Anyone ever load a 300 Win Mag for varmits or something light in bullets for plinking & practice. Shoot 180 or 200 for elk but thought I would like to try something small for practice & just to be able to shoot my Browning BAR more often as I really like shooting it.

130's go fast......

I see Hornady makes a 110 v-max? Anyone have any experience with them?

It will work fine but only if you use a TSX!

125 NBT's go very fast....

When my hunting buddy and I go out in a few hours Coyote hunting, he'll be using his 300 Weatherby, with 125 grain NBT's. That's the only rifle he has working right now, so that's what it will be. He does like the 3309 fps those bullets fly at, and it is more than accurate in his Wby rifle.
Our season for yotes opens today.

Siggly-I shot out one barrel on my old 700 when it was a 300 mainly on chucks at long range. I've used it more than a fair bit on yotes, pd's and gophers as well.

This was pre 110 VMax so I used the 110 Sierra HP (very accurate) and the 125 TNT quite a bit which has always been as accurate of a 30 cal bullet I've ever found.

I found on chucks the heavier slugs would toss them around quite a bit better than the 110's would. For smaller rodents I'd think about the 110 Sierra HP, 125 TNT and I'd for darn sure try the 110 VMax's.

Best of luck to ya!

Personally, I find that using my deer/elk rifles for rodents is incredibly good for me. If I can powder a chuck at 450-500 fairly easily then a elk at 500 is a chip shot!

Dober

Well, Dober, that was my idea exactly, to shoot it more & the practice on PD's should tune me up for the Elk season. The first I shot was 400 yds, but the last 3 have been at about 75 yds. You just never know when you will find that really good one at a distance. We hunt where you could be in either situation.

Thanks for the information, ya'll. NOw I have a new task to reload to.

Sig

I've not used a .300 mag, but I shot a ton of 125 gr Sierras through my first .30-06. My Dad used to buy bullets direct from Sierra by the pound on his way home from work when they were in Santa Fe Springs - as a truck driver with 3 teenage sons reloading and shooting, it was a neccessity! We found better accuracy and long-range trajectory with the 125s over the 110s available at that time. This was pre- Ballistic Tip/V-Max. A lot of jackrabbits fell (or flew) to those 125 gr Sierras.

Ditto to what he said. My friend George used to shoot the Sierra 125 grainers from his .300 Win Mag and me from my '06 at jacks in Wyoming.

His loading technique was to pour some IMR4831 (or maybe H4831, it was over 30 years ago) into a shoebox, dip the case in to fill it to the brim and seat the bullet.


That would definitely be an accurate description of the terminal effects!

My Dad was a fan of IMR-4064, so that is what we used in our '06s. We used 52.0 gr with 150 gr Sierras ( a load I still use) and, I believe, 55.0 gr with 125 gr Sierras. (Please verify that, as I am not at home with my notes!)

We would jump the jackrabbit and try to get into a sitting position and wait for the jack to stop about 100-125 yards away. Nowadays, they don't seem to stop - natural selection at work, I guess.

About 6-7 yrs ago I had a 300 Win set up for LR p/dogs...rifle was a Savage Tactical w/Weaver T16 on it and a Choate Varminter stock...even @ 10# rifle weight the recoil was unpleasant with a volley of 20-25 rds in 40 minutes...sight picture was gone once the trigger was pulled...a spotter is a must..barrel heat also an issue with the light/heavy factory tube...richochet with the 175 gr SMKs was not desirable either...I have since dumped that project and now use the 260 AI or the 6XC with 8 twist barrels in 18# rifles that have a more manageable recoil level....and smaller appettite..

Funny you mention your Dad being a fan of IMR-4064. My Step Dad also was a fan of that powder. In fact, he only had two rifle powders in the house ever, and one was 4064. The other was 4227 he used for his Hornet.
He used 4064 for EVERYTHING else , chamberings from 22-250 to 257 Roberts, 25-06, 270, and 30-06.

Us kids after reading of the advantages of IMR-4350 with 150 gr bullets went to that powder, but the velocity gain was really somewhat minimal, and the IMR-4064 loads were so accurate that I came back to it. Dad was happy with it and never really tried anything else for over 30 years. He hardly ever shot a bullet heavier than 150 gr, though.

Back when I got my first .300 Win mag, about oh... 28 years ago, I was itchin' to try it on something, anything... Loaded up some 130 Speer Hollow Points - and blew varmints to bits with it. Picked up some 150 gr factory ammo at a ridiculously low price and it worked well too. Lots of fun.

Those 130 Speers are an old design, but quite accurate and explosive. Have used them in several .30 cal rifles over the years.

Might as well chime in....I shot a pile of 110 grainers through my first .300 Win......mostly at jackrabbits....perfect "misters"..
Later, I bought the first Rem Sendero I could get my hands on, loaded it up with 168 Gr. match...When all the PDs inside of ludricrous distance had been killed with the .223,I'd start to work with the .300
Must admit, 80-100 rds.in a couple hours, and it started to get tedious...but it sure accounted for some PDs!
Ingwe

Ingwe, what powder were us using. I have used IMR 7828 & RL22 before, use IMR 4320 with great accuracy, speed in my 270 Weatherby Mag, have some 180 Scirrico's to load for Elk. You guys have a favorite Powder for the 300 Win Mag? I really need to get this PDog load started, it sounds like too much fun.

Sig

I honestly can't remember what I was using for the 110s...either IMR 4350 or IMR 4831
For the 168 Match, it was a max load of H4831sc...
Ingwe

I took this groundhog today with a 300 Winchester Magnum using Sierra 190 grain Match Kings. I believe the exit wound is big enough.

DRT?

Ingwe

Use enough gun...

A buddy of mine got a great deal on a "used up" 1000 yd rifle in 300 Win Mag. It may have been past its prime for competition but it had useful life left for hunting!
He called it the lunch gun because while they were taking a break for lunch they would setup the 300 on a table and take turns shooting at doggies way out there. I think he used 168 Sierra's but for closer work we have used 125 Sierra's and 130 Speers. It is like hitting them with a golf club!
whelennut