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The Four Savage Cartridges |
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The Four Savage Cartridges |
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| Left to Right: .303 Savage, .300 Savage, .250-3000, .22 High Power |
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The .303 was the first to be developed by Savage, being initially manufactured by UMC in 1895. They were stamped "S.R.A. CO." with "303". These early Savage brand cartridges were loaded with a 190 grain softpoint bullet and their own smokeless powders. Their claim was 2000 fps, which, with the heavier bullet, gave it more energy that the 30-30. Apparently later, the 180 grain bullet as well as others became more common. Later stamps on Savage cartridges were "S.A. CO." with "303" and, as shown above, "S.A. CORP." with "303 SAV". |
| The caliber itself is kind of a misnomer. The barrels are
standard .30 caliber. The cartridges were loaded with .311 inch bullets rather than
the standard .308 inch 30 cali- ber bullets. The theory was the tighter fit would increase pressures and therefore velocity. Savage produced a number of different components for loading including the 180 grain nickel plated softpoints shown on the right. Later, this caliber was loaded with .308 inch bullets. Are there any commercial loads anymore? |
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Introduced in 1912,
the equivalents of the 22 high power can still be found in the 5.6 X 52 manufactured by Sellier & Bellot, Norma, and others. |
| Designed in 1914, this was one of the early "factory" rounds to pass the 3000 fps mark. However, it could not meet this goal with a 100-grain bullet but did so when the weight was reduced to 87 grains. |  |
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Developed in 1920, it is essentially a shortened .30-06 with a short neck. What can I say? This is still a great deer round for short and medium ranges! |
Roll your own? |
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