Good job Rick What was muzzle velocity?
2750
Yeah....we can argue till the cows come home about the effectiveness of small calibers. But there still isn't much better than a heavy bullet at magnum velocities from a 300 magnum for putting the whomp on critters at distance. That he went right down is no surprise.
That sort of "blood trail" is pretty common with them, too,even on elk, from what I've seen. The combination just tears things up...
I'd agree. Been thinking about it too. Had lots of rifles to choose from in the safe; a really accurate .243 WSSM with the 105, a couple of .264" caliber choices, and the .300.
My confidence level was high on that shot angle with the .300. The Creedmoor or .264 WM would have had no problem either. I think I would have waited for a broadside shot with the WSSM.
The .300 with the 230 OTM I'd feel confident in at a mile.
A friend shot a doe antelope in Wyoming with a wildcatted 6.5 at 1503 yards this year.
Rick: I think there is a "logic" to all this with the 300 magnums.A 230 gr bullet at 2750 fps bears more of a resemblance to a 338-250 gr than it does to anything smaller. Point being I have always thought that a 300 magnum with heavier bullets deserves to be classed with the medium bores,rather than compared to anything smaller.
We all seem to gravitate to the smaller 7mm's and 6.5's as LR cartridges and they work no doubt. But they don't have the bullet weight and mass of the 30's with heavy bullets(heavy 7mm bulles nudge into the "middle" range of 30 caliber bullets,a reason they work well).Sometimes it can be tough to distinguish between cartridges and calibers in terms of killing animals but in terms of the degree of trauma inflicted I have always thought the big 30's occupy a niche above smaller stuff due to the heavier bullets coupled with the high velocity.
Just one example but I shot a large whitetail buck up in Saskatchewan at about 350 yards with a 180 gr at 3100 fps from a 300 Win Mag.This had been my elk load earlier that year..In the manner of northern rutting whitetails he was just suddenly "there" at the field edge. He was hit squarely behind the shoulder,and broke into a run.
I got down to where he was standing and there was an excessive amount of blood on the off side, just blown out and leaked from the impact and exit.The "trail" was very short but the amount of blood reminded me that it looked nothing like what I was used to seeing from a 270 or 280.Just a train wreck,much like your antelope....exit was the size of an egg and the blood was blown out the exit all along the trail.
Shoot enough animals with a 300 magnum and I think the differences will eventually start to show up in terms of the amount of trauma inflicted vs smaller calibers...just generally more trauma. There are solid reasons that a magnum 30 can be used effectively against about anything in the world. They are potent cartridges,despite recoil drawbacks for some.
