The 303 Savage was—and is—a fine cartridge, one worthy of being rejuvenated.
History records that the very first big-game animal to fall to the 303 Savage was a whitetail doe, in upstate New York, in the fall of 1893. The hunter was Arthur W. Savage, the inventor of both the cartridge and the rifle in which it was chambered: the Savage Model 1895. The shot may not have been heard around the world, but it certainly reverberated through the American firearms industry, and the echoes persist to this day.
Savage’s somewhat messy dispatching of the doe (it took three shots) was more than simply the christening of a new rifle and cartridge. It was also the opening shot in what would develop into a war of words lasting more than 20 years. It also heralded the dawn of a new age of advertising and promotion heretofore unknown in the gun business, applying the proven (if dubious) techniques of P.T. Barnum and Buffalo Bill.
Arguments have raged ever since as to whether the 303 Savage was the first commercial American smokeless big-game cartridge, or whether that honor belonged to Winchester’s 30-30 (30 WCF). Because the 30-30 appeared in the Winchester Model 1894, and the 303 in the Savage 1895, most writers give the nod to the 30-30. Either way, it was the beginning of a long rivalry.
The Savage Model 1895 evolved into the Model 1899, and Savage set out to convince American hunters of the worth of both rifle and cartridge by sending hunters around the globe to kill anything and everything and then celebrating their exploits in song, story, and lurid magazine ads. Writer Jim Foral studied original publications from that era and described them in an article in Gun Digest #57 (2003), and anyone interested in the history of snake oil needs to read it. Another writer who carried out extensive research into the early ballistics, loads, and data for the 303 Savage is Mike Nesbitt, whose article appeared in Handloader in May 1985.
At the time, both the 30-30 and the 303 Savage were considered small-bore, high-velocity cartridges. There was considerable skepticism about their effectiveness on game, and Savage realized this would take some selling. Within months, with Savage’s backing, reports began to come in about its phenomenal performance. One well-known outdoorsman/writer dropped a “record” elk in Colorado, then took the rifle to Alaska and collected bull moose, Dall sheep, grizzlies, and anything else that crossed his path. A hunter in Africa killed elephant, hippo, and lion. At least one tiger in India dropped to a 303 Savage, and in one verified instance, an Alaskan used one to kill a whale.
Not only was it deadly at close range, so the reports went, it was also a long-range threat, with a pronghorn falling at “480 paces” from the muzzle. Savage trumpeted all these accomplishments in its advertising, with one ad stating the 303 was good for everything from “grizzlies to grouse.”
Obviously, a grizzly and a grouse require quite different loads and projectiles, and 303 Savage ammunition was offered in an astonishing array. There were bullet weights ranging from 100 to 200 grains, in both softnose and “full-patch” variety, as well as the “wire-wound” bullets that enjoyed a brief popularity. Although it was designed and touted as a smokeless cartridge, Savage offered ammunition loaded with black powder for the diehards. There was even a load with a 185-grain paper-patched lead bullet for use in Schützen matches. Arthur Savage believed his 303 could do anything and everything, and the company promoted it as such. One intriguing variation was known as “303 Miniature.” This ammunition was loaded with 100-grain bullets at modest velocities, intended for small game, plinking, or finishing shots on big game.
Initially, ammunition was made for Savage by the Union Metallic Cartridge Co. (UMC), and eventually other ammunition manufacturers joined in. This gave rise to one of the enduring problems of the 303 Savage, which is confusion over its actual bullet diameter. Some reports said they were originally made with 0.311-inch bores and gradually changed over to 0.308 inch; others that the bores were 0.308, but the bullets measured 0.311. There was a school of thought at the time—soundly based, as a matter of fact—that using an oversize jacketed bullet would result in higher velocities and greater accuracy. This naturally resulted in higher pressures, but since the Savage 99 action is very strong, it presented no problems.
Some ammunition makers did use 0.311 bullets, others 0.308 bullets, and some in between. In Complete Guide to Handloading (1948), Philip Sharpe includes an appendix showing actual measured diameters of factory bullets. Remington and Savage were both 0.311, Peters was 0.3084, and others were in between. At the beginning, when few if any hunters were reloading their ammunition, this didn’t matter. For today’s handloader, it does.
Nesbitt has researched this question as much as anyone, and he believes that the 303 Savage, in spite of its name, was always intended to be a .30-caliber cartridge. In fact, some early (1895) rifles were marked 30 Savage, and this in turn led to more confusion when Savage began offering the Model 1899 in 30-30. According to Nesbitt, the early “30 Savage” rifles were, in fact, 303 Savages, and 30-30s made by Savage are always correctly marked.
In 1906, Winchester added the third member of what came to be known as the “30-30 class” cartridges: the 32 Winchester Special. It was the 30-30 necked up to .32 caliber to satisfy lovers of that traditional bore, and it used a bullet with a diameter of about 0.321 inch. Ballistically, it was the twin of the 30-30 and, campfire fistfights notwithstanding, mirrored the 30-30 in accuracy, killing power, and every other category.
Of the three, only the 303 Savage offered anything distinctly different ballistically. It came to be known for its 190-grain load—the other two settled on 170 grains—and this gave it a reputation for great penetration on larger animals like moose and the big bears. The 303 Savage developed a devoted following in Canada, where moose and bears were prevalent, and the Canadian ammunition company Dominion Cartridge (C-I-L) continued to make 303 Savage ammunition for a decade after American companies discontinued it. As recently as 2004, when some original Dominion 303 Savage ammunition surfaced, gun dealers auctioned it off, and it brought up to C$150/box from moose hunters whose old 99s had run dry. The way they looked at it, a box of 20 was 20 years’ worth of hunting ammunition, and well worth the price.
Handloading the 303
Although there is a wide variety of bullets that can be used, not all are really suitable. Almost all of the original factory loadings, both practical and fanciful, can be replicated. Of these, the ones I like the best were a couple with very light (100- and 110-grain) bullets, a 130-grain flatnose, a couple of 150-grainers, and—best of all—the Barnes 190-grain flatnose “Original.” Ostensibly intended for the 30-30, the Barnes 190-grain bullet allows a handloader to duplicate and exceed the load for which the 303 Savage was renowned.
The bullet question with the 303 Savage is easily resolved; the brass question is not. Although it closely resembles the 30-30 and 32 WS, and has the same size rim, the base of the 303 Savage is slightly greater in diameter, which means it cannot be easily fashioned from any existing case. By 2004, brass had become scarce. The only stuff available was from Bertram, which I tried with poor results. Seven cases out of 10 split on first firing. I prevailed on A-Square to produce a small run, which they did as an experiment. It disappeared quickly, but then so did A-Square. Jamison Industries produced some before going under. That brass, too, was snatched up. Finally, Huntington Die Specialties commissioned a run of brass from Norma of Sweden; it is top quality and still available at a reasonable price.
Since no rifles except the Savage 1895 and 1899 were ever chambered for it, you might ask how much demand there is. In a production life of about a century, Savage produced more than a million 99s in all calibers, of which probably 150,000 were 303s. If even half of those are still in use, that constitutes a pretty fair demand, since handloading is the only way to keep them shooting.
I will add that Buffalo Arms offers 303 Savage brass from Prvi Partizan, as well as some made in the past from reformed 30-40 Krag. This is important to note because, given the wide range of brass available, there could be significant differences in case capacity, with the resulting impact on pressures. Combined with the question of bullet diameter, there is serious potential for such undesirable events as blown primers and case separations.
Kurt Schuttenbergkurt, who is both an engineer and a 303 Savage aficionado, has found that differences in rim thickness can lead to problems with case stretching and suggests seating bullets far enough out to touch the rifling, which will hold the case head against the bolt. After first firing, simple neck sizing will suffice. As long as you keep pressures down, there should be no problem with chambering or extraction, since the 303 Savage has a pronounced taper. If loading for two different rifles, however, it’s a good idea to segregate the cases.
When it comes to bullets, there is obviously a wide range available if you think of it as 0.308 rather than 0.311, of which there are relatively few. Incidentally, the bullet-diameter question creates a problem for makers of loading dies. Robin Sharpless at Redding advised me that the company normally supplies 0.308 neck expanders but can provide 0.311 expanders on request. He says this only arises with the Model 1895. Anyone acquiring any rifle in 303 Savage is advised to slug the bore and proceed accordingly. Similarly, however, if buying a set of used dies, it’s important to check the size of the expander.
Two factors dictate the best load for the 303 Savage. First is the magazine. Because it’s a rotary magazine rather than tubular, like the Winchester ’94, it’s possible to use Spitzer bullets. Unfortunately, the length of the magazine box limits maximum overall cartridge length to only 2.52 inches, precluding the use of heavier Spitzer bullets unless you are willing to use the rifle as a single shot. Even a 125-grain Spitzer needs to be seated so deeply that the mouth of the case extends out over the curve of the ogive. This is an aesthetic problem; a practical problem is that seating the bullets deeply seriously cuts into powder capacity, thereby limiting velocity.
The second factor to consider is barrel length. Standard lengths ranged from 20 to 26 inches, with both longer and shorter barrels available on special order. A rule of thumb is this: In longer barrels, heavier bullets and slower powders deliver good results, while shorter barrels prefer lighter bullets and faster powders.
All of the data included in this article was produced using Norma brass. Therefore, if you are using any other brand, proceed with caution until you get a feel for how much it will take without telltale pressure signs. None of the loads given here displayed either adverse pressure signs or indications of case stretching, but all were worked up with great caution.
Other than Hodgdon’s data, the most recent loading data I can find is in the Lyman Reloading Handbook, 45th Edition (1969), in the “Obsolete Cartridges” section. All is still good, but of course, it uses only powders available 50 years ago. What I have tried to do is give a variety of good loads using newer powders. In one instance (IMR 4320), I have included an older load that was the heaviest recommended in 1969 in order to have a comparison.
Older powders still available recommended for the 303 Savage with jacketed bullets are IMR 3031, IMR 4064, IMR 4320, and Hodgdon 4895. The IMR 4320 load of 36.0 grains with a 190-grain bullet is listed as “maximum” in all the old manuals, with a muzzle velocity of 2,145 fps. It is an excellent load.
Several new powders offer potential with this cartridge. These include IMR 4166, CFE 223, IMR 8208 XBR, and Hodgdon LEVERevolution (LVR). H4895, one of my all-time favorite powders, is still useful because it can be reduced substantially and still give a perfectly safe small-game or plinking load with a variety of bullet weights.
Which brings me to the starting point. One has to start somewhere, and mine was the published loads for these powders in the 30-30, with comparable bullet weights. I tried the Powley Computer, but it advised a load of 4064 that I considered imprudent. There were enough “ifs” in the calculations already. Backing off 10 percent from starting loads, combined with the 303 Savage case’s greater capacity, resulted in low velocities, inadequate gas seals, and sometimes wild extreme spreads. But they got me started.
The loads listed in the accompanying chart are all well within safe limits based on observations in my rifle. If I were trying them in a different rifle, I would back off 5 percent with all of them to be on the safe side.
It seemed to me that Hodgdon LVR offered the greatest potential in the Savage 99, which is, after all, a lever rifle. The maximum load given for the 30-30 with a 170-grain bullet is 36.3 grains, and that’s compressed. In the 303 Savage, I did not reach a compressed load until well beyond that. Proceeding with my usual excessive (not to say fearful) caution, LVR gave me the best results in three different bullet weights, including the all-important 190-grainer.
A load of 42.0 grains of LVR fills the Norma 303 Savage case to within 0.20 inch of the mouth, and this is compressed quite comfortably with 130- and 150-grain bullets.
My rifle seems particularly fond of three loads: the 130-grain FN at about 2,600 fps, the 150-grain bullet at almost 2,500 fps, and the 190-grainer at 2,250 fps. As you can see, this gives great versatility and a wide range of uses for a cartridge that, after its brief blaze of glory, was consigned to the scrap heap almost a century ago, displaced by its hot-shot stablemates: the 250-3000 and the 300 Savage.
Today, Savage Model 99s chambered for the 303 Savage tend to be underpriced, partly for practical reasons of obtaining ammunition and partly because of the cartridge’s perceived ballistic shortcomings. Although many show the scars of a century of hard use, others have been carefully cared for and are in remarkably good condition. It may take a little effort to get them shooting again, but it’s well worth it. The 303 Savage is more than “just another 30-30.”
The 303 Savage is more than “just another 30-30.”
Load Data Chart
