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Best LR .30 caliber on .473 bolt face

My cousin is looking to rebarrel a Rem 721 long action and is wanting the best .30 caliber he can put on this action. Not looking to change the bolt face. He is looking to match or exceed 300 Win Mag if possible. Just share facts and your experiences please. Please don't make this a ,,,,,, contest.

Curious if your cousin reloads? If your cousin reloads there are a few options, if not the options then become a bit more limited. What is the budget on this build? Also did not mention if the action is a long action or a short action. A good gunsmith ought to be capable of opening the bolt face which ought to give you a whole lot more cartridge choices. When considering going to another cartridge, it is also important to take into consideration the feed rails as well. I am in the process of putting together a 30-06 with a 26 inch Lilja barrel; donor rifle was already a 30-06. I don't believe that I will be getting or exceeding the velocities of the 300 WinMag, however I do believe that I will be coming close to them with the 26 inch barrel and some of the new powders that are out there today. This build will be for whitetail deer hunting, and my comfortable shooting distance is 300-400 yards, I do not think that whatever I shoot at the ranges I intend to hunt with will know the difference if it was shot with a 30-06 or a 300WinMag. Good luck with your build.
 
A straight .30-06 with a 26"+ 1:9" (just my preference) is no slouch. Depending on what your cousin is willing and able to do i.e., wildcatting/fireforming. AI version is another consideration and probably the best improvement with the least amount of work. I have a .30 Gibbs (https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/30-gibbs-is-finally-ready.242088/) that I am still developing loads.

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Good luck!

Ed
It's be interesting to see where Rich's 300 stacked up on that chart...
 
Alot of good ideas here. I like the Weatherby RPM case idea except I'd be incline to neck up to a 7mm rather than a 30 cal. Only because it seems like a long way to stretch a 6.5mm neck. I've been thinking of a long throated 30-06 with 26-28" barrel. You can get close to a 300 WM, but equal or exceed is a pretty big jump. I'd say to get the best chances to get to your goal do a Sherman or Gibbs with a high quality 28" barrel. I'll probably do a 26" standard 30-06, if I get 2800-2900 fps with a 215 gr Hybrid I'll be satisfied.
 
Find your 30-06 wildcat of choice and then use 9.3x66 Sako p brass.......
Probably Howell did one.
I'll go check.
On edit........
AHR was building his wildcats in rifles I think. Not to shabby. News to me
His 300 Howell had 75 gr case capacity
I want to do a 340 Howell on a 1977 Pachmayr stock I have.
A 338-06 has a case capacity of 69 gr......340 Howell has 78 gr....
Didn't mean to derail.......
 
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