The point of the article was a �one rifle battery� and if I was limited to hunt with one rifle and one caliber, then I agree, nothing tops the 300 Winchester Magnum � period. If I had to start in Arizona hunting Coues deer at long range, then work my way north and east knocking off whitetails, mulies, elk, all the different types of sheep, then head to Alaska and take the biggest bull moose you can find in the willows and finally throw in a huge brownie. The 300 Winchester Magnum is my gal!
The 300 Winchester Magnum loaded stout with a 180 Partition will get every one of those jobs done with little fuss. Cross canyon shooting of Coues deer or a record Dall or Stone sheep� no problem. Bucking that crazy Wyoming wind to put down a 16� antelope hanging out there at 450 yards � no problem. Slipping up on a huge herd bull singing songs to the girls and then planting him where he stands� no problem. Say you paid for an incredible brownie hunt with Phil Shoemaker? No problem, the 180 Partition will get that job done too with no worries. There�s nothing the caliber can�t do and do well for
all big game hunting in North America.
Some say it�s a tweener round � pppfffssstt! It�s a 30 caliber baby and 30 caliber is America�s caliber! The 300 Winchester Magnum sits right smack in the middle of the bologna of the power spectrum. It�s competition are the Big 7�s, the ought-six and the 338�s. And throw in some of the 35 caliber magnums if you want. But it is the best of the best.
It�s shoots nearly as flat as any of the Big 7�s do but won�t leave you �wanting� more gun when you�re hunting a big brownie up close and personal. The grand old �ought-six� handloaded ain�t that far off. But it�s still short on trajectory and power. The 300 Winchester Magnum hits as hard as the 338 Winny but doesn�t have that rounds rainbow trajectory while trying to shoot across a canyon or through the wind of Wyoming that God turns on every morning at 6 am. You like the 340 Weatherby like I do? That�s a fine round and shoots just as flat and hits much, much harder but you gets what you pay for � a lot-o-recoil! You like the 35 Whelen, nice round, but the ought-six is better all around. Ever shoot a 358 STA? Try it sometime and then think about laying prone and shooting long range and that round falls short and worse - leaves you a battered mess.
To be honest, for the 300 Winchester Magnum to really shine she needs some work. Dump her in a light stock with a light scope and mounts to trim her weight down. To make her sing and dance, she needs to be handloaded. And she needs her magazine box knocked out so she can stretch out to a slender COL of 3.560. Work that 180 Partition up over 3100 fps and she�s where she�s happiest! She will serve you well and never let you down when you do your part and give you plenty of margin if or when you mess up.
Finally, I know, the 300 Weatherby is a little faster. But it just doesn�t say western big game hunting! She�s a little too snobbish, a little too uppity and I hate getting rain in my nose if I have to hunt with her. And the 300 RUM is just too much of a good thing and eats your powder stock faster than rabbits can reproduce - I know, we have a few RUM's!
Just don�t ask me why I have all of those other calibers and rifles that I already mentioned because I can�t give you an answer.
300 Winchester Magnum - the best of the best
Pass the popcorn please!
