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

Having owned cartridges including 300 WM, 300 WSM, 338 WM and 375 H&H, I can say in my experience that I shoot better with cartridges that recoil less than the aforementioned case heads. Recently considering 308 mag choices, I settled on the 7mm PRC, long rang performance equal to or better than the WM and recoil more in line with the 7mm RM. I find mine a pleasure to shoot at the range which makes is even better in the field.

Considering the 30-06 has killed every animal in NA (J.Y. Jones: One Man, One Rifle, One Land, Rem 700 ADL in 30-06), you might even say the 7 PRC is overkill but I think it's just about right!

I’ve had both, didn’t think they were bad as far as recoil was concerned. They both kill animals dead.

My experience says stock fit and shooting position has a lot to do with "felt" recoil!

Depends on the gun - I've shot the 300 Win. Mag. out of an early 90's (I think) Weatherby rifle with a 26" barrel and their squishy recoil pads that was just butter to shoot - a really satisfying shove to the shoulder. I have also shot a 300 Weatherby out of a Germany-made Mk V with one of those pencil thin 24" tubes. That gun was disturbing to shoot - worse than my Ruger #1 in .338 Win. Mag.

I had all sort of mags at one time or another, but it struck me one day while hunting with one of my sons (I started all three of the with a Win 70 Compact in 250-3000 with Rem 100 PSP), he shot a deer and it just fell over, like most of the ten or so one-shot kills they made with that little rifle, maybe a 300 mag just wasn't necessary (I was using a 300 WSM at the time).

Agreed, hang a 3.6+" mag box on a 300 Win and put good stuff up front and its no slouch at all.

Holy scidt. That is digging pretty deep. I'm pretty sure Phil cringes in that regard, but a 30-06 in his hands, loaded with 200 or 220gr partitions is good bear medicine. I haven't seen him post here in a while, but maybe he will state his true feelings on the matter.

I also like the 30-06 loaded with 200gr partitions. I've seen them penetrate elk, even at extreme angles. There's still a lot of utility in the 30-06 when you use the right bullets.

My 300WBY mag is a pre 64 model 70, that is built right. Weighs 7 pounds (without scope) and holds 4 in the mag box. My 300wm is a Ruger m77 mk2 stainless. I actually much prefer my Ruger m77 mk2 300RSAUM over that rifle. It is shorter, lighter, carries better, and is better balanced. The cartridge itself treads on the heels of the bigger 300wm. I also have a 308 Norma magnum, and really like that cartridge. I just sold my 300WSM Tikka to a buddy. That rifle was 7 pounds scoped, and shoots lights out. The 300 magnums add a little more horsepower for slightly extended ranges. They are also all peas in a pod, as far as I'm concerned.

Where you'll notice a difference, is when you stretch it out past 600 yards. Most animals are shot well within that distance, so the 30-06 works well for most hunters. Just how I see it though. That's keeping in mind, can you shoot that big magnum well enough to hit the boiler room past 600 yards. A lot of guys can't..

Afte making .45-70s my goto rifles for bear and moose with stiff handloads, .300 mags were cream puffs. Then a .340 Wby became my moose rifle for the far north of our province (Ontario). My current favorite rifle is a Ruger No.1H TRopical in .458 Win Mag. Before that it was a Ruger No.1 in .45-70 with a long throat that thought it was a .458 Win, but two lbs lighter. The .458 Win will be my bear gun for this spring season. First time with factory loads: Federal TBBC 400gr at 2250 fps. Mild recoil of less than 40 ft-lbs.

I don't have my .300s anymore as I've gone to .35s, .36s and .375 H&H, plus the .458.

To me, when I had a total of six .300 Win Mags and a .300 Wby and a .308 Norma Mag, the .300 Win was my favorite - never fired a factory load in either the .300 Win or Wby, but liked the 200gr Partition at 3000 fps in each.

Just in case someone is wondering, I'm 88 and about 155 lbs out of the shower.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

There are surgeries out there these days to fix a micro penis. Might be something worth looking into.

I had a 300 wby put together years back. Primarily for elk hunting, and I hadn’t owned a 30 caliber magnum before. I don’t like longer barrels at all so I went with a 24” tube. It still launched 200 gr bullets at 3000 without going over max book charge.
Recoil not bad at all.
Killed several critters with it but just couldn’t like the 24” barrel. Got rid of it and went to a 338 win mag with a 22” barrel. Very happy with it.

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The gun writer must have had a problem finding something to write about that week.
Ethiopia plays Somalia in soccer championship.

I guess everybody has their limit. I know a guy that sold his 25-06 because of recoil. His 6.5x55 is his limit. I don’t know how you could tell the difference. Maybe stock fit? IDK.

My 416 Rigby with 400 grain solids loaded to near Weatherby velocities shot ok, but three shots and I had a bad headache. It was no fun! Bye bye Rigby. My 338 Win Mag rifles shot ok with heavily loaded 250 grain bullets and was something I carried for 40+ maybe 50 years. When I bought the 300 Weatherby and using 200 grain partitions, I felt that I no longer needed the 338. I had 4each 338’s and I sold them all. The Weatherby seems to be a mild kicker in comparison to the 338. I have a 375 H&H AI that even with heavy loads seems ok, recoil wise. I had a couple 7mm RM’s. The 77 was brutal to my cheek the 700 was a piece of cake. After putting a B&C stock on the 77, it was a piece of cake. “Stock Fit!!!”
OK, I had a 350 RM 600 Remington that I only shot heavy loads 250 grain. I had that since the 60’s. I noticed I didn’t shoot that much anymore and it became clear/easy to understand why. That rifle wasn’t much heavier than some revolvers coming out lately.

I’m getting long in the tooth, bursitis and arthritis - I have plenty. But in a good fitting rifle the 300’s don’t seem much different than a 30-06 to me.

The author of the article I referred to, claimed heavy recoil for the Weatherby, but no mention really for the Win… I’m left wondering if it was the guy’s imagination or stock fit or something else. I just don’t notice a difference.

I see most of you guys either are OK with 300 Magnums or not OK with 300 Magnums. That’s fine with me. But I’m pretty certain the Weatherby got a bad rap(so to speak) due to the Weatherby rifles with their skinny barrels. I’m pretty hooked on the Remington 700 Weatherby but I like the Winchester too.

Had several in both flavors. Still have a couple 700s in Roy, a KSS in Win. Don't see a noticeable difference given identical bullet weights, ie., apples to apples.

24" Roys will push a 200 gr NP to 2975 fps. That's right there is the starting gate of what bothers me. A .338 with 250s bothers me more. With 180s, 165s, 150s could shoot them all day, if was inclined to fry a barrel.

The .300 Wins have generally been slightly more accurate with Pb-cores, but the difference disappears with monos.

As an aside I’ve had 2 late 1970s Remington 700 ADLs in 30-06 and with 165 gr. Bullets turning mid 2900s they were a way more violent recoil than my 300 Winchester with 180s. Gun weight and stock design are contributing factors.

Hey, it's 2024 ! You want pecker surgery , go for it , but I think what you really need is a set of balls

In the meantime, here's the ammo you should shoot that won't scare you and put a rash on your gash

See prairie goat’s responses. That’s all you need to know.

Been using one or the other since mid ‘80s. Recoil has never been an issue for me and in a properly weighted rifle with a good stock they’ve been very effective on all types of game world wide. IMO, one or the other is the single best cartridge for non dangerous game hunted anywhere.

Having had them all,along with a 30-378(Sako),the 7mm RemMag is an easy choice. Hint.

Just sayin'..............

Even I can agree with this