Lawyers in your cartridge box?

I've mused on this subject before, and had commenters say that, no, changing loads published for reloading is not because of lawyers, but I'm not convinced.

I recently acquired a fine Savage 99f, in 300 Savage caliber. Since it's inception in 1920, right after the conclusion of World War One, which convinced everyone that blackpowder cartridges, pressures and ballistics were gone forever, the 300 Savage has remained a popular chambering for North American big game.

As the owner of this fine, pre-war Model 99f, I got interested in the history of the loading of the cartridge, so I got down my own reference materials to look it up. First I looked at Hodgdon's 2012 tables, which, in IMR 4895 (the closest thing I have in powder to the factory loading) shows the "do not exceed" load to be 38.5 grains, which pushes the 180-gr bullet at 2,390, showing a CUP of 45,700, for a Muzzle Energy of 2,283. That seemed a bit low and slow, so I dug deeper.

In my Speer #8 manual, printed in 1970, the DNE load for IMR 4895 is listed at 44.0 grains, and there is no load shown below 40.0 grains! 5.5 grains difference in the DNE loads is a HUGE amount, and that load chronys out at 2,618 fps, a good 228 fps higher than Hodgdon for the same 180-gr bullet. The muzzle energy jumps 456 #/ft, or 19%. Compare this to a near-max load for the .308 Winchester (developed from the 300 Savage) with the 180-gr. Loading W748 powder at 46.5 grains, the .308 Win muzzle velocity achieved is 2,610 at 48,500 CUP. The Speer 300 Savage DNE load beats the .308 Winchester by a few fps, so these loadings were nearly identical 43 years ago.

Going back to 1967, and the Lyman #44 manual, they listed less powder in the max loading, only 40.0 grains of IMR 4895, for a speed of 2427, only 37 fps faster that the modern Hodgdon loading.

My research convinces me that the 300 Savage will do anything the .308 Winchester will do. BTW, I have a Savage 99e in .308, so I am set for a range test. I don't have any factory 180-grain ammo for the .308, always hunted with 150-gr Power Point, but there should be some around if I look hard enough.

There might just be a fine, historical, range comparison of the two cartridges, in the same rifle platform, coming to a blog near you soon!

Comments

[Mike]

I think the Speer #8 was the last manual they published before acquiring more modern electronic chamber pressure equipment.

I call it the "Speer Manual of Proof Loads" ;-)

Check out page 367 for .38 Special loads that come close (if not equal) to .357 Mag. pressures. I've loaded the SR4756 recipe in my .357 and can't tell the difference in recoil between those .38 Special loads and regular .357 factory loads.

I use all of the pressure check methods when developing a new load, but I've found the rim expansion rule the most reliable. [Rule: Measure rim before and after shot. If expansion of rim is .001 or more, back off 6% and call that maximum.]

First deer I ever killed was taken with a Model 99 in .300 Savage left to me by my grandfather. Great gun.

[Gerry Nygaard]

My loading data comes from the 1964 edition #6 Speer Reloading handbook. I look at newer books from time to time, but have always relied on my good old #6 Speer. The new(er) books seem to be mostly CYA, and are inexplicably expensive to boot. So, at my age, and still in possesion of all my fingers, hands, eyes, etc. in spite of relying on data from 1964, I'll stay with the data in the #6 Speer handbook.

Anyone else's mileage may, of course, differ.

I don't have any really modern .308 Win. chambered rifles, just a Ruger #1 and a Chilean M12/61, Both are fine rifles, the Chilean cost less than $75.00 and has a perfect bore. The barrel is a modified 2-Groove Remington M03-A3 barrel the Chilean Gov't. bought from the US army for 80 cents each in the early sixties then rechambered and reconfigured to go into about 10,000 M1912 Steyr made Made Mausers that were shortened to "Short rifle" length having a 23" barrel instead of the old 29 1/3" one in 7x57mm.

A bargain, no? And I have a $75.00 rifle rugged enough to last another 150 or 200 years and is as accurate as I can hold it. A few years back there was an imported lot of several million rounds of Indian .308 ball ammo that got some very detrimental write ups. Due to that I was given 1500 rounds of it. It is some of the most accurate 7.62x51mm ammo I have ever shot, boxer primed to boot. It is good in my Ruger #1 as well. Seems like the mil-spec stuff is loaded down compared to civilian sporting ammo. I've shot up about 500 rds. without a hitch. No way of knowing if it would work well in a semi-auto.

Gerry N.