[Mickey Rat]

I have 2 Savage Bolt guns, a 340 (20" BBL) and a 840 (18" BBL). My brother has a 320 (?). I decided to seek the fastest loads. I fired all my loads across a Crony Master Alpha. I used 125, 130 & 150 grain spitzers. Guess what I found out:

1. You CAN exceed 2500 fps with a 125 gr, 2450 fps with a 130 grain, and 2350 with a 150 grain.
2. Your groups will be 2 1/2-3 inches.
3. Faster is less accurate.
4. All the old standard powders are best, although Varget and some of the newer powders are good, too.

After weeks of testing I was finishing up and fired some old cast loads (Lee 150 gr RNFP GC) loaded with WW 748. I got a 7/16" group at 1990 fps. These loads were dated 1981 and had been stored in a closed storage building subjuct to Alabama summer days of over 105 degrees. All info indicates that these loads should not work or at least missfire or have erratic velocity. NOT SO!

It was nice to prove that the shooter (me) and the gun were quite capable of producing decent groups.

I have decided to go back to testing using traditional 30-30 bullets. The magazine of the Savage puts severe limitations on COL and that in turn reduces available powder space. A lot of loads were compressed.