Quote:
Originally Posted by 303carbine
Slug your bore to see what diameter you have, some of the older 303 Savages were actually .311 diameter, later versions were .308 diameter.
If you have one that has a .311 bore, you can shoot bullets designed for the 303 British, they have .311 and .312 diameter bullets.
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The 303 Savage was never made with any bore other than .308. Some ammo makers loaded slightly over sized cast bullets bullets to get a good bore seal with the soft lead bullets but no jacketed bullet over .308 should be used in one.
The 303 Savage has slightly better ballistics than the 30-30 but primarily because you can use pointed bullets in the Savage rotary magazine. For best performance stick to 130-150 grain SP Interlock or other thin skinned cup and core bullets. The relatively low velocity of this cartridge, about 2400 FPS with a 150 grain but only about 2000 with a 170, is not well suited to Mono bullets unless you can find a spire point specifically designed for lower velocities. There are lots of loads for it using a wide variety of powders, check Lyman, old Speer and Sierra books, old Hornady too. Basically 30-30 loads are a very good starting point.
You can buy 303 Savage Brass from Privi and a few other specialty makers but it can be really hard to find. Rusty Wood and Tradex were the last two places I got some. If you have to you can form 303 brass from 30-30, 32 Special and 38-55 brass. The web area of the 303 brass is larger so you may lose a few fire forming with light loads of Trail Boss. The Savage 99 is a fairly strong action but it is still a lever. Locking one up from loading too heavy is a REALLY bad idea. Back off as soon as any signs of pressure appear.