Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The 300 Wby Mag for elk- is there anything better?

Back in the dark ages (1890's) the question would have been "The 7x57 Mauser for elk - is there anything better?"

Now, over 120 years later, for some people the answer is still "No".

The .300 Weatherby has a lot of positive attributes, but it has a lot of negatives, too. Among those negatives are:

1. Typical barrel length is 24". Not horrible but not compact, either.

2. Typical rifle weight. Again, not horrible but not lightweight, either.

3. Recoil with pull power loads is more than many people want to (or can) endure. Definitely more than necessary for the vast majority of hunters.

4. Factory ammo costs. This morning the cheap stuff at Midway is 1.78x more expensive than the cheap .300 Win Mag ammo and 2.56x more expensive than cheap 180g .30-06 hunting ammo. Comparing Remington Express 180g Core-Lokt ammo: .30-06 (2700fps), $22.99; .300 WM (2960fps), $30.99; .300WBY (3120fps), $69.99.

5. Ammo selection. At midway this morning there are 116 options for .30-06, 72 for .300 WM and 27 for .300 WBY.

6. Rifle options. Almost every bolt rifle manufacturer offers a .300 WM option. Don’t bother looking for a new .300 Weatherby from Remington, Winchester, Ruger, Savage, Sako, Tikka, Montana Rifle Company, Nosler, or Kimber. In other words, if you want a .300 Weatherby, be prepared to let your cartridge of choice dictate the rifle manufacturer and model.

This is not to knock the .300 Weatherby but rather just to point out some practical considerations. While I can’t say I‘ll never own one, I can say I don’t see any remotely compelling reason for me to do so. YMMV.