308MX or 300 Savage?

[Goat]

Well I have it narrowed down but can't seem to make up my mind. I have owned a Marlin308MX and hunted with it a very limited amount before loaning it to my brother who bought it from me. I have never owned or hunted with the 300 savage but have a 99 in 250/3000 Savage that I have hunted with. In the real world I figure there is NO difference in the game getting ability of these two rounds and any argument of one over the other is a waste of time. One thing that did annoy me with the 308MX was the 22" barrel. I know that the two inches really should not matter and that others routinely use up to 26" and have no qualms with the length but I do. I have been looking at some 99 carbines with 20" barrels and they are about an inch different than the 336 with a 20" barrel. The 99s extra length is in the receiver and it just feels different than the 336 with the extra 2" out front. Is there any real reason why I should not pick the Savage instead of a Marlin?
The action of the 99 yields itself to many more bullet choices than the 308MX but once I find a load that shoots well and cleanly kills deer I usually quit looking. The gummy tip load from Hornady seems to be the only load that can take advantadge of the 308MX but there are so many possibilities with the 300 Savage...
Give me some opinions guys. I want to know the good, bad and the ugly of these two rifle/cartridge combinations.
Goat

[Ben_Rumson]

A plus for the Marlin is you can send it back to Marlin for repair...
A plus for the Savage is the balance doesn't change when the magazine is empty or full..

[stew71]

Savage 99 in .300 is an American classic. You can hunt just about anything in North America with it....hogs, deer, bear, elk, caribou, coyote, etc. There are some mighty nice 99's out there just waiting for a new home.

That new Marlin...is well...new. Probably shoots and kills well enough. Granted, it probably reaches out there a bit more than the ol' Savage, but so what? Most game is killed inside of 100 yards and I doubt anything walking around today would know the difference if it was a .300 Savage or .308 Marlin round that just put it in the freezer.

Go with the Savage. Just my two cents.

Regardless of which one you buy, we want some pics!

Happy Trails.

[pshort]

Howdy,
.300 Savage ...............

Paul

[Pisgah]

I would go for the Savage in a heartbeat. Then 10 years from now, if the Marlin .308 is stll around, I'll buy one of those, too, and have two nice rifles.

[iceman]

I vote for the 300 also, really like mine in a 99F featherweight.

[86er]

I have a 300 Savage. I like that I can load everything from light plinking loads to cast bullets to 200gr bullets with established load data. It is can be loaded with a lot of different bullets and powders. Mine likes FP 170 gr bullets intended for 30-30. WIth the right bullet and appropriate range I would feel well armed on any non-dangerous game hunt in the US and most plains game on the Dark Continent. I've seen the 308ME used a few times and it worked but everyone used factory Hornady ammo and the results were no more or less than the 300 Sav would have done. If it were my choice it would be an easy one, the Sav 99 in 300.

[6pt-sika]

I have owned a pair of Savage 99's in 300 Savage and a pair of Marlin's in 308 Marlin Express .

Now I own none of them .

But if I were to get another from the 4 I had it would have to be the 308MX first followed closely by the 308MXLR and my old 1920's Savage 99TD in third ! The other 300 Savage I owned I never liked .

[Buffboy]

If you are shooting factory ammo there's not much difference. If you're rolling your own, 300 savage. You have a huge variety of bullets available for it. You can't quite get the factory performance of the 308MX without their canister powders. That said the 100FPS you'd loose with available powders in the 308MX wouldn't make much difference in the real world but bullet choice is limited. I don't think either is a bad choice, it all comes down to which rifle you like better, the 99 or the 336.

[Ben_Rumson]

Thought of one more thing in the 99s favor but it's for the W/O the tange safety.. Today I was playing with a new to me Lyman Tong tool and had necked sized 20 300 Savage cases.. As I ran them thru the rifle to check them I had to stop a couple of times and both times I closed the bolt on an empty chamber, and hardly thinking about it, I decocked the rifle slipping the trigger & lever to decock it... I'd have either had to leave it open or cocked or put in a snap cap to drop the striker..

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have seen some very nice Savages with engraving,custom wood etc. but have never been able to bring myself to want one. Just cant warm up to them. Butt ugly in my eye. The marlin ,in my eye, IS the lever gun to own and I do.

[Old Savage]

300 Savage hands down.

[BigSky56]

Savage 99 in 300 for big game though I know a few guys that elk and deer hunt with the 99 in 250 savage. danny

[salvo]

[tman]

go with a 99, but in .308wcf. it's ballistically better than the other 2, and ALOT CHEAPER to shoot. the .300 savage is almost obselete as far as finding ammo. the 308 marlin may go the way of the .307. both are excellent rounds, especially in tube feed levers, but nobody bought it. you can find .308's anywhere. it's a NATO cartridge so surplus practice ammo can be used.

[TedH]

I also vote for the 300 Savage. In addition to the reasons already given, it's got the nostalgia too.

[william iorg]

I know better than to get started on threads like this.
I say get the 308 Marlin. If you can find a 99 Savage in 300 Savage that will shoot with the 308MX shooting factory Hornady ammunition you will have found the most accurate Savage Model 99 on the planet.
Don’t take me wrong, I like the Model 99 well enough. I have loaded for and hunted with the 300 Savage but most of my Model 99 experience is with the 358 Winchester.
I have been around quite a few Model 99’s and none would shoot with the 22” 308MX using Hornady factory ammunition.

[stew71]

Oh wow.........simply........wow.......