Yes, Savage... I "hug" my Model 99 .300 Savage 'most EVERY day.
I've been reloading a long time and, "YES", I've noticed that as our society got more litigious and the ambulance-chasers become more numerous and more aggressive, the good folks who write the reloading manuals have become a great deal more cautious in what they seem willing to indicate are "maximum safe loads".
While some of it might be due to older firearms in questionable conditiion still possibly in use, I've noted that, in a great many cases, even so-called "modern" caliber's loads for which there are NO "older firearms" have been reduced as well.
Take the case-in-point concerning my .338 Winchester magnum... a caliber that didn't come out until 1958, so there are no "old rifles" made for that caliber.
I caught "major heck" from no less than Ken Waters, the well-known gun writer/wildcatter whose fine articles have appeared in Rifle Magazine and other well-known gun publications. Ken, who lives in New Canaan, CT., and I had been corresponding about my Savage Model 99 (he also owned one) when, in one of my letters, I happened to mention my hunting handload for my Model 70 Winchester in .338 Winchester magnum caliber. It is the same load I've been using since I bought the rifle brand new and began handloading... the same "load" I got the huge bull moose with in Canada... the same load published as a "maximum safe load" in the 45th. Edition (1970) of the Lyman Reloading Handbook.
In Ken's defense, I must say that later reloading handbooks had lowered the maximum safe load by 2 grains from the load published in 1970, but then... this year, the new Lyman Reloading Handbook just published is, again, indicating the old, heavier load as the "maximum safe load".
I believe this is a perfect example of how the companies who publish the reloading books are running scared because so many people refuse to take the responsibility of their own acts when they do something stupid... and these same people tend to call in a lawyer at the first sign of any controversy... especially if they think they can collect any money out of it.
However, quite frankly, the smart reloader "works up" his handloads slowly and carefully anyway, watching at all times for "high pressure signs". THIS is NOT a person whose going to blow up his rifle. To practice less caution is NOT conducive to a long life.
But then, some people just ain't the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree... know what I mean? It's like the caution note on an electric tool that says, "Do not operate this tool when standing in a bathtub full of water"..................... DUHHH !~!~!
