Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game .300 Mags / in the real world?

For those who have or do own such in one form or another, how much practical real world difference
have they made to your hunting?

I have had one or two off and on over the last 30 years, primarily for elk hunting. I do not have one currently nor do I have plans to acquire another. I can't think of anything that I have shot with a .300 Win Mag, .300 Wby or .300 H&H that would not have been just as dead if I had used the old .30-06 that still resides in my gun safe. YMMV.

Not a bit other than some 'wow" factor in regards to the rums and wbys

If someone is serious into long range hunting or primarily chasing elk/moose I could see some added attraction.

But no difference in whitetail hunting. I also have sold them off, but still have an '06.

-Jake

I have a couple 300 mags and have taken game with them out around 300 yards and a bit more, lazered, not a guess. May help confidence a bit but honestly at those ranges the 308 and 06 would kill likely as well.

I am a guy that enjoys the hunt and closing the distance as much as possible. I got the 300's for those times maybe I could not get closer. Looking back, probably should have saved the coin but I admit to enjoying the boomers.

And there's nothing wrong with that!!

-Jake

When I am hunting anything I really want to bring to bag, they are what I choose... An 06 kills well, a .300 does the same at longer distances... Maybe that isn't important to you, but to me in my country it is..

I've had a couple as well as a 300 WSM. The 30 magnums do at 600 yards exactly the same thing a 30-06 does at 500 and a 308 does at 400. Those are about the ranges where impact velocity starts to drop below the speeds needed for reliable expansion. Inside of 400 yards no animal will ever know the difference. When reality set in and I realized about 400 yards was the limit of my comfort zone for shooting at game I sold my last 300.

I have three 300's,one 300WSM and two 300 Win Mags.The 300's certainly have their place in the field and they certainly can deliver that Wow factor on game.I've really grown to appreciate the 30-06.I haven't used it for anything long range,but inside 200yds,the majority of my shots,I really don't see much difference between it and the 300's using like bullets.Probably most the difference blows out the offside of the animal anyway.

I have owned 2-300 Win Mags and 1-300 Weatherby. I started my hunting life with a 30-06 and didn’t feel the need for anything bigger until we switched our hunting area from mountains with a max shot of 250yds. to a much more open rolling hills area where you can see for over a mile! The first year we hunted the open area I had to pass several shots due to range limitations. I traded the 06 for my first 300WM mostly for the extra 100-150yds of rang it bought me for hunting the open plains! As I’ve gotten older I have had a hard time with the recoil of the various 300’s due to shoulder injuries and sold them off for a softer shooting 270 Weatherby Weathermark! Haven’t killed an elk with it yet but it smacks the deer and antelope just fine and I have utmost confidence in it for elk when the time comes to shoot one! The 300’s are great rounds, but there are others that will kill em way out there also!

Elk Country

I ended up with a .300WM solely 'cause I was cruising the classifieds here, & found one going so cheaply that I figured I could play with it a little, and sell it without losing any $. It turns out that rifle shoots extremely well, and the stock design handles the recoil so well (for me) that it kicks less than some .30-06's I've had.

I can't really comment on its performance, because it's produced two 1-shot kills on animals at 100 and 150 yards. I've hardly stretched its legs. Then again, I doubt I'd personally ever attempt any shot beyond 300 yards, anyway, so the extra range afforded by the .300WM is likely wasted on me.

However, one of those 2 kills was of a mountain goat on a shale face so steep that it took me 20 minutes to traverse the 150 yards from where I shot, to the downed goat. If he didn't fall at the shot, there was no way I was gonna be able to chase him. In hindsight, a like shot from a .300 Savage would have probably yielded the same result. But I had no idea the shot would be at only 150 yards when I started up that mountain.

Sometimes it helps one's confidence to know you've got a li'l extra in the tank.

FC

I don't like the 30 magnums for the recoil, but they are stone cold killers. I'd rather shoot a 340 Weatherby, it doesn't bother me like a 30 mag does for some reason. Anymore, I use a 284 and don't feel under-gunned.

I have a 300 Win mag, couple 300 Weatherby’s. I load them down to moving a 150 grain bullet at 3100 fps. They kill anything I’m gonna encounter with ease. I don’t need the extra velocity.

My 300 wm with 200 NPs gives me loads of confidence and I’ll happily take on just about anything with it. I’m about middle age and i shoot it just fine. It is my one rifle to do it all gun. I don’t experiment with different loads I don’t buy new rifles for new hunts I just run this one for 90% of my big game and kill everything from antelope to moose graveyard dead. And from just about any angle too. I just need chances at more species of game now.

Pre-LRF, I was just certain that I needed a 300Win for everything bigger than a coyote. 20+yrs later, I've got an LRF, good dope on my handloads, and for most of my hunting I don't reach for the 300WM anymore. That said, I still carry the 300 when elk hunting. I've killed elk w/257Wby, and several w/270Win and IME, the 300 still hits w/much more authority. I'm not selling my 300WM anytime soon, still my favorite elk rifle.

I have owned many different 300 mags and used them all. I still own one now. Thinking back I can remember two 300 Wins, two 308 Normas, two 300 H&Hs, one 300 Weatherby and one 30-387 Weatherby.

I like them, but I have to be 100% honest, I have never seen a big difference in their effectiveness in their use over the 30-06 kills I have made. I love my 300,(the last one I still have) but I can't say they are greatly more effective then the 30-06s I have owned and hunted with. Yes they shoot flatter, but the idea that the extra speed makes them kill faster......that I have not seen.

Not much. Where I usually hunt a really long shot would be 300 yardsand I shoot at hat range and further to verify my drops. Rather oddly, I shoot a relatively high oercentage of animals there at 235-285 yards.
I find an '06 or .338 Win Mag do fine for me. I rarely take anything else along except to blood it. If I hunted more open country I would use one much of the time. .
I admit to playing with the .300's on rocks and an occasional coyote out to around 600 yards, not much else though.

My .300 Weatherby is headed to my oldest boy who just moved to Wyoming. He thinks it will help him on antelope.

One of the .308 Normas went to my oldest grandson who lives in Texas. He likes the long range capability too. I'm keeping my .308 Norma commercial 98 though.

Yes, they shoot flatter than the 06 and 308. That makes hitting your target easier past 300 yds.
Since elk & moose are killed reliably with much smaller cartridges —> the xtra ‘power’ isn’t needed.

I’ve admitted this a couple of times. I have an ‘irrational affection’ for the 300 WM.
Simply, I just like it. The flatter any cartridge shoots, the easier it is to hit your target.

“A Flat Trajectory Is Never A Handicap” is my sig line for a reason.

I’ve had 300s off/on since @ 1978. I’ve killed quite a few WT with them.
Why? You ask, I was gaining familiarity with the rifle & recoil. I’ve had every
intention of using my 300 WM on Elk.

From 2008-2010 ( 3 seasons) I hunted my Win 70 Black Shadow 300 WM exclusively
for deer. I was NOT disappointed at all.

Remember the 300 WM is/has been used in 1000yd competition and DID WELL.

If I were able to go back many years - I wouldn’t change.

Jerry

My exact sentiments. I love the 30-06 and 338 both for obvious reasons. At one time in my life, I was a 1 rifle man. That rifle was chambered in 300WM. I never liked it and didn't notice anything special about it, except it kicked like a mule. It never killed any better than the 30-06 and actually the 338 always seemed to put bigger critters down quicker. One reason I still use a 338wm for elk hunting. However, a 30-06 loaded with 200gr partitions will do anything I ever expect a big game rifle to do. I will say that I always said if I got a 308 Norma, I'd sell all the rest and keep the best (the Norma). In the last 2 weeks, I've sold a rifle and listed another on GB, so the inventory reduction has started...I know I will never be down to 1 rifle again, but if I did, the 300WM wouldn't be first choice..

I've owned a Remington 700 and a Bergara Ridge in 300WM. Remington didn't shoot worth a darn so down the road it went. The Bergara will shoot under 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I got my first one when I could only afford one rifle and needed it to take everything I was going to hunt. I now have the Bergara I bought used and it came with a muzzle brake which is LOUD but really takes the recoil out of it. Reason I got it wasn't so much for hunting anymore but to learn long range shooting. I'm looking forward to opening it up out to 1000 yards at paper and steel, but would never take a game shot that long. I have a bean field that I can take 600 yard shots at hogs, but wouldn't try anything that long at a whitetail without some serious practice. Until then I'll keep stalking to reduce range or wait until another opportunity at closer range comes along. I have taken one deer with it at 200 yards, dropped it in its tracks, but done the same with 243, 25-06 and 270 so not much real world difference for me.

I have 3 different 300 mag chambering’s. 300 win mag, 30-338 and the 300 Weatherby.

My favorite from a reloading standpoint is/was the 30-338, then the 300 Weatherby and my least favorite is the 300 win mag.
They are nice to have in the rolling hills and wind swept flat lands of The Dakota’s.
Shooting a fawn sized Texas WT from a box blind over corn before the UT game stars, yeah they might not be needed 😂