advise his readers to use the 190 grain Savage bullet in Krag barrels that were a trifle too large