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300 WSM Build

If my math is correct, the 181 Hammer Hunter would take a little over 3".
I've loaded 181 hammers with the standard freebore amd they are shoved in the case quite a bit, but woth Staball 6.5 powder, I am getting 3040 fps and great accuracy....lots of mag space to go as well. All on a short action.
 
Agreed with XM or Long action length. I went with a Defiance Long Action, Hawkins M5 bottom metal and CBE-12 Wyatt's box. Feeding is great, and can seat out as far as I want. Here's some OAL info from my loads, I think my freebore is .228".

181 Hammer Hunter: 3.170" OAL. That's not at the lands, that's the longest I could seat the bullet with 3 of the "ribs" making contact in the case neck.

195 Bulldozer 2: 3.120" OAL. 0.05" off the lands.
 
I started with a Rem Mod 7 and I have a huge problem with OAL out of the magazine box. So much so I decided to build a 300 WM so I could take advantage of the long bullets made by Hammer and others. I have settled on the 162gr Absolute Hammer in my 300 WSM and I like the performance.
I'd vote for the longer action.
 
ADG brass is hands down the best option for the wsm. Pockets are very strong and the brass is very consistent. Ive built two 300 WSM's for myself in the past 8 months and quite a few for customers. My first one is on a Defiance ANTIX xm w manners lrh, benchmark carbon 22" 10 tw and is shooting the 205 elite hunters at a super mild 2750 fps with h4350 and stupid accuracy. Lost track of the 1/4 moa and smaller groups Ive shot at my 580 yd berm. Shot a 3.1" group at 1000 for 4 shots with it as well. 5 different powders I tried would shoot bugholes. My new 300 wsm is on a long action cause I wanted to try the 215 and 220 bergers and fit in a magazine. Same setup. Defiance ANTIX long action, manners lrh, benchmark 23" 9 tw, hawkins hunter bottom metal and magazines with spacer kit, and a TBAC dominus SR suppressor. 8.0 lbs with suppressor, no optics or bipod. Found a super wide node with N555 and the 215 bergers at 2730-2750 fps on the ladder test. So I went back to see how wide it was. 1.2 gr spread in powder was a 1.69" group at 580 yds. Loaded 3 up in the middle of the node at 64.1 and shot a sub 2" group at 580 with it. At 100 it bugholes. Just got a 900 yd berm put in this week so I will test a couple seating depths at that distance next time we get a calm day.
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Tagging in. Definitely agree with your decision to go XM or long action. My short action .300 WSM limits my choice of bullets and seating depth. Wish I had gone with XM action. Though, I've found a good hunting load with 180 grain Hammer Hunters at 3030 fps. You can push them faster, but I'm trying not to punish this barrel too much. And, like others I've found the best brass to be Norma and ADG. Have fun with it - it's a great cartridge.
 
It greatly depends on the bullet(s) you chose. I shoot 155 scenars through mine and they've been impressive. It's a short action TL3 with Hawkins Hunter mag setup. I also have a saami reamer and can easily touch lands without hitting the end of the box.

For me, if I wanted to jump up to the over 200 grain bullets…I'd jump case capacity to prc or Nosler. The 300wsm was originally designed for the 160-180 class bullets and does very well in that space. The advantage is the short action, if you build on a long…just go on up. I have a 30 Nosler in process, they will compliment each other well.

Good luck and remember, we ain't paying for it…get what you want. ;)
 
ADG brass is hands down the best option for the wsm. Pockets are very strong and the brass is very consistent. Ive built two 300 WSM's for myself in the past 8 months and quite a few for customers. My first one is on a Defiance ANTIX xm w manners lrh, benchmark carbon 22" 10 tw and is shooting the 205 elite hunters at a super mild 2750 fps with h4350 and stupid accuracy. Lost track of the 1/4 moa and smaller groups Ive shot at my 580 yd berm. Shot a 3.1" group at 1000 for 4 shots with it as well. 5 different powders I tried would shoot bugholes. My new 300 wsm is on a long action cause I wanted to try the 215 and 220 bergers and fit in a magazine. Same setup. Defiance ANTIX long action, manners lrh, benchmark 23" 9 tw, hawkins hunter bottom metal and magazines with spacer kit, and a TBAC dominus SR suppressor. 8.0 lbs with suppressor, no optics or bipod. Found a super wide node with N555 and the 215 bergers at 2730-2750 fps on the ladder test. So I went back to see how wide it was. 1.2 gr spread in powder was a 1.69" group at 580 yds. Loaded 3 up in the middle of the node at 64.1 and shot a sub 2" group at 580 with it. At 100 it bugholes. Just got a 900 yd berm put in this week so I will test a couple seating depths at that distance next time we get a calm day.
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Thank you for all of the info- really curious to see what it looks like at 900!
 
Built my sons on a tikka. It started as a wsm. I took and swapped the bolt stop out and put a long action bottom metal and magazine. Placed a new barrel on it. Running the 200 gr hybrid with H4831 it is running right at 3000fps. The performance over the factory length short action is amazing. Go medium or long for sure. I am also still running Winchester brass. Waiting for it to start to die off and swap to Adg for sure.
 
Currently run a 300 wsm in defiance deviant XM with 3.24" max mag length and 26" 1:9 proof but just bought a 20" 1:10 for more compact hunting setup. It was originally SAAMI but added freebore to shoot 195 badlands and 205 berger elite hunters in the 26". Havent had the 20" to the gunsmith yet but that will shoot 175 badlands or 181 hammers.
 
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