Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 300 Win Mag vs 300 Weatherby

Curious what others feel about these two.
I read an article from American Hunter and really wasn’t too impressed with the author’s opinion. Mainly his opinion, it seemed, that the 300 Weatherby kicks too hard. I have each both are Remington 700’s. I think the 300 Weatherby with 200 grain partitions kick much less than the 338 with 250 grain partitions. I don’t consider the Weatherby to be a “kicker” at least the Remington 700 version.

Those of you that have shot both, what’s your opinion?

You’ll note that this author had the Weatherby almost 300 for faster than the Winchester.

https://www.americanhunter.org/content/head-to-head-300-win-mag-vs-300-wby-mag/

They both kick too hard for the performance they generate.

The 300 PRC makes them both obsolete, better case design/capacity!
https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/300-prc-vs-300-win-mag/

That's where I am. Only owned the WM tho. It's just not enough "more" over a 30-06 to put up with it.

I thought he gave them both a fair shake.

I have both and load for both. With 180gr bullets, the Weatherby is about 150 fps faster (3100 v 3250), so not that big of a deal (if any). Where I think the Weatherby has a slight edge, is with 200gr bullets where the 300 Winchester's short neck is at a disadvantage due to case capacity. Lastly, the Weatherby costs a LOT more. All that said, I'm a 300 Weatherby guy all the way.

Yep. If a guy wants to shoot something big and snarly, there are better choices.
If a guy wants to shoot something a long ways away, there are better choices.
If a guy wants an all around hunting rifle, there are better choices.
Not much reason to choose a 300 Mag in the year 2024.

um. no. 250 FPS slower than the Weatherby @65K psi. Case design, I "guess" so but who cares..

IDK, recoil on my 300 wm doesn't bother me that much.

Might be "better" calibers, but until the wm stops killing it's intended target, I'll keep using it

both have recoil i own both yet , the 300 Win. mag. is easier and cheaper to find ammo for ,personally i would rather use my 30-06 for all around ammo is easy to find or my 257 Weatherby mag. for deer and antelope that i handload for. Pete53

Both will likely recoil significantly with the heavier slugs. Back down to maybe 180 gr and there will be less punishment. I don't have a 300 but do use a 30-378. Put a Weatherby of near any caliber up against anything similar in a race, and the Weatherby will come in ahead.

Either of the OP's choices will work well against anything in North America. I happen to like Weatherby's in several calibers.

I guess recoil depends on the weight of the rifle and on the rifle stock, I have 9.25 lb Savage Long Range Hunter in 300 WM and felt recoil with 180 gr bullets is slightly sharper than 8.5 lb 30-06 with 180 Gr bullets. Weatherby rifles are know to be hard kickers.

One’s a bit longer with a bit more velocity…..both are good cartridges. In rifles under 9 pounds….neither produce substantial recoil. The first time I shot a .300 Weatherby, a Win. Model 70 without a scope (pretty light) I expected bad recoil……it was a “pussycat”! But, that was from standing not from bench. memtb

I have five rifles in .300 Win. Mag. and while they kick a bit, I've not found them objectionable. Probably a case of no sense, thus no feeling. The rifles are a Winchester M70 with 26" barrel and four Ruger #1 rifles. Pet load runs the 200 gr. Speer Hot Core or 200 gr. Nosler partition. Does quite a number on elk.

I don't own a .300 Weatherby magnum for more than one reason. I have shot a few and can agree recoil can be a bit snappy. Probably my dislike is more personal than anything else. I just don't like the look of their rifles. Probably it's more like the beef between my father and godfather. Godfather was a lifelong Ford man and dad was anything but Ford. Seriously, a few times they came close to trading fists.

On the two mags I just say they're nice cartridges. Use the one you like best.
PJ

I hunt with a 300 Weatherby. I like what it does. I am not inclined to go out and buy the newest fad caliber rifle that might do some things better. I already have a stock of components for it.
I would feel the same about a 300 Win. if I had bought it first. The difference between them is slight.

recoil in the 300 Win, 300 Wby and even the 300 RUM is simply not that bad, grossly overstated by those who shoot dinky cartridges and are terrified of a slight bump on the shoulder and loud noises

recoil starts to be noticable with the 340 Wby and up from there

You will never make it to my moose camp with anything less than 300 Win / 300 WSM, have no use for wimpy dudes in my camp that are scared of any 30 caliber cartridge

I have both and shoot my hunting buddies' 300 Win mags often at the range and I've never felt recoil was abusive for either cartridge. The 300 WBY is in a Pre 64 Model 70, so stock design and weight may be a factor but I've shot them in Rem 700s, Savage, and a couple others and never really was bothered by the recoil from a bench. Even less so from free standing positions. We normally shoot 180s in our 300s for elk and never really noticed any difference when trying the 200 grain bullets.

I do have to admit that one of our hunting buddies had a 300 RUM for a while. That one was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable, but still wasn't what I would call unpleasant unless you were up for shooting a bunch of ammo in a day.

I've always thought recoil is one of those things you can train yourself to handle for the most part, but then I hear guys complaining about the recoil of a 30-06 range of cartridges and I wonder what is up with that? There is definitely a limit, though- I don't wish to shoot a 378 Wby or 460 Wby any time soon again... a couple times with those was enough to cure me.

I don't/didn't find the recoil bad. But on an ROI aspect - as in "I get X recoil for Y performance" - wasn't there for me.

And to think 458 Win is ok with hunters coming to Brown bear camp with a 30-06, I guess dem mooses is tougher than dem brownies!

I've had quite a few each(in 700's),along with 300 H&H and 300 Super(30-8mm RemMag). Hint.

Because bullets matter more than headstamps,the 300 Winny is a superior route,due COAL advantages,which grant opportunity to better projectiles. Hint.

Pass the 7mm RemMag,.796 BC 180's and hold The Fluff. Hint.................