Talk me out of a 20 inch 300 Winchester magnum… or not.

[Trnelson]

Some very good point made about shooting a 300Win through a short barrel into a can. I HAVE Specwar 7.62, among other suppressors. I share those same reservations.
What about a good old .30/06? A slight advantage over the 308WIN and every hardware store has supply. Just a thought.

 

[Tripodmvr7]

With a 20 barrel a 165TSX can accurately be launched at 2900fps. Pressure is safe.

Have you given thought to a Ruger No. 1 action and a 22 inch barrel? I dont find a single shot hunting rifle a handicap and that will solve your length issue with a silencer.

 

[bigngreen]

With a 20 barrel a 165TSX can accurately be launched at 2900fps. Pressure is safe.

Have you given thought to a Ruger No. 1 action and a 22 inch barrel? I dont find a single shot hunting rifle a handicap and that will solve your length issue with a silencer.

That bullets speed combo is no where near a long range set up!!!

 

[Deleted member 103481]

I bet you'd be over 2700 with Berger 215 factory ammo.

 

[ButtersDad]

Thanks for all the input so far, getting some good feedback here. To answer the supressor question, Shooting suppressed to me is the most comfortable way to shoot. Especially when hunting, if I'm stalking or running down a trail to get a shot not having to worry about my ears ringing and the reduction in recoil are priceless, no it's not subsonic, and yes it's still kinda lound, but the can usually takes everything down to or below 140db which is very comfortable, shooting with a can in my experience also doesn't spook game like it normally does with out. I have not idea why, but I've had multiple experiences with hogs and whitetail where I shoot with the can and they only move a little, anytime I've hunted non suppressed once I pull the trigger every animal with 300yds scatters. Between 300wm, 30-06, and 300wsm the 300wsm is off the list due to ammo availability, otherwise I would definately consider it as it's also a SA cartridge and would reduce my overall rifle length. But I'm just not able to find ammo easily. So the 30-06 I'm still thinking about but the velocity difference with the 300wm is usually 200fps and that's seems to be significant. Even if I get less burn in the 300wm, let's say I lose another 50fps in unburnt powder I'm still 150fps faster than the 06. I'm looking forward to a roughly 150-200fps velocity loss and with factory loads averaging 2900-3200fps in light and heavy loads 2700-3000fps is more than adequate to get met to 1000 on steel and 800 to ethically put down any North American animal.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

I would stay with the 300 win if it were me. if you lost 100 FPS with factory ammo - BIG DEAL! your still faster then a WSM or '06.

i wouldn't worry about the internet, get it built and go kill!

 

[ButtersDad]

And I do want to get into reloading eventually but now does not seem to be the time to be able to do so with component shortages. I'm really liking the idea though of sending the rifle in to get some customs loads worked up with faster powders and have a recipe that I can have duplicated until I'm able to hit the bench.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Try hornady precision hunter 200 gr. eld-x when you get it all spun up - ive found it to shoot exceptional in several custom 300 Wm's in our inner circle.

when bought in bulk quantities (when available haha) its under $40 a box.

runs right @ 2900 in my 24'' proof 300 win. a friend has a 22'' 300 win christensen carbon barrel that runs right around 2925. (surprised he gets faster with the 2 inches shorter)

 

[Argon Glen]

Try hornady precision hunter 200 gr. eld-x when you get it all spun up - ive found it to shoot exceptional in several custom 300 Wm's in our inner circle.

I didn't mention this in my previous replies since I don't have the same setup @arios2 and my needs and use are different. Having said that, I shoot a 300 Win Mag which has a 24.5 barrel plus a muzzle brake. My new load is a large magnum primer, 76.5 H1000, and 212 ELD-X, in virgin Nosler fully-prepped brass. It's shooting less than half-MOA from a factory rifle.

 

[bdyal1972]

So, I want to build a 20 inch 300 win mag to use primarily for hunting and occasional long range shooting fun out to 1000yds. Currently I hunt everything with a custom 16 inch 308 suppressed and has worked perfect out to 400yds. I want a caliber I can comfortably hunt out to 800yds with and of course there are a numerous amount of options, but I have my own personal preference I'm trying to satisfy.
My requirements are:
* maximum of a 20 inch barrel as I only shoot suppressed and a silencerco Omega adds an additional 6 inches
**Ammo has to be very readily available as I do not reload or intend to reload in the future**
* ammo has to be reasonably priced, $35 or less per box of 20 for match or quality hunting ammo
* caliber has to support a 1000rd barrel life (No 28 NOSLER! lol)
* Recoil sensitivity is a non issue….

Now, I KNOW there are much better caliber options for hunting, but I can't stress how important it is to be able to go to ANY sporting goods store and buy a box of ammo if I need to. This will be a dedicated hunting rifle and I have had numerous hunting trips where I have to buy a few boxes of ammo on the day of my hunt. 300 winmag has a ton of factory ammo offerings from light to heavy and I can't think of another caliber that offers as much of a variety. Barrel length is my Achilles heel, I KNOW Im giving up precious precious muzzle velocity by limiting myself to a 20 inch barrel but Im in Texas and do all of my hunting either in a blind, or walking through thick brush, and maneuvering a jousting lance of a rifle with a 24 inch barrel and a 6 inch suppressor is not gunna do it for me. I love shooting suppressed as well and a silencerco omega is gunna live on the muzzle. So i'm looking for some opinions on if there is a better caliber option that meets my personal requirements for the listed reasons, or am I moving in the right direction for my needs? Now I've seen good comparisons as in a 20 inch 300winmag is a 28 inch 308, which i'm more than excited about, but I've also heard potential negatives like a 20 inch 300winmag leaves too much unburnt powder in a suppressor. Let me know what you think, and if anyone has a 20in 300winmag tell me about it! Thanks

Just my 2 cents

27 years I have hunted the coastal jungle temperate rainforest of western Oregon and Washington with 26,28,30 inch barrels PLUS A 2" TO 3" MUZZLE BRAKE!!!

WHY GO SHORTER THAN 22" WITH A SUPPRESSOR

I KNOW I HAVE LOADED AND TUNED OVER A DOZEN 06, 308, 7X57AI, 280AI AND 257 AI RIFLES WITH 26"-30" BARRELS BURNING 20-35 GRAINS LESS POWDER WITH HIGH SEC DENSITY, HIGH BC BULLETS THAT EXCEED MAGNUM LOADS IN A 20-22" BARREL WITH LESS RECOIL AND longer barrel life!!!

Of i can CRAWL miles in a season THROUGH 8ft tall rhododendrons and not mind the barrel, get in and out of pickups tens of thousands of times???

Why carry a short sword that doesn't do the job?

 

[ButtersDad]

Well... I just want it shorter. Purely preference. When your in a hunting blind that was made in 1980 at a friends lease and your trying to pick your rifle up and put the barrel out the window without spooking a nice 10pt buck every inch counts. If I was in a more spacious area or hunting antelope in open fiends would be a completely different story.

 

[Argon Glen]

When your in a hunting blind that was made in 1980 at a friends lease and your trying to pick your rifle up and put the barrel out the window...

Seems getting a bigger blind would be easier and cheaper. And better than trying to shoehorn an expensive, custom, oddly configured for use rifle into a cramped blind. But that's just me. You do you, I/we have given some good feedback.

 

[ButtersDad]

Yup, got a lot of good info so far, I'm actually going to call Silencerco today and get they're input on unburnt powder in the can and what kind of performance problems will it cause to the can.

 

[yorke-1]

I think you've got a great plan, I happen to be partial to very short barrels though. I think your choice of the 300 Win mag is perfect, with the one caveat that I'd want to be able to use at least a 3.600" OAL. That would give you some great options for factory loaded ammo. I'm not a suppressor guy, but make sure that yours is rated for a 20" 300 Win Mag.

Every time the discussion of short barreled magnums gets brought up you'll hear the same comments about unburned powder, muzzle blast and horrific fireballs at the muzzle. I'd just suggest that you look to the specialty pistol community for their experience on the subject. It's not uncommon to run chamberings with similar case capacities (or greater) than the Win Mag in barrels from 16-19" with excellent results in specialty pistols.