Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 30-06 vs 300 Win Mag

Dang. For a minute there I thought I'd had myself a new jackrabbit rifle.

Almost,but not quite.

Besides,there are no gun bearers to carry it for you.

I think the ballistics difference is over stated for shots inside 400-500 yards. A 180 TTSX at 3200 vs. a 168 TTSX at 2950 will be about 5" at 400 yds. For the OPs stated 300 yds either will be fine. Zero it at 200 or so, put the cross hairs on, add a little for longer stuff, and shoot.

I'd go 30-06, and if I ever needed anything bigger I'd get a 375.

As it pertains to TSX/TTSX bullets the 300 win mag is going to be better at any distance.

Amen, load up that 270 with great bullets and enjoy finding your first bull with an excellent set of bins.

As my good friend Bob pointed out, you are good with the 270 with good bullets; that said, it was not the answer I was looking for thirty years ago either as I tried most cartridges and many rifles commercially available. So if you want another rifle... but, within 300 yds. as you specified, it is not worth getting a magnum of any stripe. IMO, from 400 yds. and out and for heavy-for-caliber bullets they have their place for big game.

I would focus on good glass first -- bino's (7x-10x) that you really hunt with; second, a good scope (3-9x, 2.5-8x, 3.5-10 etc.) and a solid rings/base combo of which there are many. Then boots and finally good, layered garments and pack.

And so on. And welcome.

George, I agree.

Bob did have a way of cutting to the chase, and he knew of what he spoke.

I would take my .300 WM elk hunting instead of my .30-06, just because.

The .300 is set up with the glass (Victory 2.5-10) that I like. The '06 would do the job, as you say, with the right bullet.

If you have a .300 Mag, why not use it? Basically it would depend on the individual gun, how well you shot it, the glass it was wearing, the mood you were in at the time. etc., etc...

Dead elk either way if you do your part. And, I probably wouldn't shoot one much over 300 yds. I'm not an 800 yd. hunter, have no desire to become one.

DF

Sure Robert. I have a 300 Wby but if I didn't intend to shoot beyond 300 yds it'd probably fall down the list a ways of a hat full of other cartridges.. though there's nothing wrong with using one either.

As you know one just develops a pretty realistic picture of all the cartridges' lethality after going up and down the latter a couple times while taking a fair amount of game.

Sweet sounds like good recipe. 300 gives you a liftle more range and a bigger punch. Might make the difference in some circumstances.

It is not might make a difference, it does..

I always wonder in these discussions, how many elk most of the posters have really killed.. Reading about elk hunting does not replace doing it.. Bob Hagel was a great elk hunter and a great writer.. He understood the benefit of more powerful rifles, if you can shoot them.. Most can't.. He was also one of the early writers who promoted good bullets.. He didn't have the selection we do, but he knew the benefit of a well constructed bullet...

I have killed a tidy sum.Won't post the number here,. I only shot a 300 mag once. Didn't figure I wanted to do that again.I hunted with7 mag for a few years,killed a few elk with that too. However,the 30-06 has worked for me for many years. I will be the 1st to admit that I can't handle heavy recoil.

I have killed elk with a .308, 44 mag carbine,30-30, 7 mag, 50 cal muzzle loader, 45-70 , 30-06, and probably a few I forgot. I can't say I have experienced any great difference in the killing ability of any of them. If a person keeps in mind the limitations of the gun/cartridge they are using and put the bullet where it needs to go and they all die fairly easily.

Nah...

Elk would never turn loose that .460. He just couldn't...

Dem jackwabbits would overtake that part of NM, without a doubt...

DF

Over a dozen elk here with two being cows and only the cows and two bulls were under 200 yds. The rest were from ~ 350 to 475 lasered.

Nine were taken with a 340 Wby which I really came to appreciate over the years so I have no animus for magnums. But the OP specified under 300 yds and IMO no magnum is really needed at those ranges for deer to elk.

And Saddlesore is proof of that as well as many others here.

I wouldn't dispute anything Bob Hagel wrote but my perception is he often ran with the peddle to the metal -- like a 378 Wby for an Idaho Shiras moose. Not that there is anything wrong with that because Bob knew what he wanted but when a guy asks advice you try to be reasonable.

Yup,that's right DF.

The last couple elk I have killed, could have easily been taken with a 300 Savage, the last even the .30-30, but I am not sure how far they would have ran.. Also much of the elk hunting in this area is now in very open country.. Where you hunt makes a difference.. I have killed elk in the timber, and open mountain sides and the plains.. Elk hunting in my area has become a hunt in more open country.

I also remember the first time I shot a .300 Wea.. I must have been 18 or 19, everyone talked about the horrible recoil..
After the first round, I wondered what is all the fuss about!! I guess it is different for all of us..

My pals 460 did get my attention...

I also remember the first time I shot a .300 Wea.. I must have been 18 or 19, everyone talked about the horrible recoil..
After the first round, I wondered what is all the fuss about!! I guess it is different for all of us..

My pals 460 did get my attention...

Bob killed the moose with the 378 because he had it for testing.. I don't think he ever owned one..

This .300 WM is a good recipe, special at least to me. It's an Ed Brown Damara with Ed's proprietary coating, Shilen match grade barrel with brake. Ed claimed his light weight magnums were more accurate with a brake, thus all magnum Damaras have brakes. It comes with a Jewell trigger and Ed's stock made for him by McM, very similar to the Hunter's Edge. It has a 3.6" full mag box, throated to use the extra COAL which gives a bit more powder space in the case.

This gun is very light, very accurate and very pleasant to shoot. The Zeiss Victory 2.5-10 is just lagniappe, as the Cajuns say. Ed's proprietary 704 action combines CRF with a M-700 type round bolt. Legendary Arms Works took it on after Ed discontinued his rifle line. LAW is offering the 704 in a less expensive package. They've had some issues, hopefully they'll get them worked out and produce quality on par with what Ed turned out.

This would be my first choice for an upcoming elk hunt. I'd look at 200 gr. NPT's, although I've killed elk with 180 gr. NPT's, grave yard dead. Why the 200 gr.? Just 'cause...

Then there's the 165 or 168 TTSX at 3,250 fps... Hunting buds, father and son, love the 168 TTSX in their .300 RUM and .30-378 Wby. That's a bit faster but I've seen what that bullet can do.

DF

Sharp rifle!! Way above my paygrade.. I have killed a lot of elk with cup and core 150's and 165's.. Simply because they shot so fast and flat.. This was in the days before we had range finders, and during a time I needed an elk for winter.. Now not so much..
I think guys get caught up in the heavy bullets for the big .30's and fall to realize, with a good 165 at top speed you can almost leave your range finder at home unless you want to shoot beyond 00 yards..

You sir, have some fine weapons.. Enjoy seeing them.. Best on the elk hunt..