.303 Savage
The .303 Savage is a rimmed, .30 caliber rifle cartridge developed by the Savage Arms Company in 1894 which was designed as a short (as short as the .30-30 Winchester) action cartridge for their Savage Model 1895 later 1899 hammerless lever-action rifle. The cartridge was designed for smokeless powder at a time when black-powder cartridges were still popular. The .303 Savage round was ballistically superior to the .30-30, but only marginally. The .303 Savage remained popular through the 1930s. Savage produced a half dozen loads for it. With its 190-grain loading, it was used on such animals as deer and moose.
| .303 Savage | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round-nosed .303 Savage (center) with .308 Winchester (left) and .30-30 Winchester (right) | ||||||||
| Type | Rifle | |||||||
| Place of origin | United States | |||||||
| Production history | ||||||||
| Designer | Savage Arms | |||||||
| Manufacturer | Savage Arms | |||||||
| Produced | 1895 | |||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||
| Case type | Rimmed, bottleneck | |||||||
| Bullet diameter | .308 in (7.8 mm) | |||||||
| Neck diameter | .333 in (8.5 mm) | |||||||
| Shoulder diameter | .413 in (10.5 mm) | |||||||
| Base diameter | .442 in (11.2 mm) | |||||||
| Rim diameter | .505 in (12.8 mm) | |||||||
| Rim thickness | .063 in (1.6 mm) | |||||||
| Case length | 2.015 in (51.2 mm) | |||||||
| Overall length | 2.520 in (64.0 mm) | |||||||
| Primer type | Large rifle | |||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||
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| Source(s): .303 Savage reload data at Hodgdon | ||||||||
The .303 Savage and the .303 British cartridge are not interchangeable with each other. Neither the bullet diameter nor the cartridge dimensions are compatible.