Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .300 WBY vs. .300 Win. - Realistic Expectations

I have shot my bro's .30-378 with 210 gr. and H1000, it shot remarkably well. and a 210 at 3150is impressive. I think a .30-378 with 230 gr berger would be lethal to any range you would care to shoot. Otherwise a.300 win mag, is more then enuff for most reasonable ranges. I just traded an unused rifle for a .300 and I had a choice between a vanguard in .300 wthby and a tikka t3 lite
in .300 win. I took the tikka , just because of the gun . Expense of weatherby and norma brass factored in as well . but a 6.25 lb tikka will be nice carrying in the mountains.. Otherwise the animals would never be able to tell the difference.

It's more than that brothers:

The 30-06 as good as it is WILL NOT push 180-200 gr bullets AS FAST nor AS FLAT as the 300 WM
AND those bullets will NOT HIT as hard, ESPECIALLY at longer ranges.

Those facts SEEM to escape 'some' here.

Just threw that in about the '06...

Actually, I'm currently working up loads for a 26 Nosler and am quite fond of my .300 WM and 7 RM...

I like fast, flat and noisy as much as the next hard core Loony...

DF

I owned a ss Mark in 300 why back in the late nineties. It was the fluted barrel model that Weatherby made for a short time. Gun was extremely accurate, I didn't bother hand loading for it because hand loads could not have possibly shot better in that rifle, Only objection was recoil. Now I fast forward to this last spring, my younger brother bought a Vanguard deluxe in 300 bee NIB. I figured the SOB would kick like a mule and lo and behold with factory wby 180 grain partitions it was a pleasure to shoot and very accurate.

I really thot so, but there ARE those who don't know or understand. Experience is the best educator.

I don't ever recall trying to turn my 30/06 into a 300 WM or trying to turn my 280 Ackley into a 7mm Rem Mag and frankly, I don't understand why folks do it either. I'd bet that if a guy here is a handloader/reloader he probably is enough of a "rifle looney" that he or she doesn't own just one rifle either. It's one thing to try and optimize a load for your particular rifle and an altogether different matter to drive pressures through the roof making it unsafe.

Had to drag up this old thread. Lots of good information here.

For many years most of my hunting coyotes and larger was with a Springfield 03 and a Weaver K4. Then I changed to a 30-06 in a 721. I suspect that I could have stayed with either ‘06 and done just fine.
BUT, I don’t play golf! My hobby is trying new and old cartridges. I bought a Savage 99 in 300 to use for white tail this year and am buying a 300 Weatherby for bigger game. I sold my 308’s & 243’s. And I sold my 338’s even though I think the 338 is an outstanding cartridge. But there’s only so much room in the safe for magnums. I really like my 700 in 300 Win Mag and I can’t get myself to sell the ‘06’s but I’ll probably spend the rest of my hunting years using guns & cartridges & bullets that I never used before. I’ll probably sell the 99 and maybe the WBY next year, then something else.

The heck with logic. My neighbor is over a mile away and he keeps bringing up, “Why do you need more than one or two shots to see if your rifle is sighted in before you go hunting?”

I just smile.

I hear you Bugger- I have used bookoo calibers through the years, had a ball doing it too! I now have settled down to a pair of identical Mod 700 Classics. .270W & .338WM I figure I'd best stop there and start doing more spending on hunting, before I get too the point it ain't fun anymore. Then, I can go back to playing with rifles/loads at the range,, ha. I've always been one of those that will play with/experiment with different rifles and will sell/trade existing rifles to pay for them. I don't "accumulate" as I want to hunt/use each rifle and I don't have enough time & money to shoot 5-6 head of game with each one, ha! Have a ball Marine! ( Sgt., US Army '71-'77, Arty)

I've wound up selling my .300's, but kept a .338WM, only because I like the rifle and I don't load it warm. I think of it like a slightly overgrown 30-06.

Regarding the .300's though, I loaded for a 26" .300WinMag a while back and saw 3,300fps+ with a book load of 7828 and 165's. Even if it was a 24" rifle, I can't think of much a stout 165/168 can't do at 3,200+, and do it well. I just don't need that kind of recoil for my purposes.

I’m partial to the .300 Weatherby and have never owned a .300 Win or WSM. A.30-06 with high energy factory loads or warm handloads is only a couple FPS behind the .300 Win so my convoluted logic told me that if you have a 24” ‘06 then the marginal utility of the .300 Win is small. Sounds like the same logic for .300 Win v. 300 Weatherby. With a 165/168 gr load, the jump from the 30-06 to 300 Roy is 400-500 FPS. The .300 Weatherby outshines the little brother with a 26” barrel if the Win Mag has only a 24” tube. Either is powerful juju. Happy Trails

Really ? the logic of a NON owner ! Read Below .



I HAVE and HAVE HAD several 300 Win Mags. J Pro isn't the only one to get 3300 fps with 165 boat tail bullets.

I have also exceeded 3100 fps with 180 N P.

ALL graphed over an Oehler 33.


** How about graphing some "high energy 06 factory loads" and get back to us.**

You Might re think your logic.


Jerry

I have several of each, plus 30-06’s. They all kill just fine.

Jerry, I don’t have to own any caliber to determine its usefulness, or not. You keep on believing that a 165 BT in a Win Mag at 3,300 FPS is within SAAMI specs. Happy Trails

uhhh



you were sayin....


Jerry


**** In the near future this pic will disappear. I'm managing my pic quantity in storage so I can not leave all of them up.

For future reference - this pic is of Nosler #7 loading manual showing loads for the 300 WM, 165 bullets @ 3300 fps.

Nosler....

You win, I recant.

However, ‘splain to me how Nosler lists a 165 .300 Weatherby with a 26” barrel SLOWER than a .300 Win with a 24” tube?

That, along with my personal experience, totally blows confidence in their data. Barnes data much closer to reality.

When I worked up that 165/3,300fps load, I was using one of those "One Book - One Caliber" load manuals for the .300WinMag. It was from the mid-90's. I'm looking at it right now and the Speer load data, which was fired in a 24" Ruger M77, went up to 83.0gr of 7828 for 3,280fps. I was shooting a 26" barrel and got 3,300fps with 81gr, so I stopped there. I also shot 80gr with 168's and made 3,250fps. In that manual, Speer said their loads did not exceed 54,000cup, so I'm assuming they tested them.

Regardless of 50fps here or there, the 300WinMag does bring a lot of juice to the table when loaded to its full potential.

WAM

I'm NOT pushing anything, just relaying more info.

"Back in the Day" (grin) I only had 1 magnum rifle at a time. My first was a Ruger 77 tanger 300 WM. I didn't know a 300 WM would
kick LESS in a 'decent stock with a REAL recoil pad'. I thot mags should/would kick. It did.

My next mag was a 700 Classic 7 mm RM and for a few years only 1 mag at a time. In studying the manuals of 'the day', I was looking for a powder to give reasonable velocity with the least powder burned.

I found that IMR 4350 did what I was looking for. That was some years back and we have MORE powders that'll perform at less pressures than IMR 4350.

As time has gone by I've 'evolved' and have multiple magnum rifles in diff 'calibers' (cartridges) and I have diff powders for each of those rounds. It puts less strain on having just ONE powder for the magnums.


I said earlier that I got 3100 fps + using 180 N P. I did. Here are a couple more pix from Nosler # 7 -- top shows bullet wt--- bottom shows velocities.





The last 5 powders listed produced from 3100 -- + fps. NOTE IMR 4350.

*** Note Same as above pix - these are loads from Nosler # 7 for the 300 WM



Way Back, I just liked the looks of the 300 WM and then I liked the velocities it got from less powder than the Wby. I'm NOT anti Wby.
I've said this 'here' before, " I have an irrational affection for the 300 WM. I just like it. That's all it takes for ALL of us to like or dis like
certain rounds (cartridges).

The 300 WM carries it weight very well. And that's not just my opinion, others share it as well.

Have a Goodun


Jerry

I was having a senior moment when I typed the 06 is just a few FPS slower. I was thinking about my early comparison to the 7mm Remington Mag. My only issue with the 7mm Rem Mag and the .300 Win Mag is the short neck dimensions. But it obviously is not a concern for the masses. Cheers

What is that ? never had one




Jerry