.300 Savage

.300 Savage
A side-by-side size comparison between the .308 Winchester (left) and the .300 Savage (right)
Type	Rifle cartridge
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Designer	Savage Arms
Manufacturer	Savage Arms
Produced	1920
Specifications
Parent case	.250-3000 Savage
Case type	Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter	.308 in (7.8 mm)
Neck diameter	.339 in (8.6 mm)
Shoulder diameter	.446 in (11.3 mm)
Base diameter	.471 in (12.0 mm)
Rim diameter	.473 in (12.0 mm)
Case length	1.871 in (47.5 mm)
Overall length	2.60 in (66 mm)
Rifling twist	1-10"
Primer type	Large rifle
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 150 gr (10 g) Remington Core-Lokt soft point factory load 2,630 ft/s (800 m/s) 2,303 ft·lbf (3,122 J) 150 gr (10 g) Hornady Superperformance SST factory load 2,740 ft/s (840 m/s) 2,500 ft·lbf (3,400 J) 180 gr (12 g) Federal Soft Point factory load 2,350 ft/s (720 m/s) 2,207 ft·lbf (2,992 J) 150 gr (10 g) FMJ hand load 2,765 ft/s (843 m/s) 2,547 ft·lbf (3,453 J) 165 gr (11 g) PSPCL hand load 2,676 ft/s (816 m/s) 2,624 ft·lbf (3,558 J)
Test barrel length: 24 Source(s): Midway USA (factory loads) Accurate Powder (hand loads)

The .300 Savage cartridge is a rimless, .30 caliber rifle cartridge developed by the Savage Arms Company in 1920. It was designed to replace the less powerful .303 Savage in their popular Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle. Despite having a short case and a rather stumpy neck, the cartridge is capable of propelling a 150-grain (9.7 g) bullet at over 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) with an effective range of over 300 yd (270 m).

The original intent of its designers was to offer a cartridge that could approach the ballistics of the .30-06 Springfield, while at the same time using a smaller case that could be cycled through a short-action lever rifle. Although it fell somewhat short of its ballistic goals (by about 150 ft/s), its performance outclassed other contemporary .30 caliber lever-action cartridges including the .30-30 Winchester and .30 Remington. It soon became a popular deer and medium-sized game cartridge among North American hunters, and by mid-century nearly every major US firearms maker offered a .300 Savage chambering in at least one of its rifle models.

The .300 Savage distinguished itself further by serving as a peer to the .308 Winchester (7.62×51mm NATO) cartridge, a round that was developed for the U.S. armed forces in the 1950s and which is still in use today.

The Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle is no longer in production, and over the past two decades or so the .300 Savage has faded in popularity, eclipsed by its own progeny the .308 Winchester and other more powerful short-action cartridges. However, it continues to be marketed by several ammunition manufacturers, and remains popular in countries such as France, which at the time, prohibited civilian ownership of rifles chambered for military-issue cartridges such as 7.62×51mm NATO.

In 2008, Savage Arms released a special run of its bolt-action Savage Model 110 rifle called the 50th Anniversary Model, chambered only in .300 Savage. Only 1000 of these limited edition rifles were sold.