300WSM or 300 mag ?

[CBH Australia]

@ButterBean days run 124gn in a .300, short enough for both and getting better velocity

 

[Don Titus]

@ButterBean days run 124gn in a .300, short enough for both and getting better velocity

Are you recommending the 124 HH over the 174 HH for elk?

 

[richhymas]

Are you recommending the 124 HH over the 174 HH for elk?

It's going to depend on the intended range. You will have to run the numbers based on muzzle velocity and expected yardage and impact velocity. That in addition to which bullet shoots more accurately out of your firearm including twist rate etc. I would imagine that for longer ranges the heavier bullet will win, but inside 400 yards the light bullet may actually do a great job.

 

[CBH Australia]

Are you recommending the 124 HH over the 174 HH for elk?

Sorry mate, I'm an Aussie. Never seen an Elk.
But, the big fellas brother from Downunder has shot an Asiatic Water Buffalo (Buff) with a 124gn Hammer from a .300, mighta been a RUM though.

Great penetration and result is the moral of the story.

All I'm hearing is good things.

 

[tooth doc]

Don't have the patience to read 8 pages of replies on a strictly opinion based question, but I'll give my own .02 on the topic. I own both. It depends entirely on what you want to get out of the rifle. My 300 WSM is extremely active shooting the 180 scirocco bullets at 2900 FPS. Excellent hunting rifle. Short barrel, I try to limit my hunting shots to 600 yards or so. Great short action rifle. If you want to limit your bullet weight to 200 grains or less the WSM will keep up with the win mag for the most part. When you start wanting to shoot the heavy sleek bullets over 200 you start to consume too much case capacity because there is not enough room in the mag to lengthen the bullet enough and a SAMMI spec chamber will limit the length as well. If you build a custom gun with a medium or long action and longer than SAMMI spec throat you can squeeze out a bit more with those longer bullets, but in my opinion that's a lot of effort and cost and time. At that point you might as well just shoot the 300 win mag or better yet the 300 PRC as the PRC SAMMI spec is designed specifically for those heavy for caliber bullets.

In short I like the WSM for compact guns with bullets 180 or less, the win mag for 180-215 grains, and the 300 PRC or even the 300 RUM for pills greater than 215 grains.

with ya, and include the 300 dakota. i dont love belts.

 

[FEENIX]

Sorry mate, I'm an Aussie. Never seen an Elk.
But, the big fellas brother from Downunder has shot an Asiatic Water Buffalo (Buff) with a 124gn Hammer from a .300, mighta been a RUM though.

Great penetration and result is the moral of the story.

All I'm hearing is good things.

Yes, if I recall the post correctly, it was a .300 RUM.

 

[richhymas]

Sorry mate, I'm an Aussie. Never seen an Elk.
But, the big fellas brother from Downunder has shot an Asiatic Water Buffalo (Buff) with a 124gn Hammer from a .300, mighta been a RUM though.

Great penetration and result is the moral of the story.

All I'm hearing is good things.

Once the bullet leaves the barrel it doesn't care about the cartridge any more. The only thing that matters is the bullet and the impact velocity. With the same bullet and impact velocity it is a true apples to apples comparison.

 

[Upsidedownjack]

I went with the 300wm. Two friends shoot WSMs and really like them. For where I hunt, the longer rifle barrel does not bother me. I like the ability for those longer shots, although I've never taken one longer than 600y. If it's brushy, I have a 22" 280 rem, and a 24" 280ai (my favorite). I got the 300wm for a pending moose hunt, although the 280ai would have been plenty. Honestly, I wanted the excuse to get a 300wm. I do like tha fact that ammunition for the wm is more available everywhere, and if you aren't reloading for it, you'll have more choices with the 300wm.

What do YOU want? Neither one will be the wrong choice.

I have found "for me" that some 80 gr (H-1000) and LRM Primers with 180 gr SPBT works just find out to some 800 yds (Elk). Never took a step, just went down!
HMR-PRO 300 WM