You guys lack imagination. How many feet of dirt behind the dead animal is "enough penetration?" Why would we limit the Whelen to 250 grain bullets?
Is the argument really that there is zero effect by jumping up from 30 caliber to 35 caliber? If that is the argument, I'd argue that you are likely correct, given that 6.5mm non-expanding bullets have been used to kill all of the largest dangerous game animals on the planet many, many times.
The question then becomes, "Why are you shooting a 300 Win Mag, when Creedmoor ballistics kill the largest game, and very effectively?
Good question, the .300 mags are probably obsolete today given the bullets we have available. This wasn't always the case, I bought my 1st one in 1985 way before the Creedmoor. The one pictured is on it's 3rd stock, 2nd bottom metal, 3rd scope, and I'm quite sure the original barrel looks like a dry lake bed when viewed with a bore scope. I think I might keep it a while longer.
I hope you do, and I hope you or whomever you give or sell the gun to after you are done with it rebarrels for the same 300 Win Mag. Nothing wrong with it, and a lot that's right. It's even gotten better since the 80's with innovations in powders, bullets, and optics. For an everyman's Western hunting rifle, it's hard to argue with just picking a 300WM and going out the door.
I don't like that level of recoil in hunting-weight rifles, and can only shoot them "good enough" in small doses. Others don't seem to have that limitation.
When I started hunting deer with 223's, it was a revelation to me regarding recoil and noise and how they affect my ability to shoot well. I'd not been willing to admit it to myself before the first couple deer with a 223. I shoot lesser kickers producing less noise upon firing not only consistently better, but effortlessly and confidently better. That understanding comes into play when I go hunting now.
I still hunt with harder kickers. I load the Whelen clear to the eyeballs, and the same with the 444 and 45-70. They are fun to carry and hunt with, and they do the job, just like the 300WM.
