The 300 Sav. Question
 

Hello all! I am currently trying to prepare for my very first hunting season. So, of course, I'm looking for a rifle, but my budget is somewhat tight. My question is how capable/reliable is the 300 savage round. I have found a Remington Model 722 in the 300. Because I am new to hunting I'm not sure what is what. How would this weapon compare to a 30-06, or other common rifles used for hunting big game (deer). Thank you all for your time-Erik

Welcome to the forum.
The 300 savage is a great deer, hog and black bear cartridge. It's power is about par with 30-40 Krag or .303 british and is more powerful than a .30-30. It's a great choice for a first rifle.

Great rifle and great round. It will do very nicely for deer and for a 1st rifle it will serve you very well. Nice grab! If in good condition your 722 will be fine for a wide array of hunting uses.

I used to have a rem 722 in 300 savage ,worked great on deer .

The 300 savage is a awsome calibor for deer. From what I've read it's perty close to a 308 Winchester. Ammo may be hard to find just anywere but can be found at big name stores like bass pro or cabelas. It's worth the extra effort to keep a old classic still goin. I wouldn't feel outguned with it and it'd make a fine round out to 250 or 300 yards on any deer.

Awsome round for deer. Although considered a "mild" cartridge, this baby will do the trick on whitetails out to 250 yards and beyond, but don't push it too much. I personally wouldn't go past 280-300 yards at most. Great old round though.

Hi Eric and welcome to the forum.

I had a grandfather who fought in both WWI and WW II and he bought one rifle in his whole life and that was around 1936 and that was a Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage.

Back in the day - he called it his High Power.

It was the finest of 1930's technology and probably has killed Millions of deer between 1920 when it came out and today. MILLIONS

The Savage had a reputation for being a real game getter and would do the job on most big game out to a range of about 300 yards with no problem. Even my dad often said about how my Grandfather - on my mothers side of the family - was the first centerfire rifle - other then his fathers Savage bolt action 30-06 that he had ever shot. Many family members also told me the same thing.

I would compare it to a .308 Winchester because for the most part - they have a lot of similarities. They both used the short action which the 722 Remington was designed for and they both used a 150 gr bullet for deer. My grandfather hunted with Silvertips.

I would make sure that the gun was in good condition, I would take it to a gunsmith and make sure that the trigger was updated because there was a issue with that gun that Remington has a free fix for - which allows the bolt to be opened without taking the safety off. I almost shot the family Blazer one year at camp with my dads 721.

I would check the stock for free float. They have been known to be tight on the forearm end and have been known to move around with changes of humidity and temperature - which is not good for a gun that might have been sighted in when it was 60* and then hunted with when it was 0.

My dad fought that condition with his rifle for many years until a representative from Remington showed him what was wrong and what he needed to do to the stock to remedy the situation.

If you're a reloader or know someone that is and have confidence in him, the Rem 722 is an enormously strong action and the .300 Savage can be hand loaded nearly to the same velocity as the .308 Winchester......and in a year or so if you really like the rifle you can have it rechambered to .308 Winchester. You will then have a very powerful deer and elk rifle.....but there's nothing wrong with the .300 Savage "as-is"

The .300 is a great round for deer.

The .300 Savage is ballistically very similar to a .308. If I recall correctly, it was used in the development of the .308. It is frequently confused with the .303 Savage ( a round from more than 100 years ago). The .303 is more like the 30-30.

The 300 Savage was the parent case - for the .308 Winchester.

The .308 Winchester was designed as a machine gun cartridge.

The reason why the .300 Savage was not loaded with a high pressure load was because the factory could not ensure that the older model 300 Savage rifles could handle the higher chamber pressures.

Because the Model 721 / 722 came out in the 1950's, you can bet that the rifle is as strong as a ox and can handle the added pressure with no issues. I would see no reason to ruin a excellent rifle chambered in 300 Savage to change it into a 308 Winchester.

It would be like putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.