Does anyone know if the 300 Savage can be safe in the Contenders. I pick one up at a pawnshop, (15 inch Bullberry Heavy bull,) but have yet to find any info on this caliber in the contender. Any help would do.
Thanks Tony

TonyK: Fred Smith, the owner of Bullberry, once chambered contender barrels in the 300 Savage. To many loaders were trying to hot rod and make them shoot like 308's and stretched the frames on their contenders. .

Anyway yes a 300 Savage can be safely load for in a contender barrel. Pay careful and close attention to your load data. Older style Contender frames are designed for pressures of less than 45,000 psi.

All you loads should be worked up to this standard. The SAAMI pressure standard is 46,000 cup so becareful not to confuse the two.

My other recommendation is you put this barrel on a new T/C G-2 Contender frame. The new style frame appears to be reinforced so to speak and will withstand the high pressure load better.

Otherwise, contact Fred Smith at www.bullberry.com If you want to speak to him personally then call on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Otherwise he is busy making barrels and won't take any calls.

Hope this helps.

7-30 Waters

7-30
Thanks for the info. I've tried to contact Fred, and yes he is a very busy man. I tried a couple times to call him, but the line has been busy, so I e-mailed him last night.

Anyway thanks for the info.
Tony

Tony,

Several years ago Mike Bellm chambered several 30 caliber Contender barrels in what he called the 300 Bellm/Stewart. It uses the 307 Win brass and the 300 Savage dies. I had one that Bellm and I were using for some experimental work on a muzzle brake and I was developing loads for it. By the time we got a useable brake and I was testing the loads, the barrel was 12 1/2" + the brake.

It is true that you do have to be cautious about the breech pressure with that cartridge in the contender. I would advise you use the 307 Win Brass as it is very tough stuff and will withstand pressures a little higher than the savage brass. You would have to form the brass (not a big deal at all) then cut it to the 300 savage length. The loads I developed and tested are as follows. Load-1 307 brass, Hornady #3020, 130 gr. Bullet, CCI-200 Primer, 45.0 Gr. Varget, seat bullet 0.100 off the rifling, velocity= 2370 f/s. Load-2 Win 307 brass, Hornady #3031, 150 gr bullet, CCI-250 primer, 48.0 gr Win 760, seat bullet 0.100 off the rifling, velocity = 2195 f/s. Load-3 Win 307 brass, Hornady #3040 165 gr bullet, CCI 250 primer, 46.0 gr Win 760, seat bullet 0.100 off the rifling, velocity = 2135 f/s.

Hope that is of use to you.

Don Shearer

TonyK,

I forgot to mention I am jealous. When considering what to chamber my first Bullberry barrel in I really wanted a 300 Savage. Unfortunately Fred stopped making them. Please let me know how it shoots.

I have a 15" tapered barrel in 300 savage that Bellm made for me back in 1987. Still shoots uder 3/4-inch at 100 with Hornady 130gr. Spire points.

You just do not want to use factory ammo in the contender, pressure is a little too high.

But with the right loads you can get some impressive numbers.

For my barrel, I can push the 130's at 2500+ using H322 and CCI 350 mag. primers. It really takes the deer down. YOu will enjoy the 300 savage.

Good Shooting,

HBL

Thanks for all the help.
Tony