Finally shooting -- the 99 Savage in 35 Remington

[earlmck]

A few weeks ago I made the interesting discovery that the old Savage 99 I had bought at an estate auction some years back and stuck in the closet (I had no 303 Savage loading stuff, and there was no rear sight on the rifle) was not a 303 Savage but had been rebored/rechambered to 35 Remington. Yep, still marked "Savage 303". I made a post here somewhere about that deal...

Sav30335rifle.jpg

So last week I took delivery on this neat old Lyman sight I'd found on gunbroker, and mounted her on the rifle. Then the wind proceeded to blow out of the south and southwest at 25 mph with "gusts to 50" as the weatherman said. So I hunkered down 'cause my shooting range faces east and that much south wind is a real impediment to shooting a group. Yesterday was perfect but I had promised to take a couple grandkids on a hike. Now "Old Savage" would post a "cuties" picture here and I am going to emulate him. And here she is: 7 1/2 year old "fashion plate" and a hiking fool

Kacey1018.jpg

Oh yeah -- the rifle:

Sav30335atchrono.jpg

Today wasn't quite as perfect as yesterday but our little 10 knot breeze was out of the east, so not too bad. First thing I discovered (and anybody that is thinking of making a 35 Remington out of their 303 Savage needs to know this little quirk) is that cartridges that are much shorter than the normal will slide forward in the magazine under recoil and JAM. That's because the 303 Savage cartridge that the magazine is designed for is a lot skinnier in the shoulder area than the 35 Remington so you need to keep these fat fellows all the way to the back of the bus. Normal length cartridges (about 2.51 to 2.53") work just fine.

And the shooting? Well, they went "bang" and made round holes. I was using loads worked up for other 35 Remingtons I have, so all these loads have at least one rifle that likes them quite well. Groups were mostly mediocre. Velocities ran 100 to 150 fps lower than the same cartridge in any of my other 35 Rem rifles: this thing is going to want loads taylor-made to spec, I am afraid and I'll have the keep the loaded cartridges firmly identified to this gun 'cause I'm betting it takes a couple grains more powder to get the right "bang".
Here is what I found: (Remington brass, CCI 200 primers, 100 yard groups)
a) .358 -187 gr. Flatnose GasCheck, 19.2 gr. 4759 -- 1600 +/- 30 fps, 5/5" And this is the one that JAMMED
b) Hornady 180 spitzer, 36.5 gr. Alliant RL10x, 2150 +/- 15 fps, 5/2.5"
c) Hornady 180 spitzer, 46 gr. Hodgdon LVR, 2200 +/- 40 fps, 5/5.5"
d) Hornady 200 RN, 46 gr. Hodgdon LVR, 2050 +/- 70 fps, 5/3.5"

And that's my Range Report for Saturday, Sept. 26. More to follow, I'm sure. We are not letting this nifty rifle sit around much longer with this poor a report card.

[1894c]

That's very cool--like the report (actually was looking forward to it)--very interested in the 35 Remington, looking to get one in 2012. Your granddaughter reminds me of my multiple daughters at that age--lots of energy and interested in everything--a great age... :)

[Old Savage]

WOW! now what did you say about the gun.

[Pitchy]

Very cool Sir, very cool.

[Hobie]

[getitdone1]

Nice report. Appears you have plenty of safe shooting spots in your location.

Do you prefer the levering feel of the Savage over the Winchesters? I had a Savage 99 chambered for 250 Savage. They made a few in the 70s. Really nice gun with straight grip. Great cartridge too.

Had so many great guns I could have happily made-do-with all by themselves. This was one.

Your savage, to me, is as pretty as they come.

Don

[ollogger]

hey Earl
thats pretty neat pixs
id be happy with 2 of those groups.
has that have the same twist rate as your other 35s?

ollogger

[Ben_Rumson]

+1

[Nath]

Nice photo's and nice find on the 99.

You would of hated it if it was plain boring and shot just the same as the others anyway, right?

N.

[H_Talon]

hmmmm savage 99 in 35 rem .... I want one .. it would look great with my others
great find how were the groups ????

Talon

[Bill in Oregon]

Earl: Granddaughters! I want one!

[H_Talon]

Oh .. when I had my 99e converted to 358win from 308 I had to have
a 358 mag rotor put in you might have better luck if you change out
your 303 to a 358 ...

just a thought

Talon

[kaschi]

Wonder why there is a different rotor for the 358 than for a 308? They're both based on the same case, right?

[earlmck]

You would of hated it if it was plain boring and shot just the same as the others anyway, right?

You got 'er, Nath. No fun without some challenge.

does that have the same twist rate as your other 35s?

It has a 16" twist. I never checked the Marlins and Remingtons but I think that's what they are supposed to have. Good questiion -- I'll have to pay a little attention next time I break out the cleaning rod.

Appears you have plenty of safe shooting spots in your location.

Do you prefer the levering feel of the Savage over the Winchesters? I had a Savage 99 chambered for 250 Savage. They made a few in the 70s. Really nice gun with straight grip. Great cartridge too.

Your savage, to me, is as pretty as they come.

Not too hard to find a place to shoot here in Central Oregon, but I do have to get in the pickup and go a ways. Grew up where I could shoot out of the bedroom window (if mom wasn't around!) so feel a little abused here. And I like whichever lever I have in my hands but I'd probably rank with model 92 (and 86) on top and then the Savage and then Marlin and then model 94. And I am thinking the Savage is just about perfect for me: has lots of "character" showing good honest wear outside, with an absolutely brand new bore inside.

Earl: Granddaughters! I want one!

Seems like all the girl -childs in my family are absolutely wonderful until about that 12th year. Then they become lunatics for a few years. Then they return as different people. Go figure. If I could work out a freeze-dry process to halt them at about 11 years old I'll bet I could sell a lot of it!

Oh .. when I had my 99e converted to 358win from 308 I had to have
a 358 mag rotor put in you might have better luck if you change out
your 303 to a 358 ...

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed you'd have to change rotors for that. Picky dang things, aren't they? Maybe I'll just keep my loads out long enough -- didn't look like that pistol bullet was going to be anything special anyway.

[H_Talon]

when I had it re-barreled we found the 30 cal rotor wouldn't allow the rifle to
have more than 2 rounds in the mag. there is a difference where the
bullet dia is on the rotor. if you went the other way you don't need
to change it. ie 30cal to 7mm-08.

Talon

[Twodot]

a Model 99 Savage in 35 Rem.
now that's pretty darn cool.
..

[earlmck]

One thing and another and you don't get the shooting done you intended. But I did get a little load testing in the the Savage and have decided maybe it likes Alliant's RL powders. Finally got out to the range yesterday -- gentle SW breeze, low 40's temps -- the nicest day we've had around here in a couple of weeks. Here's a couple of pics of the rifle, with the "new" tang-ceiver sight (what do you call a sight that works like a receiver sight but attaches to the tang holes?)

Sav30335brifle.jpg

Sav30335sight.jpg

Just a 20" barrel on this rifle but it is a pretty stout barrel. I noticed that it seems to hold well for me when shooting off-hand. Which I can't really say about my other carbine-types.

I used the 180 grain Hornady spitzer that all my rifles like; the 200 grain Hornady Roundnose, and the Lyman .358315 that casts up about 210 grains. CCI primers, RL10x or 15 for the jacketed bullets and Dupont 4759 for the cast (yeah, I know Dupont morphed into IMR years ago but "Dupont" is what it says on my can).

Results were looking better this time: 180's with 38 grains RL!0x gave 2275 fps and 1.5" group; 200's with 43.5 grains RL15 gave 2180 fps and 2" group. Note that these are definitely NOT "recommended loads" for any other rifle. My Marlin carbine gives 2350 fps with just 37 grains of the RL10x and I have a note in the reloading book that it should be considered MAXIMUM at that. This little Savage just takes a grain or two more powder to get the velocity (and apparently pressure) that I get from my Marlins and Remingtons with the same powder and bullet. I tried the loads both with and without use of the Lee Factory Crimp. Use of the crimp did give a slightly tighter group and slightly lessened velocity spreads, but such a little difference I doubt it would be considered "statistically significant" with this little bit of shooting.

But maybe the most promising shooting from my viewpoint was that the cast bullet gave a 2" group (1550 fps with 19 grains 4759) because the cast bullet is what will get the most shooting in this rifle on a year-round basis. And this is a load which I use in the Marlins and Remingtons for essentially the same velocity. And maybe better results in the Savage!

35tgt210cast.jpg

[Ben_Rumson]

That's great!