.303 Savage

Savage produced a half dozen loads for it. Despite the similar names, the.303 Savage and the.303 British cartridge are not interchangeable due to differences in case dimensions and bullet diameter. Despite its name, the.303 Savage uses a.308 in (7.8 mm) diameter bullet, while the.303 British uses a slightly larger.312 in (7.92 mm) bullet and gets its name from having a land diameter of.303 in (7.70 mm). Additionally, the.303 British has a longer case length of 2.222 in (56.44 mm) and a much longer overall cartridge length of 3.075 in (78.11 mm), with a shallower shoulder angle of 17°. While the.303 Savage has a case length of 2.015 in (51.2 mm), an overall cartridge length of 2.520 in (64.0 mm), and a much sharper shoulder angle of 32°.

• Name —.303 Savage • Origin — United States • Type — Rifle • Designer — Savage Arms • Manufacturer — Savage Arms • Production Date — 1895 • Case Type — Rimmed, bottleneck • Bullet —.308 • Neck —.333 • Shoulder —.413 • Base —.442 • Rim Dia —.505 • Rim Thick —.063 • Case Length — 2.015 • Length — 2.520 • Primer — Large rifle • Bw1 — 170 • Btype1 — SP • Vel1 — 2090 • En1 — 1649 • Balsrc —.303 Savage reload data at Hodgdon

Savage Arms created the.303 Savage as part of an unsuccessful attempt at creating a cartridge for the military. Although the cartridge was never popular with the military, it did become a popular round for civilian hunters. Initially designed round-nosed but becoming a pointed-tip rimmed cartridge in early 1900s, it worked well in the Model 99 rifles that Savage produced because of their rotary magazine. It wasn't as successful in other lever-action rifles because only the round-nose loading were safe to use with their tubular magazines. However, the pointed-tip bullets gave it a ballistic advantage over other traditional lever-action cartridges such as the.30-30 Winchester.

The.303 Savage maintains a small community of handloaders. While major ammunition manufacturers have long since halted production, users can procure loaded ammunition and brass cases through smaller manufacturers, such as Norma and Prvi Partizan. Cases can be formed from.30-30 Winchester,.32 Winchester Special, and.38-55 Winchester casings, if no correct brass is available. Great care must be taken as the Winchester brass is about smaller at the base and case failure is possible. Loads respond well to traditional loads in the same range as the.30-30 or.30 Remington. However, the slightly larger case volume, and stronger rifle action allow for loads that improve significantly over standard loads for the.30-30. It is quite possible to put 190 grain flat points at 1,905 fps as well as 160 grain FTX bullets at 2060 fps, even from featherweight barrels.