OK fellas...help me out here. What are your thoughts on the .300 Savage vs the .308 Winchester in a 14" or 15" barrel. I'm going to have a barrel made for my Striker and am trying to decide what to get.
The .300 Savage would be chosen more for the "neat" factor. I just think that would be cool...a Striker .300 Savage.

The .308 Winchester would be just because I have the dies, brass, and other goods to go with it.

How much of a performance advantage would be had with the higher capacity .308 vs .300?? Or would the .300 do better in the shorter barrel than the .308?? I'm a shooter that leans more towards efficiency than over capacity. I'll be shooting mostly 130 and 150gr bullets on target and deer. I would also hope this would be a super accurate deer rig to 300 or so yards. Is the .300 Savage as inherently accurate as the .308 Winchester??

Looking forward to reading your input.....Thanks.

Dan B.

So happens I used to chamber a lot of Contender barrels for .300 Savage, and the factory 150 gr. loads produced about 2350 fps. to 2400 fps. in 14" barrels.

In the same effective barrel length in an Encore just a few days ago, Remington factory 150 gr. .308 Win. ammo averaged about 2500 fps, but showed extreme variations in velocity. It appeared to "want" to shoot about 2600 fps, and feedback from others indicated about 2600 to 2650 fps should be expected.

The same barrel, btw, rechambered to .300 Win. Mag. chronographed Rem. factory 150s at 2850 fps. With the factory Muzzle Tamer brake, .300 Win. Mag. is actually a bit more pleasant to shoot than the .308 Win.

.300 Savage is about a 46,000 psi round as factory loaded, but can be loaded hotter.... hot enough to pretty closely equal the higher pressure .308 Win.

In terms of accuracy, it is largely in how the barrel is chambered. If throated right, most anything is inherently accurate. The problem is the fact that 1) most throat sections on reamers are too large in diameter and 2) most 'smiths use reamers with the throat section on the reamer that also cuts the body of the chamber and tends to make the throat both off center and larger in diameter than the reamer measures.

Throat both of them equally, and correctly, and I doubt you would find any difference in accuracy potential, but if there were any,in a handgun it would probably be in favor of the .300 Savage using somewhat faster powders than required to keep the loading density up in the .308 Win.

Either is a good choice in a handgun.

Mike

hmmm? a .300 savage striker. would be different and definately cool
.308 would be the cheaper route with your dies and stuff already good to go. lots of cheap brass and .308 ammo to shoot. BUT! a .300 savage striker has sex appeal. hmmm? well maybe just regular appeal.

Here ya go Dan. I looked up the loading data I had stored away on the .300 Savage. Keep in mind that this data was derived using 14" Contender Barrels, so maybe in a Bolt Gun you can squeak a little more out of it.

Here is the data sent to me by Don Bower many years ago or so. The barrel used was a Super 14 T/C Barrel with the 6 Land & Groove, 1 in 14" Twist Rifle that had been rechambered.

110gr. Hornady Spire Point 43.0grs.IMR-3031 = 2860FPS

125gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip 42.5grs. IMR-4895 = 2625 FPS

150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip 40.2grs. IMR-4895 = 2415 FPS

165gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip 38.0grs. IMR-4064 = 2230 FPS

Here is the data I copied from a magazine article written by Layne Simpson many years ago. I believe that the barrel used was a 14" Bellm Barrel but would have to dig out the magazine article to make sure.

130gr. Bullet (no make listed) 43.0grs. H-4895 = 2517 FPS

135gr. Sierra SSP 43.0grs. H-4895 = 2488 FPS

150gr. Hornady Spire Point 42.0grs. IMR-4064 = 2414 FPS

170gr. Hornady Flat Nose 39.0grs. IMR-4064 = 2202 FPS

That is the data I have on hand for the .300 Savage. I am sure there is more available, just that I have not found it. As for the .308 Winchester Data for Handguns there is quite a bit available as you already know.

I personally always wanted a .300 Savage Contender Barrel. JD Jones used to write "for the person wanting high performance in a Contender using Factory Ammo the .300 Savage was a good choice" for what it is worth.

Good luck

Larry

Just my not so humble opinion...

.300 Savage = 6
.308 Win = half dozen

.300 Savage = heads
.308 Win = tails

Who wins? You flip the coin...

I have a 15" tapered barrel in 300 savage Mike made me sometime around 1986. Is that right?

This is one of my favorite barrels. I now use 308 brass trimmed to 300savage specs. Rarely have to trim and have gone through around 7 loadings with the brass.

My powder of choice is H322 with the Hornady 130gr SP using CCI 350mag primers, and chronographs right at 2500fps.

This load is the only one I shoot now and I have yet for a deer to take one step after being hit behind the shoulder.

Accuracy of this load has been very good with most groups averaging under 3/4-inch at 100yds.

Just my .02 and choice,

Good shooting!

HBL

[ 04-25-2003, 00:55: Message edited by: HBL ]

Dan, the 300 Savage brass can be hard to find at times. But in my humble opinion the 308 would be the way to go, as there is a lot of load data around for it and good brass (Lapua) just to name one. Dies are another consideration with the bushing dies and collet dies. If ya want the neat factor, why not a 308AI?
Yes you could use the 308 brass to make the 300 Savage, but why?

All in all, I don't think there would be a nickles worth of difference in either when ya get right down to it.
Jeff

My first centerfire rifle was a Mauser 98 rebarreled to 300 savage that my brother bought for 25 bucks and later gave to me when I was 12yrs old.

Brings a tear to my eye when I see someone think about this wonderful little 30 cal. I see remington is going to make a run of the 700 classic in this round and I think I'll have to have one just for sentimental reasons.

The 300 savage would be what I'd tell you to get but I'm prejudice.

jsh,

Just to clarify my uses. I now use the 308 brass trimmed down to 300 savage due largely to a buddy of mine giving me once fired Federal and Remington 308 brass. Approximately 1000 brass. 300 savage brass is more costly, so I improvised and it works well. 300 savage brass is a lot lighter brass than the 308, thus less stretching of the brass when fired due to the lower pressures you deal with in the TC. I usually had to trim the savage brass after two firings, but have yet the need to trim the 308 after 5-7 firings. Stronger brass, longer case life for what I use and load.

That's the beauty of all the choices and options with the various cartridges.

Good shooting,

HBL

HBL, not knocking you using the 308 brass, sounds like the price is right . I have the same situation with 30-30 brass here, got almost a 5 gallon bucket full now .

That's the beauty of all the choices and options with the various cartridges. I agree 110%.
Jeff

Memory can be ???? but it seems to me that the barrel Layne Simpson wrote up was a 20," but the velocities quoted do not sound right at all for a 20."

As I may have stated above, the reason I backed away from .300 Savage was chronic marginal extraction shooting factory rounds. I ended up with a number of .300 Savage reamers thinking that one would give a chamber that extracted factor cases reliably..... no such luck, and no matter how I polished chambers, it was always touch and go. Some worked fine, but most were more borderline than I like.

.308 Win. is not a lot thicker, but it is enough thicker to work better as HBL noted.

I still have a factory .30 Herrett barrel hanging on the shop wall that I want to chamber to .300 Savage Imp. to see if the slight increase in chamber volume and the somewhat straighter chamber will drop pressures just enough and permit reliable extraction. If so, it will be a viable way for an individual to go down to Wally World and walk out with factory ammo that will duplicate .308 Bellm & .309 JDJ type wildcat performance.

This would not help the reloader, since custom dies enter the picture again..... but..... down the line I want to have a run of .308 Win. Imp. dies made, which I can then also shorten for .300 Savage Imp. or back off a bit and use for .30 Bower Alaskan.

Just having fun and getting paid to do it.

Mike

Gotta underscore what HBL said about the Hornady 130 gr. bullet for deer. For all the years working with Contenders, this bullet has been a mainstay for deer.

Do note though that the 130 gr. rifle bullet has a thicker jacket at the nose and does not have the Inter-Lock feature like the Single Shot Pistol bullet does (No. 3021 I believe). For handgun use especially, the Single Shot Pistol bullet is the one to use and gives better expansion.

Mike

Morning Mike. The article in which I obtained the data from for the barrel in question listed it as a 14" Barrel (at least that is what my notes show). I can dig up the article if you want me to to be sure.

Larry

The reason it stuck in my mind was that Simpson did not get very good accuracy from the barrel in question compared to what most everyone else was getting..... that is one of the first points where I lost confidence in Simpson, which he has firmly clinched a number of times since then that did not even pertain to me.

My guess is that the article in question was by someone other than Simpson. No biggy, but it might be interesting to find out.

Blaine Eddy, posting here on AR, has shot a lot of the barrels I made back in the 80s and can vouche for them. As good as they were, I assure you I have learned a WHOLE lot about barrels since the 80s!

Thank you, Thompson/Center, for making barrels with so many internal problems. Learning how to overcome your messes was the best education I could have gotten anywhere! You have taught me more about how NOT to make barrels than even P.O. Ackley taught me about HOW TO make barrels.

Mike

FWIW MIke, That 15" tapered hunter in 300 savage you made for me, still looks like new, even after all the shooting and hunting I have put it through.

I am still amazed every time I take it to the range or hunting, just how accurate it is. My dad said he can't group like that with his in the model 99 savage, and is amazed at the distance I take down varmints with my pistols.

Although, you know what my favorite chambering still is............6mm X 223

Take care,

Thanks for the good words, HBL.

That is best part about what I do.... making something someone gets so much enjoyment from for so many years. You have had the .300 Savage barrel for well over 10 years, right? Closer to 15?

Keep up the good work with the barrels!

Mike

It was either in 86 or 87 when I got that barrel from you. I'm not exactly sure. I hope I'm not getting a visit from some of my relatives best friend....Al Heimer, as my elderly uncle calls him.

I'll have to try out the SSP 130 grainers you mentioned. All I have ever put through this barrel are the 130 Hornadys. It really lays the whitetails down in a hurry and is super accurate.

Take Care,

Hal