The .250-3000 Savage (also known as the .250 Savage) is a

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with b ...

cartridge created by Charles Newton in 1915. It was designed to be used in the

Savage Model 99 The Savage Model 99, Model 1899, and their predecessor the model 1895 are a series of hammerless lever action rifles created by the Savage Arms Company in Utica, New York. The Model 99 family featured a unique rotary magazine, and later added some ...

hammerless lever action rifle. The name comes from its original manufacturer,

Savage Arms Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada. Savage makes a variety of rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The company is best known for the Mo ...

, and the fact that the original load achieved a 3,000 ft/s (910 m/s) velocity with an 87 grain (5.6 g) bullet.The .250-3000 Savage
by Chuck Hawks

Background

Charles Newton designed the 250-3000 Savage case to fit the popular

lever-action The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms Lever-action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger g ...

rifle. To facilitate

handloading Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by assembling the individual components (case, primer, propellant, and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded ammunition. The term ''handlo ...

, casing geometry was based on

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

, albeit shortened. Newton recommended loading 100 grain (6.5 g) bullets at 2800 ft/s (850 m/s); but Savage Arms reduced bullet weight to obtain a velocity of 3,000 ft/s (910 m/s), making it the first American cartridge capable of that velocity. Achieving that velocity may have been the reason for the choice of the light-for-caliber 87-grain (5.6 g) bullet. Newton questioned if the publicity advantages of velocity compensated for reduced penetration of the lighter bullet in larger game animals.Towsley, Bruce M. ''

American Rifleman ''American Rifleman'' is a United States-based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). It is the 33rd-most-widely-distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magazine. The magazi ...

'' (July 2011) pp.54-57 The cartridge has a pressure limit of 45,000

CUP A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

set by

SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Ame ...

. It lacks the power of the bigger

.25-06 Remington Considered by many as the most balanced of the "quarter bores" for hunting medium-sized game, the .25-06 Remington remained in obscurity as a wildcat cartridge for nearly half a century before being standardized by Remington in 1969. Its design ...

but provides less noise and less recoil. Performance is very close to the .257 Roberts. Arguably it is a better overall cartridge for hunting than the more popular

.30-30 The .30-30 Winchester/.30 Winchester Center Fire cartridge was first marketed in 1895 for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle..243 Winchester. Currently, there are very few new firearms being made in .250 Savage. It is an excellent cartridge with moderate recoil for hunting small game on up to deer-sized game.

Variants

Some varmint hunters use the improved version of this cartridge, known as the .250 Ackley, .250 Improved or .250 Ackley Improved as a dual-purpose intermediate-range cartridge. The .250 Ackley is the same basic cartridge with a steeper shoulder and with the sides blown-out or straightened to increase powder space.The .250-3000 Ackley Improved
by Chuck Hawks This provides a velocity improvement of more than 250 ft/s (76.2 m/s) over standard factory loads.

References

External links

* https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/250-300-savage-history/454661 * https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-little-savage-250-3000 {{DEFAULTSORT:250 Savage Pistol and rifle cartridges Savage Arms

Background

Variants

See also

References

External links