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

I do like smash-mouth cartridges but I also like light rifles; therein lies a conundrum requiring some compromise.

Though I've taken relatively few elk (eleven or twelve), they've mostly been between four and five hundred yards.

It'll be a 300 B at 8.5 lbs all up for me this fall or a 6.25 lb 284 all up at back-up; or vice-versa. I like 'em both.

It's an older Japanese MK5 that was my elk hunting partner's fathers rifle. He passed it along to my son last year. Hoping he gets a chance to use it this Fall in Wyoming for elk.


I have had a 300 Wby in a Vanguard, didn't like it. I like what this MK5 does, so it is has kinda gotten me back on a 300 magnum kick recently. I think a 300 Win or Wby 70 Classic Sporter would be the one. I am dieing to put a rifle in a Legend stock and can't think of a better one than a 300 mag in a Classic.

Same thing, same results.

The .300 Wby Mag is a classic big game cartridge. But it won't kill any deader than other big game cartridges. Mr Heinz Neaf knows this to be factual as did the new world record Yukon bull moose, the largest of the three species of North American moose, that he killed with a .303 British.

Nothing living will remain in that condition sans its heart and/or lungs. Without oxygenated blood to any big game animal's brain, it will die. That is an unalterable biological fact.

What hunters want to use to kill their big game is up to them. But they'll lose me in a maze of convoluted logic when they try to tell me that their cartridge of preference is best. As evidenced by Mr. Neaf's new world record moose, a .303 British will kill big game just as dead as a big magnum provided a bullet from it stops oxygenated blood flow.

God only knows how many head of all North America big game, and big game on other continents (including elephants), have given up their ghosts to the .45/70 Gov't using black powder loads.

Apparently, some humans can function without it.

Why sansucki keeps coming back is beyond me. He has been repeatedly exposed as John Melvin Davis, the nutjob convicted felon (AKA Gunkid, google his federal penitentiary resulting exploits)....

Slow learner..

GUNKID. aka Sansucki

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1661678/posts

All the bottom feeders resurface about politicking time Mac.

Gunner, that 348 you got from me would make a hell of an elk rifle. I'll bet those 250gr. barnes will knock the chit out of one...

Damn right BSA, got her landing in beanie cap sized groups at 200 with the factory bolt peep, they're running " a kind to the old steel" 2350 fps.

I'm happy with the old 06.
If I step up to a magnum it's going to be 338

If someone is looking for a M70, pm me.

I've had three shoulder operations, I'm 56 and won't use a muzzle brake. For me a .300 Weatherby is not an option. If I could shoot one without the attending pain and not being able to lift my shoulder for two weeks then it might be an option. So in my situation it is not the perfect elk caliber. I'll take a plain jane .270 Winchester or 30-06.

When hunting anything in the mountains I would rather have a light weight rifle to a heavy ole Mark V with a 26" barrel.

Caliber/recoil range around 7RM, 300 WSM would be maximum for me.

Sizzling velocity used to be preferred before the scopes got better. Now you can twist a turret or use a ballistic style reticle and extreme velocity is no longer required for long range hits.

While obviously most associate this cartridge with the the same named rifles, it need not be. The 300 B can be made or found in other packages, some not as heavy as the Weatherby models.

My .300 Wby Mk. V. now weighs 8lb. 14 oz. all up, with McMillan Edge stock, Talley LW mounts, and Leupold VX3 2.5-8x scope. I carry it easily all day, with just enough weight to help tame the .300 recoil.
There's still no substitute for high velocity with a high BC bullet to minimize wind drift.

I had an edge break on me shooting a 300 wm with 200gr partitions. After that experience, I wouldn't feel confident putting one on my mkv 300 wby. Is it a weatherby pattern or other?

My son guided elk hunts for an outfit in Wyoming last year. I've always appreciated the art of asking questions as a teaching tool for younger ones.

I asked my son about rifles he'd seen in camp. His reply......One man had a 30-378 weatherby mag and this is what I want to get.

I asked my son if he new what the most successful hunter in camp was carrying. Sons reply.....6.5 sweede

Son.....I want you to think about that!

Shod

If the guy carrying a 30-30 happens to run across the elk and the others don't, it doesn't matter what the hell they are carrying. Same thing I guess, but that's not what the OP wanted to know. I guess, the "best" rifle/cartridge for elk hunting is the one that gets the job done...

BSA, I suppose I was working at answering the question in a non threatening or offensive way.

I'll attempt to answer the question in a more direct way.

The 270 and 30/06 have killed more elk than the 300 weatherby has dreamed of. If you gave 50 folks a 300 weatherby and 50 folks a 270/30/06 the 270-30/06 crowd would be more successful every time.

Magnums are comprised of hype, recoil, and muzzle blast that is far removed from any real world gain.

The reality is recoil and muzzle blast are the exact components that seem to contribute to poor shot placement according to bench rest and competition shooter also backed up and confirmed by a large number of hunters whom do more than read books and charts.

Shod