Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 300 WSMIs it good for longer range

Is it good for longer range hunting of Moose and elk out to 600 yards.

No, totally worthless.

Seriously dude, a 30/06 is a serious 600yd cartridge. If you have to ask......

Maybe you should just order a copy of EXBAL and put in some numbers to your questions. Some bullet makers say their bullets need 2000fps to properly expand, some like Nosler, say 1,800 is sufficient.

Yes.

If the shooter is...

Now you've thrown a wrench in the works.

dt: Truth is distressing.

Is 600 YDS your normal expected distance ?

Capable and ideal are too different things - then we have the percentage of people who can make that shot reliably thing.

Me or the OP?

If you have to ask, probably oughtn't.......

Indeed.


The problem with the 300 WSM is that it takes a fair amount of concentration when practicing. And to become capable at 600 yards it takes a fair amount of practice.

Hell, I only shoot out to about 400-450 yards and that takes practice. 600 is a whole other ballgame for a basic hunting rifle.

16: I couldn't tell who spotshooter was talking to... I did not want to be rude.

SamO: 600 yards is a LONG way for mere mortals.

Bob: I meant if you have to ask if a 300wsm is capable to 600, you probably shouldn't attempt it. I.E. not being familier enough with bullets/ballistics/etc, and the capabilities of a particular round, it might be time to step back and see whats what. Course, maybe that's where the OP is......

Most cartridges are more capable than the guy behind the trigger. Good bullets in good places do good things. Getting them there is a whole different issue. My personal method is "3 in 3". If I know I can put 3 shots in 3" at said range, cartridge, wind, rest, rig, weather, elevation, etc, etc, its a done deal. Off the bench and everything perfect, 3x3 with my 270 is 505 yards. Off hand, it might be 75 yards, etc, etc......

Lotsa people dream about stretching it, few can.....

16: Agreed!

Well I can't speak for moose, but I've never know elk to be so shy, especially if you watch the wind.

Most couldn't make a 300 yard shot much less a 600.

Who says my hunting rifles are "basic"....

That's definitely in it's effective range, but shooting at elk and moose at 600 yds and hunting them are two different things.

Exactly!!!!

Maybe 60, not 600

People that are capable of consistently killing stuff at 600 yards didn't turn into 600 yard shots from 150 yard shots by walking into a gunshop and buying a particular kind of rifle or a certain cartridge, at least in my experience. They worked their way up by shooting, A LOT, and by learning what at least a couple of bullets perform like at different velocities. Bullet choice in any cartridge can make a whale of a lot of difference. When you shoot at 600 yards, things you probably have never thought of will make a critical difference, things like what you rest the rifle on, how you hold the rifle, mirage, wind drift, animal movement between the time you decide to pull the trigger and when the bullet hits, parallax and other stuff I have forgotten.
If you want your eyes opened, go shoot a 600 yard service rifle match sometime.

More than a grain of truth to this.

I know hunters who have closets full of BG rifles,and have brought some of these guys to our range here, plunked them down at 300 yards.Some admit they have never fired a rifle at all at 300 yards. I know some of this is lack of access to a range,but a lot of it is just laziness, or lack of incentive, or their hunting has never included reaching that far.

600 yards might as well be on another planet.

Not all have been from back east; one week in Wyoming I went out with a guy from there and we got on a 16" pronghorn;lazed it at about 330 yards....he wouldn't shoot,and I wondered why but didn't push the issue.

Later he killed a good buck mule deer at about 275 and said that,despite living and hunting the west his whole life,that was the furthest he had ever killed anything.

I can respect anyone who knows their limitations; but under good conditions,with a good rifle and load, a solid rest and some practice,300+- yards should be a lead pipe cinch on a BG animal.

Stretching that to 600 yards,in the field,takes another level of knowledge and experience....out of reach for most without a good deal of knowledge,dedication and practice.

In theory and in the hands of an experienced rifleman who knows how to hit at that distance,I would expect a 300 WSM to capably kill anything from moose on down at distances to 600 yards.