what do you guys think of the 300 savage for a short to mid range deer gun.It would be use here in the brush country of sw washington to poke holes in blacktail deer and maybe a bear if the oppertunity arises.I dont reload so I would use store bought

It would work good out to 200 yards plus. The 300 Savage licks at the heals of the 308 Winchester in performance.

Here is a neat old box of cartridges.

That is very cool brother! I love the old cartidges. The 300 Savage is an under appreciated round. I agree w/Tigger. Mr. Ken Waters often wrote he felt it was THE whitetail round. My buddy still uses his Mod 99 take down when the urge to carry a rifle strikes him. His grandfather used it on moose in Maine. If you ever do reload it the neck is a bit short.

I have one from MGM. It is a 13 inch tube. It is my heavy bullet .30 cal barrel as it likes the 165 better than the 125-150 weights. Recoil is moderate and it is handy at that length.

I have been a 300 Savage junkie for a loooong time and have had several other barrels on the contender platform,,but the performance suffers in the contender,,not so in the Encore. I think it really is as good as the 308 in short barrels. I know that deer can't tell the difference.

My best buck was downed in Georgia with my old 722 Remmy in 300 Savage...DRT.

Should you decided to wander in the direction of a .300 Savage in the Encore..holler at me as I have a good deal of data.

lonerider

I've used the .300 Savage in a 15" Bullberry Contender w/4X Leupold for ~15 years, it is a great deer cartridge. My hunting buddy and I each have one, and we shot several dozen Kodiak Island blacktails with them. Our longest shots were around 250 yards but most were between 100-150.

We used the Nosler 150 BTip exclusively, velocities were around 2400 fps. Remington 150-grain factory ammo chronographed at 2352 fps in my 15" barrel, plenty for deer out to 200 yards. It was pretty accurate too, about 1.5 moa. Since you don't handload, this would be a good load to use.


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how is the recoil conpared to 30/30 win.I alittle shy to admit it but iam recoil sensitve and dont enjoy alot of recoil just isnt fun if it hurts.

I have a Model 99R in .300 Savage. My absolute favorite Whitetail round. As for the recoil, the .300 has a stouter kick than the .30-30 but should still be manageable in the Encore. It's about like shooting the .308.
Mike

I think you will enjoy the Savage. More than capable for deer and unique cartridge too. I shot the 30-06 in an Encore quite a bit and felt the recoil was very manageable so the Savage should be even more so. The Encore's weight helps alot.

Hold on guys - if the poster says he is recoil sensitive, we should not dismiss his concern just because recoil does not bother us. If the .30-30 is uncomfortable for him, then the .300 will be worse - he will NOT enjoy it. If he handloaded he could use lighter bullets - but since he does not, he may be better off with a different cartridge. The 7-30 Waters has less recoil but is an excellent hunting cartridge. He could use a brake on the .300, but that means more noise and more cost. Let's not do a disservice to a fellow poster, remember his needs, not ours.


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Depends on what you've shot before. If it was a 30/30 in a pistol length barrel, what length barrel (10" will have a little more recoil than a 14" barrel)? If that was too much recoil than a 300 savge will have more recoil in the same length barrel. Also depends on powder charge, more powder = more velocity= more recoil. If the 30/30 was uncomfortable the 300 savage will be slightly more so. Might consider the 30 herret, or same caliber as 30/30 but burns less powder(that one requires handloading though). Also consider 250 savage.
shawn

Thanks guys I think I will go with a custom barrel shop 30/30 in 14 inch and shoot it until Iam cumfortable and then move up I dont want to get twichy from to much recoil.So thanks alot guys

You may just find that the 14" .30-30 suits your purposes so well that you have no need to move up to a heavier recoiling barrel. I have a Contender Super 14 in .30-30 that I use for U.P. Whitetails and with 125 or 150 grain ballistic tips it is all the gun I need. As a bonus it is easy to reload for and is a great cast shooter.

Mike

I was told by Bulberry that the 250 Savage can't be chambered on a Contender because of rearward "thrust" caused by the pressure. I took their word for it & just got a 44mag. This was about 9 years ago though. Do you have one Shawn?