The .303 Savage was that company's attempt to capture a share of the market that the .30-30 Winchester cartridge would come to dominate. Savage developed their .303 as a (unsuccessful) military cartridge in 1895. It became a commercial success in their Model 1899 lever action rifle and remained moderately popular into the 1930's.

Rifles for the .303 Savage have been discontinued since the end of the Second World War, but factory loaded cartridges were available until 1997. There are still serviceable .303 caliber Model 99's floating around, and hunters who wish to use them.

This has driven the price of remaining .303 Savage ammunition stocks into the stratosphere. One of my correspondents reported in 2003 that hunters were paying up to $50.00/box for cartridges, when they could be found. This for ammunition that used to cost about $5.00/box!

Despite its ".303" nomenclature and the fact that the correct bullet diameter is .311", the .303 Savage is often reloaded with standard .308" (.30 caliber) bullets. The .303 Savage case is a rimmed, bottleneck type with a rim diameter of .505", a base diameter of .442", a shoulder angle of 16 degrees, and a length of 2.015". In a practical sense, it has about 1-2 grains greater useful capacity with common powders than the .30-30 case. Like the .30-30, the .303 has always been loaded with flat point or round nose bullets, even though the Savage Model 99 rifle used a rotary magazine which could accommodate spitzer bullets.

Standard American factory loads for the .303 Savage drove a round nose 190 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity (MV) of 1980 fps and muzzle energy of 1650 ft. lbs. The 200 yard figures were 1440 fps and 875 ft. lbs. The midrange trajectory (maximum rise) of this load was 1.3" over 100 yards, 6.2" over 200 yards, and 15.5" over 300 yards. This was a 1.6" greater rise with a 200 yard zero than the 170 grain factory load for the .30-30. The .303 Savage is about a 200 yard deer cartridge. Despite its slightly inferior trajectory, the .303 developed a reputation as a good choice for large game like elk and moose, probably due to the superior sectional density of its 190 grain bullet.

According to the 43rd edition of the Lyman Reloading Handbook, 30.0 grains of IMR 3031 powder can drive a 150 grain bullet at a MV of 2200 fps and 32.0 grains of the same powder can achieve a MV of 2300 fps. The 190 grain bullet used in the factory loads can be driven to a MV of 1835 fps by 28.0 grains of IMR 3031 and a MV of 1980 fps by 31.0 grains of IMR 3031.

Lyman chronographed these loads in a Savage Model 99 rifle with a 26" barrel and the velocities achieved are similar to those of the .30-30 Winchester with bullets of the same weight. Lyman used Remington cases, Remington bullets and Remington large rifle primers in developing these loads.

To summarize, the .303 Savage was one of several successful cartridges on the order of the .30-30 Winchester. It achieved considerable commercial success, but never challenged the popularity of the .30-30 Winchester cartridge. In its day it was a successful Class 2 game cartridge with 150 grain bullets and a successful Class2 and Class 3 game cartridge at woods ranges with 190 grain bullets.