New Reloader With Bullet Suggestion for New 300 wsm

[th82457]

I have hunted & loaded several .300 WSM rifles since they were introduced. My most consistant bullet for accuracy & performance on game from deer to elk to moose has been a 168 grain Barnes TTSX. Depending on the particular rifle I may need to alter seating depth or powder type for best results - but always find a load that works. I currently have a Sako Tecomate in .300 WSM that I will be elk hunting with during this years Colorado 2nd rifle season. It has the same 1:11 twist as your Sako 85 and shoots the 168 Barnes very well. Terminal performance with this bullet has always been excellant also. Just my experience.

 

[jeffNC]

I have hunted & loaded several .300 WSM rifles since they were introduced. My most consistant bullet for accuracy & performance on game from deer to elk to moose has been a 168 grain Barnes TTSX. Depending on the particular rifle I may need to alter seating depth or powder type for best results - but always find a load that works. I currently have a Sako Tecomate in .300 WSM that I will be elk hunting with during this years Colorado 2nd rifle season. It has the same 1:11 twist as your Sako 85 and shoots the 168 Barnes very well. Terminal performance with this bullet has always been excellant also. Just my experience.

My brother and I are heading out to Colorado 2nd Rifle Unit 77. Pagosa Springs we are carrying 300WM with Barnes TTSX 180 grain. I've had really good consistent groups out to 500. I have some 185 VLD's should I load them up? I couldn't fine a good recipe. Anyways Good Luck with your hunt! Any suggestions welcome!

 

[Libbylogger]

Reloader 16 and 152 grain Hammer Hunters, my load is doing right at 3400 FPS. Shooting 3/4 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards. Killed a cow and 5 point bull last year and a 40" bull moose this year with great results.

I emailed Hammer bullets and they just emailed me back and said the 160g Hammer Hunter was designed specifically for my application (1:11 twist). Looks like that might be a winner! Now to find the optimal powder.....

My rifle is a 1:11 also, Tikka T3. With Hammers being solid copper with the petals that deploy internally you get a massive wound channel. I shot my moose at 50 yards in the neck, trying to break spine. Bullet ended up just under the skin on offside shoulder. Still weights 82 grains, now that's a 152 bullet at 3400 FPS hitting a Shiras moose in the neck, breaking neck and still traveling through a ton of soft tissue to the shoulder. High velocity impact and performed as intended. Crank them up and let them eat! By the way, I lost about 2-3 pounds of meat due to blood shot. I'll take that everyday!!

 

[greenejc]

Have about 200 180 grain Sierra Gamekings through my T3 and have given me excellent consistent shot after shot different lot# to lot# accuracy and have killed a few doe's and they performed very well also. All shots were under 100yrds so far. All were bang flop DRT. Also got great accuracy using using 180 and 200 NAB and NBT, but have as yet to kill anything with them.

Truthfully, the 180 grain NBT shoot superbly, best of all giving consistent 5 shot .5 moa or smaller groups.
And all my Nosler bullets are factory seconds.
Found best results with IMR 4831. Getting just a hair over 2900 for best accuracy. Did manage to get above 3kfps fps but accuracy and was more consistent at 2900ish with all bullet types and weights.

I use them and the Prohunter 180s in my 300WM and my 30-06. They are very accurate and they kill consistently.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

I agree with ALB GREG . ( because I'm old too!! ) 180 grn Nosler Partition would be great for Elk. 11 twist is a bit slow, so you will have fun experimenting with longer heavier bullets .

 

[FEENIX]

Thanks for all the suggestion fellas. I think I will try the Berger 180 grain Elite Hunter hybrids and 180 Swift Sciroccos. It looks like my H4350 isn't optimal for those, so Ill do some digging on what powders work best as well.

My .300 WSMs are 1:10" and propels the 215 Berger at 2850 FPS with RL-17. If you run the numbers, it is no slouch to 1KY. Your choice of bullets is good. The 180, 185, and 190 (max for your barrel twist) Berger would be "my" personal choice.

 

[Saskquatch6]

I emailed Hammer bullets and they just emailed me back and said the 160g Hammer Hunter was designed specifically for my application (1:11 twist). Looks like that might be a winner! Now to find the optimal powder.....

The 160 Hammers sound really interesting to me and would like to hear back how they work for you. I currently reload for 4 300 WSMs and 2 like Superformance and 2 like RL26. I don't yet have access to Hammers, but after trying just about every other bullet available have settled on 165 Accubonds for deer and 168 TTSXs for moose and elk (btw I think the ABs would work fine for them also - just like the extra performance of the TTSX on the big boys). All 4 rifles are 1:10 twist and given your 1:11 I believe these bullets would be in your wheelhouse as well. I prefer the extra velocity and better trajectory these 165/168 class bullets provide (out to 600 yds my personal max range on game) and they're tough enough to hold up when range is close. I'm thinking the Hammers in this weight range should be devastating. Good luck.
Edit: The relatively short factory throats on our rifles mean the longer heavier bullets would have to be seated quite deep and encroach on powder capacity. 180s are ok, but much heavier and we experience declining returns - the above works for us, but I'd defer to Feenix et al re: longer ranges with heavier bullets.

 

[Jester560]

I have a Sako M995 with an 11 twist and it loves Berger 190gr VLDs. It serves me well out to 1760.

 

[Old Rooster]

Not all 1:11 twist rifles are true 1:11 twist.
You can check the twist on your rifle all by yourself.There are videos on youtube that show you how.
For many years I have used 180 gr Partitions and Accubonds in my 300 wm's and have had great success in them but hard to find right now so I switched to Hammers and am happy.They are easy to tune a load for your gun.My load may not be the greatest in your gun so I won't give you my load data but ladder testing your loads in your rifle and your bullet are your best bet.

 

[TexSavage]

My Savage 12 BVSS 26" 1:10 shoots the 215 Hybrid at 2810 using H4831SC. Great to the 1K mark and quite deadly. I concur with Feenix 100%!!

 

[vancewalker007]

Hi, Im pretty new to the reloading world. I have primers and powder to try, but am looking for some help with bullet suggestions. I just purchased a Sake 85 finnlight in 300 WSM. I would like to use this for deer/elk hunting and shooting at steel to 1000y. It has a 1:11 twist, so I will stick with heavier bullets 180 and higher. Can someone recommend a bullet that would be good for hunting and long range accuracy? I have some 200gr ELDX factory rounds I will play with but would like to find a bullet that is maybe better and works for both.

With that slow twist you will likely not see good results with heavy for caliber bullets unless you are operating in really high altitudes. Try doing some calculations with the Berger Twist Calculator (See link below) using bullet data on what you want to shoot and environmental data from where you will be hunting. Most people running heavy 30 cal bullets are using 1:9 twist barrels. My old 300 WSM had a 1:10 and did really well with the Berger 190 VLD Hunter and Barnes 180 TTSXs.

Twist Rate Stability Calculator

Our newly updated Twist Rate Stability Calculator not only tells you what your SG is, but it also lets you know if you are reaching your optimized BC.

bergerbullets.com

 

[JuddL]

I'm going to run the 155 scenar for my whitetail and axis and then 180 Berger for Aoudad and Nilgai.

I don't like recoil and so I'll error to the slower burns. My experience with the 30-06 and a case full of H4350 is it just hurts.

Still working up my 155 load but it's screaming over n550, 3300 right at ejector marks. This is a saami chamber and could benefit from just a little more free bore.

 

[trout004]

I shot the 200 ELD-X out of a T3X 300 Win Mag for years with a load that was consistently ~1/2 MOA. The Tikka barrel is also a 1/11 twist, but I am not sure if these are the same barrels that Sako puts on their 85's. Last elk with that rifle was 687yards - right through the boiler room. Like jaspepp, says, these shoot "lights out."