Slow twist 250-3000

[earlmck]

My friend Larry decided to "thin the herd" this week. Knowing my weakness for the levers he let me know he was ready to part with his dad's old Savage. 1937 era model 99 in 250-3000. Got the old 14" twist; Larry tells me that he got occasional sideways bullets with 100 grain spitzers. So what is the recommended bullet if a fellow wanted to shoot a deer with this old baby? Here's a picture: definitely in the "shooter" category with the added-on peep sight and recoil pad, scabbard rubs, and a repaired stock from a little mishap with a horse somewhere along the line. Just my kind of rifle: lots of character

250Sav7366.jpg

250Sav7365.jpg

[Old Savage]

87 or 90 Gr. I believe according to reports the 87s work fine with a lad like yourself at the trigger.

[Terry Murbach]

TWENTY FIVE CALIBER ONE HUNDRED GRAIN JACKETED ROUND NOSE BULLETS WILL WORK PERFECTLY.

[Hobie]

TWENTY FIVE CALIBER ONE HUNDRED GRAIN JACKETED ROUND NOSE BULLETS WILL WORK PERFECTLY.

Terry didn't say so but that's because the RN will have a shorter OAL than the spire point.
The 90 gr. Sierra HP was recommended to me by about 10 people from all across the country.

[Mescalero]

That IS nice.
That gun says history.

[Boreman]

90 Gr Nosler Partition's. Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!

[earlmck]

Thanks for the bullet advice, fellows. Before I made the post I'd looked at the stuff carried by the usual suspects (Midway, Grafs, Midsouth, Powder Valley...) and wasn't seeing all that much. I can't find a 100 grain R.N. made by anyone, and Nosler doesn't show a 90 grain partition (those were a couple of my first thoughts also...). I am worried that the 87 grain spitzers seem to built as "varmint" bullets so might not hold together as well as you might like on anything other than a nice broadside lung shot.That 90 grain Sierra H.P. Gameking bullet that Hobie mentions looks like it may be just the ticket: I think I'll order some up and give 'em a try.

Now if I could just get a 'yote to come in I might get to try it out. But I seem to be blowing nothing but sour notes this year-- I've been trying to get to poke one with the 180 grain Hornady Spitzer from one of my 35 Remingtons to see how that does and can't get one to come in to me. That's another bullet I'm worried about the toughness of the construction since I know it is intended for the Contender pistol and so may be built thin-skinned. But it shoots so well from most of my 35s!

[guido4198]

Thanks for sharing the story and pics. YEARS ago..I let one of my Dad's leverguns go in a trade...and I've had regrets ever since.
One of Dad's rifles I DIDN'T let go of however...is the M99...250/3000. Manuf. in 1941. Scoped, shooting Speer 100 gn. JSP I get a pretty consistent 1" @ 100 yds. which is plenty good enough for me and the Whitetail I've shot with it. The story I've alwys read about the 87 gn bullet is that it was chosen during the developmental days of this cartridge because Savage was able to get 3000fps with it, which was their goal for marketing purposes. They wanted to advertise "THE FIRST CARTRIDGE to reach 3000 fps with factory loads. "
ENJOY that fine old rifle....you got a real gem there.

[M. M. Wright]

Hey Earl,
Had a 99F in 250-3000 which I use to kill a bunch of whitetails. It would not stabilize even a round nose 100 grain bullet. About 8 to 10" groups but boy it really liked 87 grainers. Dime size groups at a hundred yards were usual. I used the Sierra bullet and it put them down NOW! I know in those days at least, (1960s) that was considered a big game bullet, not intended for varmints. Bet I still have some of them, I'll have to look. And I'll look up my load data, know I still have that.

[PaperPatch]

This may be of interest here...

I photographed this copy of an advertisement from a 1920 issue of "The American Magazine".

Apologies for the sideways format; rotating it vertical shrinks the print size further.

[Bill in Oregon]

Earl: I have a bunch of lighter weight .25 bullets acquired to load for my own slow-twist 99 in .250-3000. Give me a list and I'll send you some samples.

[guido4198]

On the lighter bullet side...I've used the Hornady 75gn. JHP's on Groundhogs, and a coupla Red Foxes with absolutely DEVASTATING terminal effects. Wouldn't use that one on Deer regardless of how good it shot.

[Boreman]

90 Gr Nosler Partition's. Excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!

My bad,fellows the 90 Gr is correct.I should have said 90 Gr Sierra HPBT.They shoot great in my 250-3000 and my 25-06.I had just bought 5 boxes of Partition's in various other calibers.I had Partition's on the brain because Midway is having a good sale on Nosler bullets.

[pdentrem]

I use the Sierra 90gr HPBTs as well in my pre 1930 99G 250-3000.
I also have used these shown in the picture.
Work great, about 1 1/2" at 100. No keyholes, but very very hard to find.

[earlmck]

Yeah, those 87 grainers from paperpatch's ad. The pointed bullet that will crash through the grizzly's jaw and blow his neck vertebrae down through his lungs to kill instantly. That's the kind of bullet I want for the mighty 250! Failing that, and suspecting those 100 grain CIL bullets will be awful scarce, it sounds like the Sierra 90 grain HPBT may be good for what I need if I can restrain myself from blasting the griz.

I have some 100 grain Remington PSPs. Loaded 3 different loads of RL17 to try today -- at 50 yards they didn't keyhole but they were doing more scattering than grouping. Then the last one busted the base off the shell and left the front 3/4 of the case in the chamber. That ended the first mighty 250 shoot right there. Hope the old "brass brush from the muzzle trick" works this time. Larry tells me "those cases may be pretty old and I'm not sure where they even came from" . Yeah, maybe I better toss a bunch of old brass (there were 5 boxes of emptys with the rifle). The old Scotsman is awful cheap, but I sure do hate a case head separation.

[PaperPatch]

Earl....Both Hornady and Speer 87 grain bullets shoot exceedingly well in my old 99. 35 grains of IMR 4320 is what I use.

Good luck

[1894c]

earlmck -- that a nice '99...i'm glad you're friend knew that his Dad's rifle needed a good home... :)

[guido4198]

IMR 3031 has been a good powder in my .250 Savage.
I love that 1920 ad....Thanks for sharing it with us. I suppose it's true...there actually is a tiny spot on a charging Grizzly you could put that 87 gn. bullet into and get a DRT result. ..all ya gotta do is HIT IT...!!!

[Rusty]

My brother in law has a M 99 that he is very proud of. Every time he sees something in print about it he has to bring it to me for me to read. The last one was the story of an eskimo hunter. The old hunter used a plain Jane .22 LR to kill almost everything. The interviewer asked him, do you even shoot bear with a .22? Oh no he said, for bear we use the big gun, A .250 Savage.

[M. M. Wright]

Earl,
Here is the load data I promised.

ww cases, 39.5 gr 760 and 87 grain Sierra. CCI primers gives 2985 fpm and 43,500 cup. Shot little bitty groups from my 99.

I looked but I no longer have any of the bullets.

[rando8586]

I use rem 100gr in mine,works great! 1'' groups.

[BenT]

Earl, nice rifle. A 99 in 250 is on the short list but I've never found one in my price range. That being said any Sierra game king bullet will hold up on deer. My son shot his first deer last fall with a 223 using a 55 gr Game king bullet. Broad side shot took off the top of the heart and was stop by the hide on the off side of the deer. The bullet weighted 49.8 grains and nicely mushroomed. After that performance any Game King ranks high in my book for deer.

[earlmck]

Thanks for the good thoughts, fellows. It'll be fun trying some loads in this and seeing what it likes. I have most of a box of those 87 grain Sierras (probably 1980's vintage) and a little Win 760. And I am going to give those 90 grain Sierras a try for a deer bullet. Seems this little rifle should make some more deer hunts; there are some grandkids coming along who will think they died and went to heaven if I send them afield with this.

But I will use something bigger if I have to go after griz -- I'm not as gutsy as the old Eskimo.

[GoatGuy]

What would be the ideal twist for the 250-3000? I have a left hand, short action .243Win. Rem 700 I've been considering for a caliber/barrel changeout. My wife has a Model 70 featherweight in ,257 Roberts and I've been impressed with the .25 caliber versatility. If the 250-3000 would work in my short action rifle, just might get serious about that for the project.

[guido4198]

GoatGuy...
Must be a case of "great minds" or something. It's been a few decades now, but back when Remington introduced their 700 short avtion in left-hand...I immediately ordered one in .308.
Took a while for it to arrive. My intention was to have it rebarrelled to .250/3000. I already had the M99, so I was "geared up" for it, dies, brass, bullets, etc,etc I wanted to explore the larger bullets, i.e. over 100 gns. in this neat little caliber. In the ensuing conversations with my gunsmith, it was going to be a 1 in 12 twist. I never planned to shoot the .308....just ship it off to the gunsmith.
Long story short....After I got the rifle, on a whim..I scoped it, and tried some .308 loads in it. Got such GREAT results, I took it deer hunting. Coupla deer later, I decided to just leave it alone.
Give 1 in 12 some consideration. Good Luck, and let us know how it works out.

[3leggedturtle]

One thing I have noticed is the Hornady 87gr SPP is more destructive than their 75gr HP. Also haver shot the 90gr GK and the 100gr SPP by R-P they seem to shoot about the same. Also expand similarly on 2litre water-filled bottles. I have yet to check and see what my rifling twist is yet.