Remington 722 - 300 savage loads

[nakneker]

I’m a sucker for a clean old Remington. I actually had access to a Remington 722 growing up, my Grandpa had one, he didn’t reload and didn’t like shooting a lot of ammo through his rifles, most of the time that rifle was strapped in a leather scabbard when we rode horses on the ranch. Once in awhile he would let us shoot it, old Western yellow box 150 grain factory ammo. I saw the identical rifle the other day and couldn’t pass it up, the price was right and the condition is excellent. I found the brass and dies and plan on reloading, I’d like to keep it light, 125 grain - 150 grain bullets, maybe some ballistic tips or sierra game kings or SBTs. I understand it’s not the most popular cartridge and most of the data is for the savage lever actions but if you’ve been down this road before and have some suggestions I’d love to hear them.

 

[KMart]

THAT is a very nice rifle. Congrats on your find. Being old, I am sucker for that kind of OLD stuff.

 

[joshb]

You mentioned you were “selling some to make room”! You move fast!
Repeat after me: Hi, my name is Sean and I have an addiction to old guns.

 

[nakneker]

You mentioned you were “selling some to make room”! You move fast!
Repeat after me: Hi, my name is Sean and I have an addiction to old guns.

Just following your lead Josh…… lol!

 

[joshb]

When we moved to Texas, we had a dinner party. During the conversations, my wife tried to push the idea that I had too many guns and had a “problem”. One of the guys, after asking how many I had, told my wife that the only problem was that I didn’t have enough guns and I better get to buying more! By Texas standards, I was a slacker. She went a bit pale. I just smiled and thought “I love Texas!”

 

[CaptainMal]

Nice rifle.

Parker Ackley like 40-47 gr. of IMR 4895. with the 125-130 gr. bullets. If you were to go 150 gr. some IMR 4320 up to 45 grains might work.

 

[piaa1209]

That's old school at its finest

 

[FNSafari]

They are fine utilitarian hunting rifles, accurate in most cases, at least the three I have owned. Remember the Remington trigger recall of a few years ago, prior to their bankruptcy? I would replace the trigger if I were you. Good luck with it. Fine deer caliber.

 

[nakneker]

They are fine utilitarian hunting rifles, accurate in most cases, at least the three I have owned. Remember the Remington trigger recall of a few years ago, prior to their bankruptcy? I would replace the trigger if I were you. Good luck with it. Fine deer caliber.

That’s a good idea.

 

[pintopete]

Nakneker, I have always thought that the 300 Savage would be great cartridge for whitetail deer, etc. I also would think that it is a better match with the Rem 722 action than the 257 series of cartridges. The 300 Savage being shorter. 300 Savage @ 1.871” vs 257 @ 2.233”. The same is true for the .244, long for the 722 action. 300 Savage has lots of bullets to choose from, and should have plenty of wallop for deer. I’m a Rem 722 fan, and a fan of all these cartridges that I mentioned.
Wishing you great luck with your “new” rifle. Peter.

 

[nakneker]

Nakneker, I have always thought that the 300 Savage would be great cartridge for whitetail deer, etc. I also would think that it is a better match with the Rem 722 action than the 257 series of cartridges. The 300 Savage being shorter. 300 Savage @ 1.871” vs 257 @ 2.233”. The same is true for the .244, long for the 722 action. 300 Savage has lots of bullets to choose from, and should have plenty of wallop for deer. I’m a Rem 722 fan, and a fan of all these cartridges that I mentioned.
Wishing you great luck with your “new” rifle. Peter.

I loaded some lighter loads tonight. 125 grain TGKs with N140 and 125 grain varmageddon with varget. I’ll see how these do, then I’ll try some 150 grainers of one sort or another.

We think alike, I’m a fan of the 722. I’ve had a few and never have found a dud. Thanks for the input!

 

[WVRJ]

That's a very fine rifle/cartridge setup you have there.I have one and I actually took it hunting last year but couldn't get a decent shot.I have an old steel tube Weaver K6 on it just to keep things sort of period correct.When I was able to get a clean shot I had a dead deer.I load it with Varget powder and CCI primers.When I started thinking about loading for it,I only had 11 rounds of old factory stuff.just for entertainment I ran a piece of some Remington benchrest brass through the sizing die and out came a 300 Savage that fit perfect and all I had to do was trim it.If you need brass,just get some soft 308 and resize it.

 

[nakneker]

That's a very fine rifle/cartridge setup you have there.I have one and I actually took it hunting last year but couldn't get a decent shot.I have an old steel tube Weaver K6 on it just to keep things sort of period correct.When I was able to get a clean shot I had a dead deer.I load it with Varget powder and CCI primers.When I started thinking about loading for it,I only had 11 rounds of old factory stuff.just for entertainment I ran a piece of some Remington benchrest brass through the sizing die and out came a 300 Savage that fit perfect and all I had to do was trim it.If you need brass,just get some soft 308 and resize it.

I found 100 pieces of new Winchester brass on the forum actually. Ordered dies right away, loaded up some 125 TGK with N140 and some 125 varmageddons with varget. I haven’t had the opportunity to sight it in or shoot it yet but should be able to do that soon. I almost left that old weaver on it, it’s a K3 I think but I couldn’t get the eye relief where I needed it. I ended up installing an old Burris mini 2-7 on it instead, one of the older high gloss models, looks good. I agree though, those old Weavers look perfect on some of the vintage stuff and they can do a good job too.

 

[Evan]

I’m a sucker for a clean old Remington. I actually had access to a Remington 722 growing up, my Grandpa had one, he didn’t reload and didn’t like shooting a lot of ammo through his rifles, most of the time that rifle was strapped in a leather scabbard when we rode horses on the ranch. Once in awhile he would let us shoot it, old Western yellow box 150 grain factory ammo. I saw the identical rifle the other day and couldn’t pass it up, the price was right and the condition is excellent. I found the brass and dies and plan on reloading, I’d like to keep it light, 125 grain - 150 grain bullets, maybe some ballistic tips or sierra game kings or SBTs. I understand it’s not the most popular cartridge and most of the data is for the savage lever actions but if you’ve been down this road before and have some suggestions I’d love to hear them.

My grandpa’s sporterized mauser 98 was chambered in 300 Savage and got me into long range shooting. I shot the 155 amax and 155 sierras and it liked 3031 and W748 a lot, although it didn’t mind 4064 either. Was a very easygoing cartridge that I have many fond memories of! Hitting milk jugs at 600 yards once you’ve got it on target was a real treat.

 

[john 800]

Hornady makes a 150gr sst specifically for the 300 savage that is shorter than the standard one. I would venture to guess it is probably slightly softer, it would probably be a very good bullet for deer. A speer boat tail in 150 would probably be another good choice. 150 balistic tips possible as well. O have never owned a 300 savage but I have looked at numbers and loads a bit because I have always wanted a model 99 and I would think 150 is tbe sweet spot for that cartridge as long as you dont use a bullet that is overly hard it should be extremely effective.

 

[nakneker]

I shot the rifle for the first time this last week, it’s like most 722s I’ve owned, it’s accurate. I would imagine with a little load development it would do .5 MOA as it’s doing .7 now, 5 shots at 100 with a 7x. It liked the 125 TGKs the best but it liked the varmageddons too. I’ve had good look with those 125 TGKs, great little bullets. I do plan on trying some 150 grain bullets too, ballistic tips for sure, maybe the 150SST too.

 

[sandwarrior]

I’m a sucker for a clean old Remington. I actually had access to a Remington 722 growing up, my Grandpa had one, he didn’t reload and didn’t like shooting a lot of ammo through his rifles, most of the time that rifle was strapped in a leather scabbard when we rode horses on the ranch. Once in awhile he would let us shoot it, old Western yellow box 150 grain factory ammo. I saw the identical rifle the other day and couldn’t pass it up, the price was right and the condition is excellent. I found the brass and dies and plan on reloading, I’d like to keep it light, 125 grain - 150 grain bullets, maybe some ballistic tips or sierra game kings or SBTs. I understand it’s not the most popular cartridge and most of the data is for the savage lever actions but if you’ve been down this road before and have some suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Very nice rifle, I have one as well. I'll make a few suggestions as things have changed since I got mine. Savage brass is not available. I recently purchased a Savage 99 and can't find any. That leaves sizing down .308 brass. DO NOT use multiple fired brass from another rifle. I just broke my own reloading rule on that and now I have a broken case stuck in the chamber of my 99. Incipient case head separation from different chamber sizes and the brass not following. My suggestion is when using .308s, go ahead and buy 50 or 100 pieces of new .308 and size and trim that.
As far as my load it's 39.5 gr. of H335 behind a 150 fr. bullet. That's max on Hodgdon's website. Don't know the velocity (either rifle) But, the drops put it around 2650-2700

 

[BoydAllen]

I owned a 722 in .300 Savage. To get the most performance, stick with 125 to 150 gr. bullets and ball powders. You will be quite pleased with the velocities, if you go by pressure signs, instead of load data that has to take older actions into account. The caliber was the inspiration for the .7.62x51/.308 Winchester. If you look at the velocity of military 150 grain ammo (2,700 FPS), the Savage can easily do that, and then some.

 

[nakneker]

I owned a 722 in .300 Savage. To get the most performance, stick with 125 to 150 gr. bullets and ball powders. You will be quite pleased with the velocities, if you go by pressure signs, instead of load data that has to take older actions into account. The caliber was the inspiration for the .7.62x51/.308 Winchester. If you look at the velocity of military 150 grain ammo (2,700 FPS), the Savage can easily do that, and then some.

I have a of N140 a tick below max with 125gr TGKs that is averaging 2820 fps and the rifle likes it. What ball powder would you recommend? H335?

Very nice rifle, I have one as well. I'll make a few suggestions as things have changed since I got mine. Savage brass is not available. I recently purchased a Savage 99 and can't find any. That leaves sizing down .308 brass. DO NOT use multiple fired brass from another rifle. I just broke my own reloading rule on that and now I have a broken case stuck in the chamber of my 99. Incipient case head separation from different chamber sizes and the brass not following. My suggestion is when using .308s, go ahead and buy 50 or 100 pieces of new .308 and size and trim that.
As far as my load it's 39.5 gr. of H335 behind a 150 fr. bullet. That's max on Hodgdon's website. Don't know the velocity (either rifle) But, the drops put it around 2650-2700

I found 200 pieces of Winchester blue bag, not the best brass by any means but it is 300 savage brass with the headstamp. I’ll try some H335, it’s one of my favorite powders.

 

[Evan]

I have a of N140 a tick below max with 125gr TGKs that is averaging 2820 fps and the rifle likes it. What ball powder would you recommend? H335?

I found 200 pieces of Winchester blue bag, not the best brass by any means but it is 300 savage brass with the headstamp. I’ll try some H335, it’s one of my favorite powders.

The 155 isn’t your stated target, but my grandpas 24” Douglas barrel would get them up to 2750fps with W748 and blue bag winchester brass. I can look up the load tonight if you’re interested. It really liked them a lot. I tried the smaller 110 vmax, 125 nosler and while it did fine, it didn’t come alive like it did with the 155s. These were the shorter 155s before the long slim palma variants came out that needed more twist.