300. Win Short Mag

[matt_3479]

Experience with this caliber please!.

Anyone here shoot a 300. wsm? What grain do you use? Do you like it? do you suggest it? What do you hunt with it?

At least once a year i do a big game hunt. Usually its Moose, Black bear or Caribou and there is a possibly of elk hunting. Right now i shoot a 7mm rem mag and i had a couple people tell me that with black bear the smaller bullet isn't recommend. I know my 7mm will put them on there *** its just i want that little extra range, power and bullet size. I would make my 7mm my deer rifle because it shoots 140-150 grain bullets better then it shoots the larger 160-175 grain bullets. I found a fantastic deal on a 300. wsm in a browning a-bolt and i know i will regret it if i dont take it. Im just asking if people like theres and how it works for them

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have one in the safe that I have no stock for so it's unfired. But I have been shooting my 300 win mag quite a bit lately and it is essentially the same thing. I don't think you will be disappointed at all especially for the animals you have listed.

If you only want to do one load for all the animals you mentioned pick a good bullet like a 180g Barnes TSX or MRX. They do cost a bit more but if I wanted to use them in a factory rifle magazine this is the bullet I would chose.

There are many other good bullet choices like Accubonds, SST, VLD Saraccos,Partitions but I cant speek for there use on bears.

 

[flyin lizard]

With the number of bullets available in 30 caliber a 300wsm is very good for anything you have named and also a lot that you have not,,,,go get it..

 

[winmag]

+1 with ICANHITEMAN
exept I can say YES, Accubonds work well on bear out of a .300 win anyway.
+1 also with Flyin Lizard ......BUY IT! If you dont like it sell it. There are tons of .300wsm fans everywhere. You wont loose your $

I love my .300wby, but I still want a .300wsm when I can afford one someday

 

[warthog97]

I've used the 168 gr TSX on elk out to 300yds. I will soon be playing with 168gr Tipped TSXs. I'd second the recommendation for 180 gr TSX for moose.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I think the 300 WSM is a great cartridge, very close t the 300 WM in performance. Either one will kill anyhthimg that walks in NA. With RL17, you should be able to drive a 177 GS about 3300 fps, if you have a 9 twist. Assuming that bullet's BC is .6 plus and it expansion velocity is 1600 fps, it is a 1200 yd plus killer.

With a 10 or 11 twist, I would go with the 180 E-tips. No offense the TSX guys, but the E-Tips have a higher listed BC and they are a tougher gulided monometal. They dont shed thier petals and expand to a more blunt, flat and larger frontal than the TSX's. They are also very accurate in my 300 RUM.

 

[brentc]

Here you go. I have found many good shooting loads, but the most notable loads are listed below. These loads were developed in my Browning Stainless Stalker 300 WSM. Both loads are extremely accurate and they may be hot in your rifle, be careful. Both of these loads have produced .25 inch groups. I have many loads in the .75-1" range, and I can give you that info too if you need it.

The SST is a fantastic deer or light skinned animal bullet, it's not nearly as expensive as the premium bullets, and it has a decent BC for longer shots.
The E-Tip is a true premium bullet that is suitable for any north americam game. Relative to the SST, they're expensive.

180 Grain Hornady SST
Federal or Winchester brass - both work well with this load
H4350 Sweet spot found between 65.5 and 66.0
CCI 250 primer
2980-3005 fps depending on your powder charge
COAL 2.860, just to give enough clearance in the mag box.

180 Nosler E-tip
Norma Brass
RL17 Speet Spot between 66.0 and 66.5 grains
CCI 250 Primer
3085-3110 fps depending on your powder charge
COAL 2.820, these like to jump a bit in my rifle.

 

[baldhunter]

I've used a 7mag for quite a few years.I like the 7mag and I think it's one of the best out there.Last year I bought a 300WSM and I've been quite impressed with how accurate and hard hitting it is.Recoil is about the same as the 7mag and so is the the amount of powder used in loading.I kinda think of it as a 7mag necked up to a 30 cal.One never has too many guns,although sometimes I think I do and I've bought more the last couple of years than I've bought in my lifetime,so watch out because it is addictive,but if you've got one spotted a a good price,I say"jump on it!"

 

[sniperjwt]

I would say buy it. I dont think you would be dissapointed. I got one about 6 months ago off of a trade and love it. Right now i am shooting the 168 SMKs at 3100fps and am having a hard time convincing myself to switch to a heavier bullet. I am getting 100 yard groups in the .3s I have shot a 550yard group that measured 2.812 and just the other day i shot a 1000yard group at 11.5inches. Now may i remind you this is a factory Savage rifle that i put in a Choate stock. No other work done to it. i was a little sceptical of the cartrage at first but not the case anymore. I have not tried it on game yet but im sure i will get to this year. Good luck and hope it works out well for you.

 

[matt_3479]

I just want to let you all know i did jump on that deal and it is a fantastic rifle even though im having problems with it. I mounted a scope and shot half a box and the recoil loosened the screws and the scope wouldn't hold a group. I brought her out and tightened everything up and mounted a limbsaver on it. The recoil pad came loose on the second shooting, but at least it held a 1" group at 100 yards. i brought her home once again to tighten the screws on the recoil pad and took her out for the most recent time. I got multiple .8" group at 100 yards (factory rifle, factory ammo. Just starting to load now so i will post how the groups look afterwards). Brought her back to 250 yards and squeezed a few off and got some groups between 1" and 2.2". As much as i am interested and like the new caliber i think im still going to favor the 7mm rem mag. More comfortable to shoot, holds tighter groups (factory ammo, factory rifle) with groups at best of .5" and average around.75" at 100 yards.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Thanks for the update. Glad to here your working the bugs out dont forget the blue lock tight and the torx wrench.

Sounds like the rifle is shooting NICE and I would be super happy with 1" at 250 yards. Groups at less than 200 dont mean squat to me anyhow as they dont tell you much other than your close.

 

[matt_3479]

see im not 100% sure if it was exactly 1", i believe it was just a little over, but barely which was the best. Its average was around 1.7" i believe. But yes, in general i am very happy with it. I cant wait to find out if get to take a moose this year with it or a bear. I am looking for a good head to reload. Im going with Reloader 17 to maximize the performance. Is there any heads you guys suggest me using? I was thinking of Barnes TSX 180 grain, Nosler Accubonds 180 Grain. I want something with a high BC for maximum long range accuracy but not the Berger. To hard to get my hands on.

What do you suggest? Is the Tipped TSX any good?

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

HEADS????? you mean bullets?

I would go with 200g Accubond then or some of the bullets the other guys have suggested.

 

[brentc]

see im not 100% sure if it was exactly 1", i believe it was just a little over, but barely which was the best. Its average was around 1.7" i believe. But yes, in general i am very happy with it. I cant wait to find out if get to take a moose this year with it or a bear. I am looking for a good head to reload. Im going with Reloader 17 to maximize the performance. Is there any heads you guys suggest me using? I was thinking of Barnes TSX 180 grain, Nosler Accubonds 180 Grain. I want something with a high BC for maximum long range accuracy but not the Berger. To hard to get my hands on.

What do you suggest? Is the Tipped TSX any good?

I personally like the 180 Nosler E-tip better than the TTSX because of the better BC and similar performance. Refer to my loads in a previous post. RL17 is dynamite in the 300 WSM.