Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .300 Win Mag - The one rifle battery

Just re-read this fine article by Jack Steele, and I can't disagree with any point he makes about the finest all around big game cartridge ever! I have two .300 WinMags and really like them both, though if I had to keep just one it would be my Styer Forrester. Just put on your favorite piece of glass and be done with it.

The .300 Winchester
by Jack Steele

SAY YOU WANTED to hunt with just one big-game rifle. Have it become an extension of your own body. Know it like the smell of your Dad's wool coat. Say you wanted it in a caliber flat enough to poke coyotes at long distance but powerful enough to make a bull elk take notice at the far end of a cross-canyon shot. Say you wanted it all in one package so you could always count on that one rifle to get the job done. Sound like a pipe dream?

The do-it-all rifle is not a myth, as many a seasoned rifleman knows. In fact, while the gunrags do a healthy business recommending good calibers for this, and best bullet for that, it's a fact that when flying lead doesn't have the intended results, it's the man behind the rifle that's almost certainly to blame. Show me a man who blames a miss on his rifle, and I'll show you a rifleman in need of polish, which leads to the primary reason behind choosing one good rifle -- polished skills.

Of course, the best way to polish skills is by shooting your chosen Betsy often and from real-life shooting positions. A rifle that feels right and doesn't kick like a mule goes a long way toward promoting regular practice. So does reloading for it, which will promote accuracy and increased familiarity.

It goes without saying that a one-rifle battery should be as accurate as possible. In practical terms, however, a 2-MOA rifle is plenty good enough for most big-game hunting. Latch onto a rifle that consistently shoots 1 MOA, and you'll regret the day you part with it. Any big-game rifle more precise than that should be considered an heirloom.

What really gets interesting, however, is deciding on a caliber. Ask five seasoned riflemen for their top choice, and you can expect five different opinions, all vehement, all well reasoned.

The .30-06 is the perennial all-mention, and rightly so; there's no rust on the classic. The .270 Winchester, aside from being a hell of a caliber, was Jack O'Connor's darling (though he admitted the ought-six probably was better) and therefore commands a prodigious following. The .338 Winchester Magnum was a favorite of Elmer Keith and is a superb choice for the steel-shouldered. The 7mm Remington Magnum does a whole lot with class.

Lots of others, most notably the .308 Winchester and the .280 Remington as well as various Weatherby Magnums and a slew of wildcats, can and do fit the bill. But the .300 Winchester Magnum -- the .300 Win. Mag. just might be the best of all! Except for the big brownies, which rate their own .375 H&H Magnum to many minds, the North-American hunter with a good .300 Winny has all the rifle he will ever need. And then some.

So, why not the .30-06? Why not, indeed. The good ol' ought-six is still a top choice. From 'chucks to elk, it is a serious caliber for the serious hunter, no question about it.

There is one area, however, where the ought-six gives up some ground, and that's when it comes to pushing heavy bullets -- the kind you want when big, tough critters like elk and moose are on the program. Yes, the classic .30-06 load pushing a 180-grain pill at 2700-2800 ft/sec will do almost anything you need, but throw in a big bull elk across a wide canyon at dusk, and the Winny gets the nod. Consider that at 400 yards, the Winny's 3100 ft/sec with the same 180-grainer gets you 450 ft/lbs more terminal energy and five inches less drop.

If that weren't telling enough, jump up to the 200-grain rock ,and by today's mega-magnum standards the 2550 ft/sec generated by a .30-06 case can be considered positively lethargic, although for close work in heavy timber, the combination is hard to beat.

By contrast, the Winny pushes the 200-grainer to a speedy 2950 ft/sec with careful reloads. At 400 yards, this translates into almost 700 ft/lbs more terminal energy and a trajectory flattened by 7 inches. That is the kind of difference that makes a difference on tough game.

Bottom line: While the .30-06 still may be the finest all-around caliber, it says here that if elk are in your plans (and elk are increasingly in everyone's plans) the .300 Winchester might be a better choice.

The same analysis applies to the .270 Winchester. By all accounts a hell of a sheep and deer caliber, throw elk into the equation and the .270 becomes marginal. Sure, there are elk hunters who shoot their bull with a .270 every year, but they are the exception. Most of the savvy elk crowd considers the .270 either too small or the absolute bare minimum for wapiti.

Suffice it to say that, at 400 yards, the .270 shooting 130 spitzers and the .300 Win. Mag. shooting 200-grain spitzers have virtually identical trajectories. The difference is that the .270 arrives carrying roughly 1300 ft/lbs of energy (below the 1500 ft/lbs often cited as a minimum for elk) while the Winny will deliver over a ton of energy, almost 2300 ft/lbs What the great .270 is to deer and sheep, the .300 Winny is to elk. Bad medicine.

As to the 7mm Remington Magnum, this fine caliber is often considered to be the ought-six's ballistic clone. The 7-Rem's small advantages in sectional density are offset by the .30-06's increased frontal area. The ought-six has an advantage in that more and heavier bullets are readily available, especially for the handloader, but basically, in the field you could choose one or the other and never notice the difference. So as versatile, accurate, and popular as this .284 is, the .30-06 retains an edge, and the .300 WinMag outclasses them both.

The .338 Winchester Magnum is another thing altogether. By all accounts a large caliber by North-American standards, it has been said that true recoil starts at the .338. A seasoned rifleman who practices regularly certainly should have no trouble handling the .338, but for many casual shooters, the .338 is simply too much rifle to shoot regularly or accurately.

It is noteworthy, however, that in terms of the wide spectrum of game animals available in North America, the .338 is probably the most well centered. A fair choice for the big brown bears (though a .375 H&H is superior for this work by an order of magnitude), the .338 is rightly considered by many as the preeminent elk caliber, while still being plenty flat enough for whitetails, antelope, and even coyotes. Take the big bears out of the equation, however, which they are for the vast majority of hunters, and the .338 becomes a too large shoulder pounder for most weekend warriors, though still optimal for dedicated wapiti chasers. Let face it. You don't need a .338 for any whitetail walking the earth.

By contrast, the beauty of the .300 WinMag is that it is so well suited to the typical range of hunting experiences to be had in North America.

After plains game? 180-grain Ballistic Tips at 3100 ft/sec equal bad mule-deer medicine and devastating performance on pronghorns. The same load is a ringer in "beanfield" situations. Elk and moose in your plans? Load 200-grain Partitions or A-Frames at 2900 ft/sec, and be assured that you have the right gun! Feel like practicing on coyotes or chucks? Scream some 165-grain boattails at 3250 ft/sec, and worry about your end of the rifle.

Like with all calibers, there are situations where a different caliber would be ideal, but for all-around versatility, flat trajectory, and high energy, the .300 Winchester Magnum shines, maybe like no other.

In the end, the choice of an all-around rifle depends on many factors. If you like a gun, you are much more likely to shoot it and shoot it well, so choose a rifle you like. Also, any experienced rifleman knows that where you hit 'em is much more important than what you hit 'em with, so place your emphasis on skills rather than on the size of the rock. But when all that is said and done, take a good hard look at the .300 Winchester.

You may not look any further.

Seems like an ought-six article to me....... :-)

One "needs" at least three or four ought-six's

I have 3-.30-06's with another on lay away.

An 06 is a great rifle, I use mine to keep the gun safe door open while I get something worthwhile to go shooting with..
Any thing a an 06 can do, the .300 can do better.. Even recoil..

An 06 is a great rifle, I use mine to keep the gun safe door open while I get something worthwhile to go shooting with..
Any thing a an 06 can do, the .300 can do better.. Even recoil..

Have 3-.300 magnums also. The H&H/Winchester/Weatherby.

Good article

elk, that is the spirit.. I like my 06, but just like the 300's more.. H & H, Win.(2), WSM, Wea. Some of my ex-students are going to be well armed when I am through.

Just fer schitz n' giggles........

http://www.reloadersnest.com/article_300hh_oct2803.asp

Best,


GWB

While I do not own a .300 Win Mag, I have a lot of respect for it. It is a formidable cartridge, capable of killing everything on our continent. However, many cartridges have killed everything on our continent long before someone decided to put belts on cartridges.

Within reason, a cartridge ain't as important as interrupting a big game animal's ability to pump oxygenated blood to its brain. Biology is controlling. Put a bullet from any suitable big game cartridge into an animal's heart and/or lungs and it will die.

Were I given a hunting do-over, I'd buy a good-quality .280 Rem and never look back. But others assuredly feel the same way about many other cartridges.

I do admire men who can shoot big bore rifles, especially off benches. I'll be right up front with my limiting my recoil threshold to the 7MM Rem Mag. I have an original Guide Gun. I've fired about three hand loaded .45/70 Gov't rounds filled with a healthy dose of IMR-3031 & a 400 grain Speer bullet. That gun about knocked me back to the Middle Ages. I doubt whether Muhammad Ali hit harder. I have fired other big rifles including the mighty .300 Win Mag. I'm good with a 7MM Rem Mag.

The .300 Win Mag is popular because it works as advertised. Whether it will kill any better than an '06 is doubtful.

An adage I learned too many years ago to remember when I first heard it goes like this: a .243 Win to the boiler room is a whole lot better than an '06 in the guts. It was true then, and it still is.

I can say from having shot many head of game with a .243 and .300, a .300 through the boiler room does much more damage..
If the new premium bullets improve a .243, what then do they do for bigger calibers, nothing..???

WyoCoyoteHunter,

The point is putting bullets where they need to go.


Take care,

SS

Also, much of the critics of the .300 have never used one.. I remember thinking the same crap myself.. Having read dear old Uncle Jack's articles since I was 9 or 10.. When I turned about 20 had some money to spend, and spend some time with riflemen who shot more than a .257 Roberts, or 30-06, I realized, what I had been reading wasn't the whole story.. You may not need a .300, maybe you can't shoot one, that is fine.. But I have noticed over the years, guys who get their way paid on hunts, often use lighter calibers.. Guys who pay their own way want the best they can get..

Great article, I own 2 identical Remington 700 XCR II rifles in .300 WM, they are my go-to rifles..... I find it amusing when guys whine about too much recoil with a .300 WM but they are fine with 30-06 ( some true pansys even whine about 30-06 recoil) I can tell very little difference between the recoil of these two....I have experienced far more recoil shooting 3.5" 12 ga pump shotguns and 3" slug guns.......I think the writer hit the nail on the head when he wrote that true rifle recoil starts at .338 WM.......Hb

I always just shake my head when I read that 300's are heavy and kick too much.

My Ex wife shot a sub 7.5 Brown stocked 30-338 and never once complained about recoil. In fact on her first trip to South Africa killed 14 animals with 14 shots, out to a shade over 300 yds.

Horror of all horrors with 180 Corelocks at a bit over 3000 fps.

She weighed a bit under 135 lbs.

VaHillbilly,

Closing in on two years ago, I was at a So Cal range sighting in my .308 Win for a then upcoming Utah mule deer hunt. There was a studly dude who was about in his early 30's sighting in his brand new .300 Win Mag. He was shooting right nest to me. He had to go a solid 6'2" and maybe 220 with no flab. He was a well put-up dude. He told me that it was his first big game rifle. He was leaving the following day for a Montana mule deer hunt. I could see he was flinching and having difficulty. I loaned him my rests. After a few more shots, he was done. He said his shoulder was too sore to continue shooting. He had a solid 6" group, high left. To my way of sighting in rifles, his rifle was far from it. In contrast, I was sighting in my Featherweight .308 Win. I had three shots touching each other, dead center, about 1.5" high. For me: one shot, one dead buck. I really hope the studly dude killed a buck. He was a damned nice guy.

Buying big guns is one thing. Shooting them accurately is another as I found out with my Guide Gun.

BTW, before he left the range he said something to me about using his uncle's .25-'06 Rem.

My guess is he bought his .300 Win Mag after reading hunting magazines. But that's just a guess.

I can shoot big bore rifles. I just prefer to not shoot them. And I know that my 7MM Rem Mag will kill just as dead any elk shot with bigger guns. And a .280 Rem will kill elk just as dead as a 7MM Rem Mag. Elk can't live sans hearts and/or lungs. What destroys them is immaterial. That they are destroyed is.

But maybe I'm wrong. I haven't taken biology since my freshman year of college. Might just be that elk have become immune to biology...

300 win mag the " finest all round big game cartridges ever"?

Don't know how one could claim that really. It's one weakness is that short little neck.

Apart from factory ammo availability, the 300 Wby is superior to it in every way.....certainly as far as 300 mags go anyway......

Yea that short neck sure does hold it back. Just don't know from what?

MLG is right. I would pick the 300WBY over the Winchester version, but not by much. Either makes a very fine one and done cartridge for all hunting in the US, and 99% of it overseas.

Factory ammo did someone say? I have seen my clients, in a pinch, use 300 WinMag ammo in a 300 WBY to great effect. 300 H&H and 308 Norma also works just fine. You cannot make a 300 H&H round fit through a WinMag though.

One feature overlooked is that with AA5744 powder and some others, a 300 Win/H&H/WBY can easily become a very accurate and mild to shoot 30/30 or 300 Savage. BTDT. Add a little more steam or juice and it is a 308, or a 30/06 or a 300 Magnum of whatever flavor. One cannot, however, make the lesser cartridges perform to the equal of the larger and IMO, better rounds.

A one gun for all in either 300WBY or 340 WBY would be hard to beat. Maybe even impossible to beat.

It's a damn shame 30 Newton or 300 Dakota didn't catch on.

Recoil tolerance varies a good deal among individuals,and has little to nothing to do with gender,or physical size.

Assuming a person has no impairments,the felt recoil to the shoulder is not hard to take from anything up to and including a 375 H&H,and for some , beyond that. Rather, heavy recoil can effect smaller body parts to a greater degree, and the amount of muscle tension that needs to be exerted in order to shoot well,as well as he ability to manage the recoil from a variety of awkward, but sometimes necessary, field positions.

The effect on the face, and neck from the heavy, fast recoil of a 300 magnum will leave some people a bit punch drunk after any extensive shooting. One old pal of mine finally left his 300 Win Mag home after several African trips,and borrowed my 270 because he said you shoot a lot every day in Africa and a 300 Win Mag finally wore him out. He was only 6-7" tall and in great shape since we played college basketball together....but he was smart enough to know when he'd had enough.He probably had 7-8 full blown African safari's under his belt at that point.

I hunted various 300 Magnums pretty extensively for years,and can still pick one up cold and do good work with it for a few shots.....but they require another level of muscle tension to control and in general the drop down to a 7mm Magnum has done more good than harm for me....the animals have not noticed the difference.

That said,there isn't any doubting the game killing capabilities of the 300 Win Mag,or it's ability to serve as a one gun battery. I would take a 7mm magnum with the best bullets myself...it will kick less and kill the same game just as thoroughly.....but that's just me.

I've owned nine 300 WIN MAG rifles over the years, with one exception they were all good, accurate rifles (had an early M70 Deluxe that wouldn't shoot for anything). Eventually I sold my last 300 WIN MAG; today I hunt with several rifles chambered in 308 WIN, 270 WIN, and on occasion a 30-06 SPRG. I don't miss my 300 WIN MAG's, just don't need them any longer (prefer a FW type gun nowadays), but they were good rifles. I think author Steele pens a good article and it is relevant to some.

I had the .308 Norma mag in a Springfield 03 sporter. I miss that gun. From what I understand the short neck on the Win. mag causes problems with the heavy bullets.

I am reminded of the robust debate in the Alaska section on minimum calibers for brown bear. 458Win stated on repeat occasions that the 30-06 was very acceptable in his camp. If someone who has been involved in that many brown bear hunts says that, than anything exceeding the '06 is not needed. Now its a free country last time I checked so do as you wish. But I am reminded of a similar style article written by Ross Seyfried a number of years ago which extolled the "do it all" virtues of the .270 Winchester.

I like the ballistics of the .300 win mag, but can't say I like anything else about it.

That's because you have a mangina...

BobinNH,

I have a friend who has killed everything in North American, including an Alaskan griz, with a .300 Wby Mag. As he grew older, he went to a .270 Wby Mag.

We all grow older. After a while, recoil becomes less tolerable...or less desirable.

When I was a kid, I could shoot 100's of 12 gauge shells out of an 870. I have gone to a Belgian A-5 Light 12. Of late, I've been thinking of picking up a Beretta 20 gauge. I can do recoil, but I'd rather not.

I do agree that some things can mitigate felt recoil such as stock design and weight of rifle. But in the end, physics dominates. Big bullets + lots of powder = big recoil.

I used to hunt with a sharp fella. He left practicing law to become a super court judge. He bought a .375 H&H & .300 Win Mag because he really believed that they were necessary to kill big game. He sold both but kept his FN .270 Win. I guess that somewhere along the big game rifle continuum he figured out how big game animals die. BTW, he might be the best shotgun hunter I know. He can kill 10 doves with a dozen .410 shells. I've seen him do it.

Cartridge debates are fun. Unless biology is included in such debates, they're academic. Except for zombies, nothing lives sans heart and/or lungs.

Did you get permission from your handlers to post that?

BTW, Bobin, I do own a Sako 7MM Rem Mag. It is an excellent combo. The 7MM Rem Mag is legendary in large part due to .284 caliber bullets. They are capable of interstate travel and Sequoia tree penetration. The reality is a .280 Rem will do everything that a 7MM Rem Mag will do.

I don't own a .280 Rem, mostly because when I got in the gun buying business I was a lot smarter and knew everything necessary about cartridges. As I've grown older and less smart, I've come to wish that I had bought a 22" barreled .280 Rem. It would have been the only rifle I would have needed.

On my first deer hunt I was introduced to an old timer who had lived through the Great Depression. With little deviation, folks who've endured the Great Depression tend to be on the frugal side. They've experienced not knowing when their next meals would come. Anyway, this old timer had 2 surplus rifles: a 7MM Mauser that he used for mule deer, and an 8MM Mauser that he used for larger game. BTW, he wasted none of deer he killed and fish he caught. The Great Depression left great impressions on folks who survived it.

From the looks of things as they've now been fleshed out, an 8MM Mauser ain't got utility. Why, I'd bet that Germans and Scandinavians are no longer killing moose with it because it doesn't have a belt. Last I heard, our Northern European brethren have taken to paintin' belts on cartridges so moose they shoot with 'em will die thinking that a mega-mag did 'em in.

My poor, underexposed dad must of had a hard time killing a lot of big game back east & in eastern provinces with his Model 81 .35 Rem. Last thing he killed with it was a respectable CA mule deer. Why, he even killed Utah mule deer with it. I have no idea how all the big game he killed with it gave up their ghosts, but were I a wagerin' dude, I'd go with 200 grain bullets in necks. Apparently our eastern brethren got something figured out that us math-challenged west coast hunters can't calculate. Seems as though our eastern brethren have figured out that bullets in necks kill big game more so than powder volume.

"Magnum mania" is in full force among "our eastern brethren". I see far more magnums afield here in the east than I do .35 Remingtons. The old .35 Remmy is starting to become unusual and a good conversation starter. I've slummed a few.

Mike, one of the two best deer hunters I have ever known used a .35 Rem. when I first met him more than 50 years ago.. He was from your part of the country, and had killed 23 bucks in a row with that .35..It was either a 14 or 141.. I am not sure now, I am I not sure I ever knew.. In those days killing a buck every year was quite a feat.. Not many did it.. He also was not just a stand hunter.. In those long ago days, there were NO tree stands, and NO buildings elevated off the ground to hunt deer, and NO food plots... All quite common now.. Dick could still hunt whitetails in heavy cover.. He shot several bucks in their beds..
After our first meeting, I saw him several years later, and he was packing a 721 Rem. in .300 mag.. It was a wildcat made by some gunsmith in Indiana, Pa. Dick was even more deadly with this out fit.. He killed several bucks across old fields that would simply never have been taken with the .35..

In those days, guys who owned and shot magnums were very, very, few.. The were limited to the very best shooters in that area.. Guys who shot all the time, and were able to utilize the added range and power of the bigger rifles.. Often, they filled the tags of .30-30 shooters who could spot deer across a field or on anther mt., but completely out of range for the carbines so popular then.. This was NOT legal, but it was done..

The one thing that I see as a reason for the increase in mag.s in your area, is the current hunting conditions.. I have hunted in Pa. some since I retired in 1999.. Each year there are more posters, more tree houses, more food plots.. One of the guys I know has crippled bucks the last two out of three years.. They got one, but the other escaped.. He shot a .25-06.. But he is not shooter enough to be killing bucks at 400 yards, no matter what he shoots..
But back to the .300's.. In those long ago days, only very experienced shooters bought those calibers along with various 7mm mag. wildcats.. They liked the longer shots, so they went with those calibers.. Often they had several other rifles for woods hunting.. But I feel, guys saw the shots they were able to make, because of their rifles AND because they were skilled shooters, so the once a year hunter runs out and buys a big gun and doesn't shoot it any more that he shot a .30-30... Buying a rifle doesn't make up for practice, but I am sure you know that.
It is interesting to me to look back on more than half a century of hunting and notice the changes that have gone on...
Some good, some not so good..

+1

On a side note, I have no desire to have the piss beat out of me with a 300 when I can simply shoot a 6.5-anything and get the same ballistics.

I've owned a couple of 300WinMags but they are both gone because of the recoil and the fact that they were overkill to hunt small southern whitetails exclusively. To me, that cartridge is meant for long range hunting and both my rifles were sporters. I wouldn't mind owning another, so long as it is in a Sendero style rifle. This weight helps both with the recoil and is easier to steady for those long shots. Any hunt where a 400yd+ shot is unlikely will see the big magnums left in my safe. I've got plenty of other standard caliber rifles that can handle that range with much less recoil and blast.

No doubt that if I wanted to "have to" own only one rifle for NA hunting I could do a lot worse than the .300 WM but I don't care to restrict myself like that, so thank God I don't have to consider it.

The heaviest rifle in my cabinet is a .30-06 and while it's my "go to" rifle it's almost always overkill. I have a .280 AI that is becoming a "go to" but is also overkill by a healthy margin. Sure would kill the heck out of an elk I'm sure.

I'm not a big believer in the ft/lbs calculations this gentleman uses as a basis of comparison, though I also admit to knowing of no better way to compare, either.

I've found that stock fit is critical to my ability to handle recoil. I have a friend who owns a SS 700 Laminate in 338 RUM which I've shot several times w/o major issue. My 30-06, on the other hand, is very light weight and had a short classic stock w/ a recoil pad with as much give as a steel-belted radial. I bought an old 03-A3 w/ a Fajen Monte Carlo and thick ventilated pad and found I could shoot the heck out of that rifle. I added 1.5" of length to the classic stocked 06, 1" of which was a good pad, and VIOLA! I could shoot the heck out of it, too...

People who don't care for recoil aren't pansies at all and it's ignorant chest-thumping to suggest that's the case. I've found that judgments to stock fit make a massive difference, though I still wouldn't care for a .300 Mag of any sort, opting instead for a 338 if taking any step above the venerable (and as yet, the OP notwithstanding, CLEARLY undefeated versatility champ) 06.

Going to try 220 gr Semi-spitzers in my .300 H&H. I load 180 gr Swift Scirocco in the Win Mag,200 gr NP in the Weatherby. Might as well try the heavy bullet now. IMHO that's where the Mags do better than the '06,heavy bullet at higher velocity.

I've owned several 300s and still have a few, but personally can't find where they have performed any better than smaller carts such as the 270WSM, 270Wby, 7RM, or like carts. I'd like to say they do, but with modern bullets, I just don't see an advantage.

For example, would you really feel undergunned toting a 7RM with 160TSX vs the 300 with 180TSX?

I don't agree with the article or it's point that the 300 WM is the best all around rifle!

The cartridge kicks too much for me and the rifles are heavy!

I have had a 300 mag (H&H) for a long time and a 300 WM now and they are not best for getting the game.

I much prefer the 7mm RM class for longer range and smaller rounds for normal ranges.

Here is an old big and heavy 300 on the right.

elk, do not short the lighter wt. bullets in the various .300's..When I drew my bighorn permit, I loaded 150 grain Nosler BTBT at 3400fps. Shot in 3" high at 100 it dropped less than 2 foot at 500 yards.. When the shot came at that sheep, I needed every bit of it.. While I generally like a heavier bullet for game bigger than deer, I used that load quite a bit over the next years, because I loaded quite afew to practice for the hunt. Also I loaded 50 or so for the trip..

Over the next seasons, I shot mulies, a huge black bear, and several elk with that load.. One bull at about 400 yards moved the farthest, about 25 yards.. Everyone makes a fuss of the .257 WM, and it is a fine round.. But for flatness the .300 with a hot load and 150's is not far behind, if indeed it is behind at all. Plus it has more bullet wt..

If I had to have 1 it would be a 300win. JMHO

Yeah, the east has really changed. Leverguns are unusual but boltguns with 24" tubes are common.

"From what I understand the short neck on the Win. mag causes problems with the heavy bullets."

Well, my pet load for my .300 Win. Mag. is either the 200 gr. Speer Hot Core or 200 gr. Nosler Partion over a heavy charge of WMR powder. Velocity is 2900 FPS plus a few and accuracy is sub MOA in three different rifles chambered to the round. A fourth rifle has yet to be tested but I have no doubt it will shoot right along with the others.
My point being I had seen and had NO PROBLEMS due to the supposed handcap of that short neck. I consider the problem total BS based on personal experience and load for friends who have .300 Win. Mags.
Paul B.

Interesting. I always heard the short neck caused handloaders fits.

moose, sounds like you are suffering from the misinfo. of magnum haters.. I have handloaded for the .300 since I got my first about 1969 or 70.. It is on its third barrel and it is maybe at or near its half life.. Mine is a 700 so the magazine box will let me make full use of the mag. case as I can seat the bullet out as far as necessary.. Often a short magazine box like M77's do not permit you to seat the bullet even close to the rifling..
We have shot everything from 125's to 220's.. the bullet I fool with least was 180's.. It is a great caliber, but not for everyone.. Recoil is a problem, when I shot my first one, I expected to be knocked silly.. I had shot a whole lot of military rifles that kicked much worse..
The short neck has never caused one bit of problem for me when reloading..

Not at all...

Good to know. Right now I have a 7 mag and a .338 mag to play with. A .300 Win mag would fit right in and fill the gap. I never fooled with the Win mag but I have the .308 Norma mag and really liked that one.

If I had the Norma, I would use it at least until the throat is gone.. BUT I decided I wanted a model 70 in .300 WSM.. Need was not even remotely and issue.. I haven't shot it much, maybe 10 groups.. All have been excellent.. I am impressed with the WSM and the model 70.. I think I might want more...

Interesting WCH,I only used 180-200 gr bullets in a .300 mag. Just trying the 220 gr as I might use the .300 H&H on elk at close range. That is IF I get drawn next year.

C'mon just say it. "300 Winchester Magnum" that's right, it rolls off the lips easily....

"300 Winchester Magnum", it just conjures up images of western big game hunting now doesn't it. Big bulls echoing their love songs across high mountain basins in early October. The pungent smell of sage with a cool breeze on your face while stalking that 30" mulie on Colorado's western slope. Or the hot, dry, dusty days sitting a top the rolling plains of Wyoming glassing for "speedgoats".

"300 Winchester Magnum" - no other cartridge invokes those types of memories more than the "300 Winchester Magnum"! Not one caliber, not even my beloved 340 Weatherby in an old push feed Model 70 comes close to getting my blood going like the sound of "300 Winchester Magnum".

"300 Winchester Magnum" is the common mans western caliber. My "elk killing machine" of an uncle carried his "300 Winchester Mgnum" for 40 years. Oh yeah, the 300 Weatherby is a little faster, I agree, but it's more of a high society rain down your nose type of round.

My Brown stocked Model 70 "300 Winchester Magnum" tips the scale at 7 lbs 12 oz with sling and 3 rounds in the hold. Her weight is just right and she feels like the first time you held that pretty girl at the high school dance. And she's fast too, 200 Partitions at 2900 fps or the 180 Partition at 3150 fps always make easy work on the killing side. She's a dream.

Just don't try to tell me that my 7mm Weatherby Mag doesn't kick just as hard. That's pure BS. A 160 Partition rolling coal outta my Model 700 at 3200 fps will get your attention pretty quick. She comes back just as hard as my "300 Winchester Magnum" and she loves to dance off that front rest like a pretty 100 pound Russian ballerena.

Everyone on here always makes that perfect shot with their "favored little peashooter of the week" while sitting behind their comfy computer. Always stating "put it where it belongs and it will kill". Phoeey and a bunch of hogwash! Reality is different from internet chatter. With a pounding heart, cold toes and frozen fingers and a few split seconds to shoot a bull is when sheet goes bad in the timber. Slop a "super little bullet" from a 7-08 into the wrong place on a bull elk and you have trouble on your hands. And I know many hunters who have done that and walked away telling stories of how they missed clean. Little bullets make little holes and without the "ticket punched thru the lungs" little to no blood trail results. And all these internet cowboys sypher the conclusion that they missed when they really didn't.

Following up an animal shot at 10,000'+, up some steep blowdown filled hell-hole is something that can only be appreciated by those who have done it. Most tire quickly and slink off with an excuse of a miss. And another internet fairy tale to tell all who listen to such silliness.

Slop a 200 grain Partition out of a "300 Winchester Magnum" into the guts of a big bull and you have a good chance of that bull going down pretty quick and a decent blood trail to follow. How do I know this? Because I've done it. We all miss, we all make that bad shot that "somehow" went wrong. And that as Bob Hagel preached to us, is the sermon. It's not what works when everything goes right. It's what works when things go wrong.

And that my hunting friends is where the "300 Winchester Magnum" excels.

One more time....

"300 Winchester Magnum"

I started with the .30-06, handloading 125 gr Sierras over IMR-4064 for jack rabbits in the desert. Sierra used to be in Santa Fe Springs and my Dad would go buy "seconds" by the pound in brown paper bags direct from the factory. I stuck with the '06 for a number of years. I was gifted a Rem 700 BDL in .300 Win Mag from my father-in-law when he stopped elk hunting in OR, and it became my go-to gun. When the barrel went south, I had a .300 Wthby barrel put on. It was a bit more of the same. In both mag versions, that 700 accounted for a ton of deer and pigs as well as a couple 6x6 elk. Now, I shoot a Tikka T-3 in .300 Win Mag and enjoy it. Shooting off the bench with that light a rifle is work, though. I get it sighted in and then start shooting from field positions and shooting sticks where the recoil is not so noticeable.

For me - other than varmints, the .300 Win is the first one I take out of the safe for a big game hunt. But my old .30-06 goes along as back up.

There are so many different cartridges that can be the do it all cartridge it's silly.

Creek Warrior: Most of my bull elk have been killed with a 300 win mag.

I had a 700 in 300 win. That rifle shot really well but I decided I wanted to do something different so I built a 358STA and sold the others. Its my one and only now but I've been toying with rebarreling to 300win. Hard to justify doing it since its more accurate than I am.

Bob, That does surprise me.. I thought the .270 would have dropped more bulls for you.. I only killed one with my .270..It did the job, but ran a bit farther than I am used to.
I could be pretty happy with just three centerfires: a .22-250, .25-06 and .300. But after playing with the 26" barreled .270 it could replace the .25.. I would certainly be better if one was going to shoot more deer/antelope with that rifle.. But if it were more coyotes, then the .25.. Heaven forbid I would have to empty the safe down to three centerfires..

Bob - I'm sure you have! And like you, I have gravitated to the 7's just to see what all the fuss is about. And most of it is true, as my little 7 WSM has popped a lot of elk.

But I disagree with you about the recoil of the 7 magnums, as my new 7 wby really makes a fuss off the bench! She's 200 fps faster and holds 13 grains more powder than my WSM shooting the 160 Partitions, but that difference is noticable! She was knockin' the snot out of me the other day while working up an elk load. My son agreed with me saying that she felt just like any of our "300 Winchester Magnums"

Just had to say it one more time

WCH: I have used the 300 Win Mag and Weatherby for a lot of hunting. I just don't mention it that much.

I am down to 4-5 cartridges these days.

Is it a real lightweight, or does the stock just not suit you?

My old MkV 7mm Weatherbys are a pleasure to shoot compared to the 300 Win. mags I've shot.

I have thought of getting rid of some of my stuff, but then I miss it.. Also, I will never get the $ back out of the rebarrel jobs, and custom stocks.. So I have decided they will go to my best friend, his son, my namesake, and a couple kids I taught in school.. they aren't eating anything, and I usually get to shoot most of them in the course of a year..

Creek, I haven't messed with the Mashburn, something I have thought of many times.. But I have a Rem. 7, and a custom barreled 7 Wea.. And as you say, it does kick.. I am going to try some 168 grain Bergers next.. But right now it is loaded with 160 Sierra HPBT and Nosler 160 Part.. I guess I could be pretty well satisfied with my big 7 for most of my hunting.. I would pick the Weatherby case though.. The Remington was my wife's big game rifle for the last 10 or 12 years of her life..
For someone who never shot target, she made some excellent shots with that old rifle. No flies on the 7 mags..

Dang Creekwarrior, you should be a salesman! You have me about ready to go get myself a 300.

I purchased a .300 H&H in 1962 and my first .300 Win. mag. ten years later. I have shot .300 Win. mags. a great deal and have killed a lot of elk with them over the years. It is a good cartridge. But, I don't believe any of the elk I killed with a 300 Win. mag. would have fallen any differently had I been using a 30-06. Today, I carry a .30-06 for my serious hunting and a .30-30 for my fun-hunting days. CP.

I carry a .300 WM for most all of My big game hunting, I got tired of all the different dies, powders etc. when I owned 6 or 8 different calibers, do still own a 30.06 but it shoots cheap as it is also .308 dia. I can shoot the same powder and TTSX bullets I shoot in My .300's.............It can get mighty pricey stocking reloading supplies for a bunch of different calibers as many of you know and I got better things to spend My money on these days...............................Hb

CW: The old comparisons of the 7mm's kicking less than the 300's were generally made between the 7 Rem Mag and the 300 Weatherby. We know which one wins there.

We have a lot of 7mm magnums and 300's today and it's true you can heat up some 7 mags to the point where it's hard to tell the difference.I ran into a few boxes of 7mm WSM from Federal with 160 gr bullets that averaged over 3250 fps and turned a Kimber Montana into a nasty, disagreeable monster....with handloads at 3050 or so it was fine.

And many 300 Win Mag factory and handloads don't give any more than 3000 fps with a 180 gr bullet,so could feel like a 7mm mag at the bench.But my old favorite 300 Win Mag was a long throated job on a magnum pre 64 M70,Brown stock and 24" Krieger....with bullets seated out, it gave 3150 with the 180,acted and kicked like a 300 Weatherby. My 7 Rem Mag was housed in a lighter rifle and was much easier to shoot.

Best way to look at it I think,is compare them at equivalent velocities with roughly comparable bullets......start a 160 gr bullet from a 7 Mashburn or Weatherby at 3200 fps; it takes powder charges in the mid 70's to do this.Then try to start a 180 gr 30 cal bullet at the same velocities(a 300 Win Mag is not generally capable of this but a 300 Weatherby is)in a 300 Weatherby,and powder charges jump substantially into the mid 80's.

That's about 10 gr more powder and 20 gr more bullet at the same velocity.We shoot a pair of 7mm Mashburns and a 300 Weatherby,all loaded as stated above, side by side frequently; both Mashburns are lighter rifles and my pal and I both agree the Mashburn rocks a good deal less than the 300 WCeatherby,even with 175 gr bullets over 3000 fps.Plus there is no way we could build a 300 Weatherby as light as the Mashburn without getting kicked a lot harder as well.

Shoot a 300 Win Mag with 180's at 3050;and a 7 Rem Mag with 160's at 3050.....your powder charges will be a bit heavier in the 300,and the recoil will be greater for the 300 in the same weight rifle.

So, for roughly equivalent ballistic performance the 7mm's will rock you less,and this is what many of us mean when we say the 7mm's recoil less for a given level of ballistic performance but I never said they were gentle

For the purpose of the original post....one gun for all North American game....one would be hard pressed to find a better choice than the .300 Magnums.

The .300's shoot as flat as any cartridge made, and thus are great for long range shots, and have enough raw power with heavier bullets to handle animals of any size. Most other "contenders" either give up too much on truely large game (think .270, .30-06, 7mm Magnum) or don't have the velosity to be as effective at long range (think most non-magnum cartridges). The .33 magnum can really "do it all".

With that said, I don't own a single .300 Magnum rifle. I've used them in the past (mostly the .300 WBY version....the best of the lot), but have moved on to other rifles over the years.....even though the .300's did everything I asked of it.

The "problem" is that, to me, the .300's are classic "tweener" rifles.

300's are more gun than is needed for smallish pronghorn and deer, even at long range. That chore is better done by something like the .25-06 or .270 class rifles that shoot just as flat, kick less and kill effectively.

On the other hand, for use on truely large game (elk, moose, big bears) the .300's can get the job done, but not as well as something like the .338 Magnum or .375.

The .300 magnum can really "do it all" better than almost any other cartridge and that would be fine if you are limited to a single rifle. I have never had that problem.....I own many rifles for each type of game. For dedicated shooting at longish ranges on smaller big game, I choose the .25-06 or .270. For bigger animals (long or short range), I jump right over the .300's and go to the .338 magnum.

Nothing "wrong" with the .300 magnum.....I just have better tools for each individual situation and don't have to settle for one rifle to do everything.

In truth, I feel the .338 Magnum is a better choice for a "do it all" rifle, but I also realize that the recoil level of the .338 is likely more than most hunters can tolerate. I have always been somewhat uneffected by recoil, but even I begin to notice the kick of rifles at or above the .338 level.

For most the .300's are truely the best choice for a one rifle battery.

It might give up just a bit to the .338 for larger game, but it still performs quite well. It might be shaded a bit by the smaller, high speed rifle cartridges, but is almost as flat at any range.

Any other choice for a one gun battery gives up something at one end of the spectrum or the other. Smaller guns don't have the raw power and most larger guns don't have thr flat trajectory.

Thank goodness I don't have to be limited to a single rifle, so I will likely never use a .300 magnum much.....but I would be very well armed if I did so.

Good thread. How have we kept the magnum haters away?

To me it's that bullets that carry their energy down range better than others have a better improvement with a larger powder column than those that don't keep the energy so well.

The 300 WM definitely falls into that category, and unlike the WSM longer bullets don't take up powder column space... always hated that crunching of powder with long bullets.

MM - because there is just too much testosterone for their liking - jus' kidding.

Bob - I agree with everything you say about the recoil comparision of the two calibers. My recoil comment is only about my two rifles shooting similiar loads in the same weight rifles. There is no "felt" difference between them from the bench. My 7 WSM shooting the same 160 Partition at 3000 fps is much tamer than any of our 300's. And same as you, I did purchase a very "stout" box of factory of 7 WSM ammo when it was released. My box clocked 3080 fps with Nosler 160 gn Failsafes and showed more excessive pressure signs than anything I have ever fired before or since. High puker factor that day!

mathman - my 7 Bee is the Model 700 Classic that was for sale on here a month or so ago. Though the classic stock is not my favorite, I don't think the recoil issue is due to poor fit. It's just plain physics. My 7 Bee uses 4 grains more powder, achieves slightly higher velocity with only 20 grains less bullet weight than our 300 Winny loads. With the rifles weighing the same it's a no brainer that it will feel "much like" shooting a 300 Winny.

"300 Winchester Magnum"

Twenty some years ago, during first rifle season, a good friend and I had backpacked into a deep hell hole without a trail and into a big canyon that always held elk during the summer and fall. After getting skunked on opening day and on a quick whim we decided to head into this place. We made it to the valley floor very late in the day and while slipping my pack off, my eye caught the distinctive color of a lone elk way up high across the far canyon, standing in an open aspen grove. With the binocs in the packs, I threw my rifle up on my shoulder and found that lone elk was a nice big bodied 6x6 and he was headed away from us and into a high saddle that would take him farther away from us and the trucks. With only an hour or so of daylight left, we grabbed our knives and rifles, left the packs loaded and headed up after him.

We made the 800 foot climb up to where we last saw him just as the sun was setting in our faces. With an empty aspen grove and a dead still evening, I looked at my friend, shrugged my shoulders and said, "oh well". With nothing to lose I gave a whimpy spike whistle. Almost immediately we had a deep bellowing answer. Figuring this old boy was alone for reasons we couldn't know, my bud quickly popped out his "elk makeup and lipstick" kit and proceeded to let the old boy know there were some girls in town tonight. My friend gave the old boy some naughty elk talk and we barely had time to chamber our rifles as the bull came boiling back thru that saddle screaming to us the entire time. He appeared from the thick trees and into the aspens heading from right to left at about 60 yards. With no leaves on the trees he was easy to follow. I told my friend to take him but after many long seconds my friend said, "I can't, he's moving too fast". Before he could finish saying it, I threw up my 300 Winny, swung the rifle forward of the bull and found a small shooting lane. As the old boy walked broadside into the lane, I centered the cross hairs on his chest and squeezed. A 200 gn Partition hit him tight to the shoulder and exited the far side. He nose dived into the dirt.

We spent a long hungry night taking care of him under a bright half moon. The next 3 days were spent sweating and groaning as we got him out.

"300 Winchester Magnum"

Creekwarrior,

You said it well, several times. Yes, there IS a difference between the big guns and the small ones when things do not go just right. And if you hunt hard enough and long enough, eventually you will screw up a shot - maybe just a little - but enough that a big bullet hitting hard will make a difference.

The only thing that I would add to your terrific dissertations is try saying:

"300 Weatherby Magnum" Now THAT on conjures up some imagry and reflection for most folks my age!

There, there, now Creekwhiner. Every night when you go to bed, gazing up at your dreamcatcher, tucked into your pink buffalo robe, say these magical words;

Wakan Tanka

I am big enough.

I am strong enough.

And doggone it, I should be able to take 7 MM Weatherby recoil like a man.







Well son, paybacks are a bitch, no?

Yo Nordhead, you forgot the part here I stomped my foot and hissed, crying, "Why is it always me!?!?!?"

And my buffalo rope is pink with purple polka dots, so there!

First off, hates to bust your nuts with this, but those ain't purple polka dots, them is Arby's sauce spots, ya nudnik, you can't eat those things in bed!

Secondly, if the 300 is so damn good, why does John Burns prefer a Remington 7MM Magnum. Can't believe the 7MM Mashburn wing nuts haven't come out to chime in.

I tole ya I would buy that Weatherby, but you had to have it. Now quit yer damn snivelin.

Thought John Burns was a .264 Win mag guy? Anyway, cool Elk story Creekwarrior!

Yah, that ol Indian can spin a story alright. Here some free advice, if you are ever lucky enough to hunt with him, do not, I repeat do not, let him sleep in the big teepee with you. He gets the night scares.

I can't comment on bear hunting cause we have none of those here...

But if I was to regularly hunt all Aussie species from pigs and goats to scrub bulls, water buffs and the seven species of deer here, I would pick the 338 WM as the best allrounder.

160g Barnes bullets (or 180g Noslers) loaded to around 2800fps would handle all the pigs, deer and goats. You might push up to the 200-225g bullets for sambar deer.

The 250-300g bullets would be perfect for the scrubbers, buffs and wild horses and I reckon they'd be hell on camels.


More versatility in the 338 cal than the 300 magnums, for my money at least. I'd be happy to use a 338 for just about everything and have a 222 Rem for anything smaller.

Good post Bob. Same here. Or should I say hear, hear!

What? The kids are starving and you shoot most of them?

After 33 years with a 7mm RM and 10 years with a .300WM, I don't see a whole lot of advantage for the .300WM. But keep your damn hands off of my .300, its a keeper. Until I got the .300WM I always wondered if I had made the right decision getting the 7mm RM. Didn't wonder too much, though, as the 7mm RM was always effective with the one exception involving an unfortunate buck antelope and Barnes 160g XLCs. I blame that on the bullets, not the cartridge.

Experience with the .30-06's is even less, 7 years, but 3 elk versus 2 with the .300WM. No drama with either. The .30-06's dropped all 3 in their tracks but I attribute that to bullet choice and placement. Neither shot with the .300WM went far enough to matter, maybe 25 yards with one and much less with the other.

When it was time for me to select a rifle as a wedding gift for my soon-to-be #2 son-in-law, I started looking for a .30-06, which is what #1 got. For a variety of reasons, including a ridiculously low cost I couldn't refuse, I purchased a new/display model Ruger MKII in .300WM instead. The only real downside to the .300WM is ammo tends to be more expensive. As for recoil, the .300WM can be downloaded with reduced recoil factory or handloaded ammunition. On the upper end, my 180g .300WM loads run about 3050fps and recoil, while stiffer than the 7mm RM or a .30-06, is still quite manageable. For a while I debated whether to keep the .300WM for myself or keep looking for a .30-06. A few days ago the decision was made when my daughter was visiting and I showed her the .300WM. It is going to my future son-in-law.

IMHO the .300WM is at the top end of all-around, do-it-all cartridges. With reduced recoil handloads or factory ammo it can emulate a .30-06 or even a .308 Win while with full power loads it can provide an extra 100+ yards over the .30-06 in terms of retained energy and velocity. It is one of the best choices for elk.

Of course if future son-in-law doesn't like the .300WM, he can always trade for one of my .30-06's...

One rifle?!!! That's no fun. That guy ought to be drummed ought of the shooting writer's union or something!

I've often wondered what percentage of hunters have just one big game rifle. Most probably start out that way.

In the circle of friends I have hunted with over the years all the new hunters started with just one. My 7mm RM was my only big game legal bolt rifle for 20+ years.

I have always had two or three big game rifles.. At least two since I was twenty.. I had an 06, then a .300.. Since that time, it has expanded to many be twenty.. Haven't counted lately.. If one included the big .22's I guess there would be even more..
But I would guess the percent of guys who hunt big game with only one rifle is pretty high..

In much of the country, only whitetails are available.. If they aren't varmint hunters, then only one rifle is needed I guess. I am pretty certain the hunters a generation before me mostly only had one rifle..

But on the other hand, with the number of guns now available, and the ability to make a DIY style hunts, folks probably own more guns than their dad's or grandfathers.. Pretty interesting thought. Most of the guys I hangout with have many rifles, but this is good big game country also.. Or at least it was...

The .300 WSM is almost identical to the Norma in power and recoil.

The 300 WSM is for children who live in fairy lands and listen to music by pink.
ammo is expensive, heavy bullets take up powder room. Its a glorified 30-06- and the 30-06 doesn't need an entourage.

Pack,
I used to have the impression Aussies were gun savvy. A lot of people don't like the 06 because it drops too much.

The 300 WSM is between the 30-06 and 300 Win mag in recoil, but shoots almost as flat as the Win mag. Therefore it can cancel out the need for either one, which was the point of this one battery thread. Unless someone needs to keep their o6 for their wife.

Pack, doesn't the extension of that thinking have us saying the 30-06 is a glorified 308 Win?

Got four and love em, two Win Mags, an H&H and a RUM, they are stone killers for damn sure.

"300 Winchester Magnum"



It's fairly interesting what you can do with a 26" barrel, a long throat, and no silly magazine to worry about...

Nice, I'm down to four, sold and H&H and a Classic-Mark II in 300 WBY last year. I miss her.

Drops too much? 30-06 is a powerhouse (although I now shoot 270 win more), but having hunted with 30-06 for a long time taking everything from Sambar deer to feral goats, It comes across as the perfect cartridge at "sensible" hunting ranges with a 180grain pill.
I have had a 300win for 10 years or so and keep going back to it when I convince myself I need 200 grains of hate to kill a deer. After lugging it around the mountains for a trip or 2 and cutting away bloodshot meat after I shoot anything I usually head back to 30-06 or now 270 (love the slightly longer legs with a 150grain pill).
As for the recoil and flat shooting ability you are right, but it is still an in between cartridge without the versatility of the mag for big pills, which is where a 300 winnie shines.

the glorified 308 doesn't make sense as the 30-06 came first in my history book, but I have no issues with 308win she's a beaut, but again struggles with heavy bullet weights.
IMHO the 308 is to the 30-06 what the 300WSM is to the 300win mag(I understand the military need/justifications for the development of the 308- I'm only drawing from hunting type scenarios)

I have a 30-06 and like it, but I have a lot of other rifles. When these one battery, one all-around caliber subjects come up, the 30-06 has been a popular choice because the Win mag crosses the comfort line on recoil for a majority of the population.

IMHO the 300 WSM replaces the 30-06 for a one rifle all-arounder, because it's accuracy runs close to the .308 while the velocity beats the '06. A 180 mono at close to 3000 fps is plenty of power for all-around hunting. If that won't get it done a move up to .375 H&H may be appropriate for a few hunts.

While I have several rifles that will all work for deer at home, when I go on a paid hunt the Howa 300 wm in a McMillan always goes with me. With a zeiss on top it weighs in at just over 8lbs and I have not found much that can stand up to a 150 gr ttsx at 3300 fps. It will shoot that load well under an inch and I have not stopped one in an animal yet. It shoots flat enough that I don't have to think much about my shot out to my self imposed limit of 400 yards and the felt recoil is no more than my friends 30-06 forbes.

Also, since I load my own, I have a light load with 150 gr soft point bullets that does right at 2600fps that shoots even smaller groups than the ttsx. Works very well for deer and is a pleasure to shoot.

Can never keep one on hand. Bores me to tears.

I could see a 300 H&H, and loading it to potential, but not much past 35 Whelen, 338-06, 30-06, and 280....makes as much sense, to me, as any real need for any other 300 mag. I get the one gun theory, but I've never subscribed to compromising things just for the sake of argument. For bear/moose/elk, surely some .338s or .358s are arguably 'better'? Same for deer/antelope, with sub 300 mags? What's 'enough'?

Had a RUM and decided that it was no better than the .300 Wby. This was just after the cartridge was introduced.

The RUM burns a bit more powder than the Wby, so it's gotta be mo better...

And, it could make more noise than the Wby, maybe kick more...?

That would make it, more likely than not, Gunner's favorite .300...

Just guessing, of course...

DF

It do burn more powder,more noise and kicked a little more than a .300 Wby...So that does make it Gunner's favorite!

The point of the article was a �one rifle battery� and if I was limited to hunt with one rifle and one caliber, then I agree, nothing tops the 300 Winchester Magnum � period. If I had to start in Arizona hunting Coues deer at long range, then work my way north and east knocking off whitetails, mulies, elk, all the different types of sheep, then head to Alaska and take the biggest bull moose you can find in the willows and finally throw in a huge brownie. The 300 Winchester Magnum is my gal!

The 300 Winchester Magnum loaded stout with a 180 Partition will get every one of those jobs done with little fuss. Cross canyon shooting of Coues deer or a record Dall or Stone sheep� no problem. Bucking that crazy Wyoming wind to put down a 16� antelope hanging out there at 450 yards � no problem. Slipping up on a huge herd bull singing songs to the girls and then planting him where he stands� no problem. Say you paid for an incredible brownie hunt with Phil Shoemaker? No problem, the 180 Partition will get that job done too with no worries. There�s nothing the caliber can�t do and do well for all big game hunting in North America.

Some say it�s a tweener round � pppfffssstt! It�s a 30 caliber baby and 30 caliber is America�s caliber! The 300 Winchester Magnum sits right smack in the middle of the bologna of the power spectrum. It�s competition are the Big 7�s, the ought-six and the 338�s. And throw in some of the 35 caliber magnums if you want. But it is the best of the best.

It�s shoots nearly as flat as any of the Big 7�s do but won�t leave you �wanting� more gun when you�re hunting a big brownie up close and personal. The grand old �ought-six� handloaded ain�t that far off. But it�s still short on trajectory and power. The 300 Winchester Magnum hits as hard as the 338 Winny but doesn�t have that rounds rainbow trajectory while trying to shoot across a canyon or through the wind of Wyoming that God turns on every morning at 6 am. You like the 340 Weatherby like I do? That�s a fine round and shoots just as flat and hits much, much harder but you gets what you pay for � a lot-o-recoil! You like the 35 Whelen, nice round, but the ought-six is better all around. Ever shoot a 358 STA? Try it sometime and then think about laying prone and shooting long range and that round falls short and worse - leaves you a battered mess.

To be honest, for the 300 Winchester Magnum to really shine she needs some work. Dump her in a light stock with a light scope and mounts to trim her weight down. To make her sing and dance, she needs to be handloaded. And she needs her magazine box knocked out so she can stretch out to a slender COL of 3.560. Work that 180 Partition up over 3100 fps and she�s where she�s happiest! She will serve you well and never let you down when you do your part and give you plenty of margin if or when you mess up.

Finally, I know, the 300 Weatherby is a little faster. But it just doesn�t say western big game hunting! She�s a little too snobbish, a little too uppity and I hate getting rain in my nose if I have to hunt with her. And the 300 RUM is just too much of a good thing and eats your powder stock faster than rabbits can reproduce - I know, we have a few RUM's!

Just don�t ask me why I have all of those other calibers and rifles that I already mentioned because I can�t give you an answer.

300 Winchester Magnum - the best of the best

Pass the popcorn please!

I like the .300 WM, but in a full mag length action with 3.6" box mag. That way, one can load longer bullets out where they need to be, not stuffed down in the case, taking up powder space...

DF

Agreed Creek.. as far as the .33's, if I need more than a .300 then it is time to go to a .375.. If you add a .25-06, you have everything covered but little varmints.... Our great calibers in modern times have always been .30's: .30-30, 30-06 and the various .300's.. All great in their own spot.. But the .300 can do anything the other two can and much more.. Especially if you reload..
At present, I have most of the .300's but the Ultra.. Had two..Both were built with 28.5 " Douglas number 5a barrels..They would shoot.. The last one would shoot a 200 grain AC at just over 3300fps.. I sold it to a friend, and he had 150 grain AC's moving out at 3750 fps.. I have thought of building another, but right now, I am closer 70 than 60, and my remaining hunts can be done with any of the .300's I now have.. Have a #1 in .300 H & H that is going to be my hunting rifle when my old 10 pound .300 gets too heavy to carry.. Wonderful calibers all..