Which .30 to build? Economical weight & speed?

[BEEMAN]

300 WM. It is easy with no fire forming. Unless you want the meanest and fastest 30 cal out there I think the 300 WM is the way to go. Mine runs 215 Bergers right at 3000 fps out of a 26" barrel. Gun complete with scope is 10 lb 2 oz. Just make sure you get the right reamer. I spoke with Broz on here and he gave me some suggestions.

 

[FEENIX]

lightbulbAnother vote for the .300 WM, it is very hard to beat and meets your requirement esp. when it is backed up by real world success that Jeff (BROZ) has afield >>> http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/comparing-berger-210-vld-215-hybrid-88657/ lightbulb

The .300 WM remains my go to chambering for antelope to elk size game up to 1K yards.

I don't recommended it because I have other costs (Manson custom reamer, Whidden custom hydraulic forming die, and Whidden custom reloading dies) associated with "MY full custom build but it's a cost I opted to nonetheless". Because the .300 Ackley was introduced, my .30 Lara (.300 Jarret improved) is similar.

Not to scale but just a quick side by side visual only comparison ...

L - .300 Ackley
R - .30 Lara (.300 WBTY factory brass fire-formed off the chamber)

L - .300 WM handload with 190 Berger
M - Factory .300 WBTY with 180 SP
R - .30 Lara with 220 ELD-X seated

From L to R ...

1 - 8MM Rem Mag virgin brass
2 - After a couple of whacks off the hydraulic forming die
3 - After re-sizing
4 - Fire-formed off rifle's chamber

The hydraulic forming die allows me to use the following cartridges; 8MM Rem Mag, 7MM STW, .375H&H, 358 STA, .416 Rem Mag, .300 H&H (a little tricky at this time), and in a pinch shoot a factory .300 WBTY ...

Factory .300 WBTY ammo next to .30 Lara (.300 WBTY fire-formed off chamber) with .200 ELD-X seated.

My goal with my build is to get to near factory .300 RUM performance; propelling the .230 Berger safely and accurately at 3K FPS off 27" Lilja 1:9" 3G barrel but will gladly take accuracy over velocity anytime. gun)

Sadly, I have all the component on hand for load development except for time and good weather ... the hunting season and now ice fishing got in its way.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Mud,
What bullet/powder are you running in your 300ackly? What speeds are you getting?
If i go with a .30 I am looking at running 212 or 220eldX
Thank you for the info

I'm pushing a Berger 210 VLD 3,000-3,100 fps. I have not finalized load development, but I'm over 3K and haven't reached any pressure signs yet. I have been doing load development with 7828 SSC, but I also have some H1000 and 7977 to see how they perform as well.

 

[IdahoCTD]

I've built and shot a couple different 300 Weatherby Imp's or 300 H&H Imp's over the years and stopped going the fireforming route. I've done a 308 Baer, 30-358STA (which Kenny Jarrett latter coined the 300 Jarrett), and a 30-8mm Rem mag. By far the easiest is the 30-8mm Rem. mag. It's basically a 7STW neck up to 30 caliber or a 8mm Rem mag necked down. You just neck brass up or down and shoot it. The velocites and loads are almost identical between them all. I have one with a 27" barrel that shoots 210's 3100fps and another with a 29" barrel that shoots 150's and 155's 3600fps for smacking rockchucks. They are all about 100-150fps faster than a 300wm.

 

[WildRose]

There are lots of ways to get where you want to be and most of them have been well covered.

For the sake of economy and barrel life the .300wm is the way to go.

I talk about the point of diminishing returns in case size and for the .30 caliber that seems to be somewhere between the .300wm and .300wby.

If I wanted to do a wildcat, I'd neck down the .375 Ruger as it would leave you a lot of room in the magazine to avoid ending up with a single feeder.

The .300 Lapua puts you up into the realm of having to build off of a very expensive limited few actions built to handle it.

 

[IdahoCTD]

If I wanted to do a wildcat, I'd neck down the .375 Ruger as it would leave you a lot of room in the magazine to avoid ending up with a single feeder.

About the only case that wouldn't require a longer mag box to seat the big bullets where they should be is a 300 Norma and it's about the absolute max in a Remington standard box length. Even the Ruger case would require a longer mag box. It's barely shorter than a 300wm ( by .040") and the 300wm with 215's is about 3.76". Anything heavier and you really need a longer throat.

IMO the 300wm size case is about maxed out at 215's. The velocity loss with the heavier bullets can't really be made up by the BC. To shoot heavier you need more case capacity but that comes at a price. The next step up would be the 30 Noser (mid 90gr capacity), the 375 Ruger case necked down (high 90grs of capacity) followed by the 300 Weatherby Imp cases (my 30-8mm are 101grs), the 300 Norma (103grs of water capacity), and 300 Rum (approx 112-113grs).

I have a 300 Norma Imp and it has 110grs of capacity. With a 230 Berger and a .235" throat at .007" off the rifling it's at 3.608". The optimal throat length for 230's is around .280". That would add .045" to the 3.608 and make it 3.653" OAL. A Remington standard length mag box is 3.68".

 

[gohring3006]

I'm in with Mud on this.

300Wby or 300Ackley with Ackley getting the nod.

Mud, can you just shoot 300Wby in the Ackley like you can with some others?

Me too, I had the Weatherby to 2970 fps with a Hex coated 225 ELD and IMR 7828.
It showed no pressure at all, I think with the right powder I could break 3000 fps easy.

 

[gohring3006]

After a little more thought....
If I was starting from scratch and building, the most logical would be .300 Norma.
It seems I could get 3000 fps easily without pushing the brass so hard...
And it's design is built for long bullets... Kinda what the 6.5 Creedmoor accomplishes.

 

[FEENIX]

I had the Weatherby to 2970 fps with a Hex coated 225 ELD and IMR 7828.
It showed no pressure at all, I think with the right powder I could break 3000 fps easy.

That's always good to know ... cheers!

 

[gohring3006]

That's always good to know ... cheers!

This may have been ask to you in your thread. But did you keep the freebore or go with a shorter throat?
I'm wondering if it would really make a difference anyway with your cartridge.

 

[IdahoCTD]

A 300 Norma has to get pushed pretty hard to get to 3000fps with a 230 (like 2-3 reloads on cases that cost 2.00+ each). My improved runs 3045fps in a 30" barrel because it's so accurate there. I can go over 3100fps with good brass life but the accuracy goes from the .1's and .2's to .5". It's 7 grains more powder capacity then a standard 300 Norma.

 

[gohring3006]

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/info-300-norma-mag-101150/ I'll just refer back to this thread that sparked my interest in the 300 Norma..

 

[FEENIX]

This may have been ask to you in your thread. But did you keep the freebore or go with a shorter throat?
I'm wondering if it would really make a difference anyway with your cartridge.

Free bore length is .125.

 

[gohring3006]

Free bore length is .125.

Gotch ya!!! I think I ask you that before...