Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 308 verses the 300 win mag

It's already been pointed out that the .300 mag is about the same as a .308 Win just a little farther out. I personally don't think people shoot enough. Naturally people react to loud noise and physical impact. Shooting often helps you overcome the natural reaction and you "master" the firearm you choose. Some never do.

A well constructed bullet, even if it is out a a smaller cartridge and of a smaller diameter can still be effective. It's up to us to determine what we will or won't accept. The only reason small calibers with proper bullets are questionable is if a bigger blood trail is needed. Poor shot placement once again comes back to practicing. Poor bullet placement is just that. A bigger bullet may be more forgiving, but it doesn't make up for it much of the time.

I think the current trend of ultra light rifles, smaller faster rounds, and higher quality optics all combine to offer the worst performance for those who don't practice. A heavier rifle tames recoil a bit and can steady a wiggly hold, smaller faster cartridges that are easy to shoot from a bench well can lead to overconfidence in the field, right along with high magnification scopes. I see people who rarely shoot show up once a year, talking about how they shot up a box of ammo "sighting in". They have decent glass, a decent rifle, and decent ammo. What else do they need? I have rifles that I haven't adjusted the scope on in many years.

Most would be better off buying and shooting the same ammo forever, but shooting more of it. Putting a Nightforce on in place of a Bushnell doesn't fix much.