Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 300 Win Mag vs 300 Weatherby? What are the differences for big game hunting?

If someone puts a muzzle brake on any rifle,that tells me they have to MUCH GUN!

John yes. The 300 Weatherby (depending on powder choice)operates with charges in the mid-80's and the 300 Win in the mid to high 70's......you go up in powder charges and you get a corresponding increase in recoil and blast from the larger case.

This is nitpicking but at some level you reach the tipping point in recoil and blast that makes one "tolerable" and the larger cartridge a bit over the top.

I think one reason the 300WSM has become so popular is that (like the 300H&H),you get within 75-100 fps of the Winchester and 150-200 fps of the Weatherby,but with lighter powder charges,which means less recoil and blast,so I agree with Dober and if on the market for a 300 Magnum today(considering my age I'd grab the WSM or a H&H and run with it.A 180 gr bullet at 3000 fps is a formidable game getter.

Years past for me the 300 Weatherby was the limit in a 300 magnum and if I were going to tolerate more recoil than that I wanted more bullet weight and diameter rather than more velocity.

Balancing all this stuff with manageable recoil and rifle weight is why I became a 7 mag fan.

All this is interesting! I have been through the paces you guys are marching to some years ago. I liked .300 (and .338) magnums from both Win. and Roy. Loved M70s in H&H.

I just turned 75 and no longer use a magnum of any diameter - except for an inherited 7 mag. that I keep because of sentiment, and it is on thin ice. .30-06, .308, and even .30-30 are my cartridges of choice these days for .30 bores, and the first two work even at long range. They kill stuff dead "close or far".

My last M70 .300 H&H was in my possession about 30 minutes. Bought it at a good price, took it down the street about two miles and turned a profit of $400 plus a new 3-9 Leupold.

I am NOT making fun of you. As said, "Been there, done that," and it was fun! Would I do it again? Yes, as surely as the sun came up this morning. jack

That is a very, very well-reasoned personal definition of defining "better" and if I were looking to go the light package route that would certainly be my choice. Bob also makes a good argument regarding the 300 Win Mag in that if most are made on long actions, why bother and not just get an H&H or a Weatherby unless of course, operating costs is an issue. I think the best of the WSM family is the 270 as it does give you a substantial edge over the 270 whereas the 300 WSM does not over the bigger 300s.

I can get 3250 out of my Weatherby and 180gr bullets with about 80 grs of RL 22powder as I stated, with the 300 Win Mag 76gr H4831 gives me about 3100 and the H&H gets me to just over 3K with 71gr of RL22. I have no idea what the RUM gets as I have a phobia with anything with the name "Remington" on it but the increase over the 300 Weatherby yet with even more powder.

One can also define "better" as case life, recoil and of course "killing power" and the last I really don't think anybody can really define that. I will tell you that in my view the difference in killing efficacy betwixt them and the 06 is significant and I don't care what the 06' cultists say! . And again I'll say that from a practicality POV, the Win Mag and WSM are the logical choices.

JT/jorg: You can tell the guys who have been around a lot of 300 mags and this all takes time and effort to be able to wade through so much excruciating minutia and have it all make sense..LOL!

I guess we have all had fun doing this or none of us would have bothered.....I especially like the "shooting game" part!

The RUM is better because you don't have to deal with Weatherby anything, the case is a modern beltless design, the accuracy potential is better in my limited experience, gets 100fps+ more velocity,the rum is cheaper to shoot if your limited to factory ammo, and ammo/brass are easier for me to source locally.
The rum does recoil pretty good, but if you can shoot a Bee well a RUM will be no problem.
I recently had Eddie Fosnaugh put a brake on my RUM for something to play with and it now kicks about like a .270. My perception of the noise is its about the same as the 7mm Weatherby I was also shooting that day.

To me, the Damara is about as light as I'd want to go with a .300 mag. The WSM's sound good, but how light is light? And, from what I hear, feeding can be a problem with some of them.

I've used the .300 Wby. and don't think I'd want a harder kicking .300 than that the Bee. I do like my .300 Win Mag. With the turret, accuracy is king for long range shots. The real fast ones may buck the wind a little better, but with good bullets/high B.C's, a lot can be accomplished in the 3,000+ fps range.

IMHO,

DF

"modern beltless design"? I think you better check into the who came first chicken or the egg theory. 100 fps? and how much more powder? Factory ammo? no doubt the Weatherby's are more expensice. Recoil's not an issue with me so that's a wash. As to accuracy potential, well, that cn be quantified but again how much better do you need that MOA or in my case half MOA?

If your using powder burnt to justify any magnum your barking up the wrong tree. Factory ammo for a Weatherby is a mail order proposition for me. I can get RUM at Dunham's, Gander Mountain, etc.
BTW the RUM case is a modern beltless design. You can say its based on the 404 Jeffery, but its really not identical in the way a 300 Weatherby is based on 300 H&H. Some people will say that belts are no big deal, but it sure is nice not having that ring of stretched brass just forward of the belt that often happens with factory chambered rifles.

Dirtfarmer,

The first .300 Winchester Magnum I shot was a NULA Model 28 weighing right around 7 pounds with scope. It shot VERY accurately and didn't kick too much at all, even with 200-grain Partitions at 2900+ fps.

But the NULA stock fit me very well, and I was younger then....

I really like the RUM. I have owned several 300 RUMS and all were more accurate than any Win or Bee that I have owned/shot. Maybe it has been luck of the draw or maybe the case is more accurate.

I think the key to shooting any 300 mag is you have to shoot it. You can not take it to the range and shoot it 3 times before season and be used to it. It takes trigger time to get used to the recoil and blast. Once you are used to the recoil and blast though nothing kills non-dangerous game like a fast 30 caliber in my opinion.

Dink

Not trying to be a smart a$$ jorge, but where is the logic? 40.78 fps/grn, 92 rds per/pnd, with the Win3100, 40.625 fps/grn, 87rds per/pnd, with the Bee3250. 150-185fps gain for 5 rounds? Not much to make any difference to me.
Thanks.

calikook - from a handloading pt/view only. Now figure in the cost of brass. The bee's cost won't settle the national debt but the difference is noticeable/significant.

The ONLY point I was trying to make was that beltless cases came BEFORE belted and besides belts have abslolutely zero effect on the discussion at least to me they are a completely transparent issue when it comes to cartridge performance or reloading. The bottom line is aside from the cost of brass and the added powder required to get you that extra 100 FPS, there is really no difference in the hunting fields.

Yes, better is very simple. Weatherby designed the 300 Wby in 1944, long before the Winchester magnum in 1963. It is true that he was improving the H&H chambering, but still long before the 300 Win. mag.

The 300 Ultra-Mag still doesn't equal the 30-378, close enough to call, but still way overbore. You have a case of diminishing returns here, the 300 Weatherby does sit in the best spot in the 300 line up because anything less is not enough of too much, and anything more is too much of not enough...

Works for me Shrapnel! Oh and tell your buddy Mike I love my Webleys!

The Damara is 6.9# without scope, so it's a bit heavier than the NULA 28. I've never handled a NULA, but am intrigued by what I hear and read about them. Melvin Forbes seems to have perfected the light rifle with his stiff stock/full length bedding, vs. the conventional stiff action/free floated barrel concept.

And, I fully appreciate your statement, "...and I was younger then..."

DF

Well said...though have noted my threshold denoting "too much" continues to recede with time...

Never heard it put quite like that. Had to read that one several times...

DF

As I said on page 10 or 11, I got a hell of a deal on some brass. But that doesn't make or break any decision on caliber. Do people really wear out thier brass that fast?

Always funny that guys will put a $2000.00 set of heads on a hobby race car, spend $200.00 to play golf, but whine about $2.00 worth of brass.

JMO, not looking for a fight here. Got to go to work, everybody have a great day.