300wsm vs 7mm-08

[Outlaw6.0]

Horsefeathers.... there is nothing wrong with upgrading your rifle while using factory ammo. There are phenominal factory rounds out there with nearly ANY bullet available but there are a few caveats..

1) you need to understand what you need the bullet to do & select an appropriate bullet for the job. Then ensure your reamer is properly set up for that bullet. You are going to hinder yourself if your have a factory spec reamer & decide to run heavy for caliber bullets etc.

2) you will pay dearly for premium (no Walmart is not premium). HSM comes to mind, as well as a few other high end ammo gurus... but it will work for sure.

I'd say the 300 in your case, (although I'm kinda biased against the 7mms). RL-17 is showing fantastic velocity BUT, it is probably not going to be very temp stable (as most Alliant powder). Only time will tell.

The 300 will do just fine with a 26"-28" bbl, the ABS are pretty cool. There were some serious issue with the earlier Christensen Arms bbls, but I don't know if they are the same or not... A brake will help you spot your hits (or worse) but will be a pain in the a%$ if you're on a coyote stand unless you use electronic protection.

Just my .002, hope it helps.

 

[Backwoods Boy]

Thanks. That does help. What grain bullet should I be looking at for this range? Sorry anything past 200 yards is a new ball game for me

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Thanks. That does help. What grain bullet should I be looking at for this range? Sorry anything past 200 yards is a new ball game for me

How much do you intend to practice? This will also factor in, Barnes will work very well for this yardage (thinking 168TTSX) but they are more $$ compared to a "conventional" bullet. Look at what HSM, BOTW & others are offering for factory loads, if rolling with a Berger, run 190's or better & you'll be fine. Hornady's... probably the 208 A-Max (I can't speak for the other HNDYs)...the Barnes 175 LRX would be sweet....Swift Scirocco II...the new Cutting Edge Bullets look bad a*%.....

I can ramble for a long time about this topic... the heavies won't have the initial velocity but will retain it for much longer than the light fellas & will eventually catch & pass them in the velocity dept.... not to mention the wind advantages...

I shoot a cartridge similar to the 300WSM in capacity & size, I'm running the 7.82 Lazzeroni Patriot with the Barnes 168TTSX @ well over 3k fps w/RL-17. (pretty hot)

A gent stated above that you were "wasting your time w/o reloading". Though it isn't entirely true, it isn't entirely untrue either. There are HUGE amount of different combinations you can try to "fine tune" to your bbl's harmonics & your particular shooting needs if you or someone you know (& trust) can reload. It's not impossible to find a hammer in a factory load, but it might (read probably will) take longer to find it.

 

[Backwoods Boy]

More than likely about once a month shooting several rounds each time. I figured that hand loading would give better results but is good hear decent results are available from factory loads. Thanks guys

 

[TannerGun]

Outlaw is right on... you'll have fun shooting factory stuff, but it's just not the same level of accuracy/tailored performance. If you're looking to really get good, and practice a ton, handloading is where I would be spending 500 bucks. You can get into a REALLY GOOD set up in the Rockchucker Kit/ Hornady kit for 5-600 bucks, ready to start loading.

There is a ton of help and info on getting started rolling your own stuff, don't be nervous or anything like that. It is an investment that you will never regret, and you'll look back on shooting factory fodder and wonder how you did it for so long.

Some guys look at reloading as a chore... I personally REALLY enjoy the whole process and seeing rifles love a new load. It's tremendously gratifying to kill stuff with handloaded fodder as well... you will love it.

Hope this helps...

 

[Backwoods Boy]

I do plan on hand loading in the future but right now I honestly don't have the time to do it right. It's just easier to pay a little extra for good quality factory loads. Up until this past year it didn't matter that much since my longest shot was just a hair over 300 yards and the black hills gold did great in the rifle. The land was logged during hunting season and it opened up alot. Now that I'm looking at much longer shots possibly, hand loading will be in my near future

 

[barnesuser28]

if you can get your hands on some i would go with the Barnes Vor-tx 150 grain TTSX. depending on your elevation it would expand out to 800 yards.
Btw: what is your elevation so i can see what your max affective range would be with this load?

 

[Backwoods Boy]

if you can get your hands on some i would go with the Barnes Vor-tx 150 grain TTSX. depending on your elevation it would expand out to 800 yards.
Btw: what is your elevation so i can see what your max affective range would be with this load?

835ft above sea level

 

[barnesuser28]

well at that elevation your max effective range would be about 750 yards

 

[Backwoods Boy]

well at that elevation your max effective range would be about 750 yards

Was that the 300wsm or the 7mm-08?

 

[Backwoods Boy]

Ok newbie has a dumb question. Which ballistic table should I be using for rounds like the ballistic silvertip or the hornady sst? G1 or G7?

 

[TannerGun]

G1 and G7 are different ways of expressing ballistic coefficients of a certain bullet...

You'll have a tough time using any table until you chronohraph a specific load out of your rifle. Once you do, then look up the BC of that bullet. Then go plug your info into JBM ballistics and you'll have a drop chart. Which won't be whole lot of use unless you're using an elevation turret. If you are, you'll be ready to rock!

 

[the shotty]

Question I havnt seen yet is how do the two guns you already have shoot? If there moa guns then I don't see much reason to change, unless your just looking for another toy which I can completely understand. I will just expand a little in terms of what has been said about the reloading. If your guns are already moa or close they can only get better with handloads. One of the big benefits of reloading vs buying factory is being able to tailor the ammo specifically for your chamber. What I mean is you can seat the bullets to a specific length as to where your barrel likes, fireformed brass if sized correctly can help your accuracy to certain extents. It really can become ocd depending on how far you get into it. Reality is for 5-800 yards you don't need m.o.ticks-butt, however if your like a lot of guys on this forum that's just a stepping stone to that greener pasture one more drainage over and that accuracy becomes ever more so important. But that's a bridge to cross when you get there, just my .02

 

[barnesuser28]

Was that the 300wsm or the 7mm-08?

300 wsm