Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 300 "Winnnie, load Nozlers and go forth and fill up an ark"

The origination of this thread was the concept of getting things done, it had nothing to do with cals!

LOL

Get in the game!

Dober

Many including Les Bowman found that most hunters could not shoot the 300 magnums well and he, with others, pioneered the 7mm RM so the notion that a 300 mag is a universal cartridge is indeed subject to criticism.

All of these notions of power and range have significant implications in terms of actually getting the game.

S99--
With all due respect, what part of this thread don't you understand? The point was to stop fretting theoretical caliber differences and go live life. But you morphed it into a 7 mag v 300 Win mag comparison.

I think you proved Mark's point with elegance.

Touche, +1

Damn straight on all the above (except for the 7mag reference).

If all I had in my gun safe was my 300win with some pet load 180gr NPTs (or TSXs), I could take every animal on the planet I've ever wanted to take.

300 winmag-my thoughts exactly! Of course I feel the exact same about my 7 Mashburn Super...grins

Dober

Thx Ute!

Dober

Life is short hunt hard!

But dont you need something to do when the weather is crappy?

I agree with you tounge in cheek that we would all be better to heed the "beware the man with one gun" concept but I have to leave room for nostalgia and hunt with some older guns once in a while.

The best parallel I can include is the cops that constantly hunt for the ultimate off duty gun. I know several the rotate them like underwear but never get good enough with any to make an honest evaluation yet profess the last one was crap and move on to another. Sounds alot like those that profess absolutes based on a single failure or success.

Mark,

I agree with most everything you have written so it is not surprising that I do in this case as well. I think your point on being in shape is an excellent one. Sometimes I run moreso than lift, other times I lift more than I run. But I always try to stay in pretty good shape. Even on eastern bears and deer it is important to be able to climb those old hills to be an effective hunter. At least the way I hunt it is.

And the point about calibers is an excellent one. I remember asking you and Brad about your opinion about the 06 as an all around rifle. Got the same opinion on it that I have read from John Barsness, Allen Day, Craig Boddington and just about every widely experienced hunter on the site. When the occasional elk, moose, or whatever comes up I'll load up a good 165 or 180 and go hunting. I won't give it a second thought. Not now or then. It is just something I don't think is an issue.

Likewise I think we could make a post about a special breed of gack concerning accuracy. Maybe I am in the minority but you could give me special bullets that would explode into harmless dust at a range of 500 yards and I would never know the difference. For the way I hunt there is no difference between a rifle that shoots bugeyes and one that shoots MOA [or even more than MOA]. None.

I think we could take a cue from the most diehard and tough group of hunters in America: the dedicated ruffed grouse hunter. He worries about being in shape, whether his outfit is briarproof and comfortable, whether he has completely broken in his new boots, whether he is in good grouse habitat, and even how much his gun weighs.

But I have never met a dedicated grouse hunter who showed even a passing interest in whether a 1 ounce load was better than a 1 1/4 ounce load. Or whether a number 1 skeet choke is better than an improved cylinder. Or whether a 1200 fps load was as deadly as a 1300 fps load. Every one I met knows his preferences, buys equipment that meets his wants, and then goes out and wears out his new boots in the thickest cover he can find. And doesn't give his equipment another thought.

Will

Utah708,

I take the topic has having the wrong choice of cartridge. Of course we can hunt all over with the most powerful round but there are significant takebacks to too much recoil.

Thats why I made the comment about the 300 WM and backed it up with the authority Les Bowman.

Hunt the world with at 300 WM? No thanks.

Quite often a topic will divert on tangent. In this particular topic my comment that the 300 WM kicks too hard for many hunters is quite on topic in my view. You have the right to say that you don't agree and that all of us would be better off with a 300 WM but don't say that I can't disagree.

And for that matter "hunt the world with a 300 WM?? Do you include dangerous game in that? Africa?

Good grief...

Good grief at what?

I won't waste typing more than this...

Do you honestly NOT SEE what they mean? The whole point of Mark's excellent ( as usual ) posts is that WE often spen HUGE amounts of time and bundles of cash TRYING to find a ballistic advantage that REALLY does NOT exist. Very simple.

IF, you hunt mountainous country, especially solo and for multi-day trips, the gear you use is VERY important. However, I have seen people actually OBSESS over the weight difference between a Snowpeak canister stove and an Optimus to the point of flaming each other savagely, the actual difference is a fraction of an ounce......

I happen to like classic, CRF, bolt rifles and Germanic combo guns, have quite a few and also prefer medium bore cartridges such as the .338 Win. and the 9.3x62. I usually pack one or the other for almost all my hunting until November deer season, when I go to one of my smaller bores. BUT, I don't try to convince myself that ONLY these rifles/cartridges will do it properly or that MY preferences are the best choice for everyone, that is what Mark is saying, as I read it.

The point about physical condition is REALLY relevant as, like most middle-aged, (61 this month) guys who worked long and hard for almost 40 years, I took it pretty easy after I retired and put on about 50 lbs. without even noticing it....THEN, I went back to the Kootenays to take a Vietnam vet I knew hunting in one of my best spots....and, BOY, how my home mountains have steepened!!!

So, while our preoccupation with ...ballistic gack..., a really neat term IS fun, we also need to remembere that a .308-180 NP at 2700-3100 fps-mv WILL and HAS neatly killed EVERYTHING on Earth and is NEVER a "bad choice"here in North America. A guy from the States and his son killed the then world record Grizzly near Bella Coola with exactly this combo some years ago and it is NOT too small for such bears.....but, I just like the .338-250 NP.

So, Dober's astute wisdom rings true, to me, most of us would be well advised to work out more, shoot more and worry about .270 vs .280 LESS....I have and love both.......

Just finished 25 minutes on the rowing erg!! At 47 tender years of age, 2 knee operations, 37 years of skiing, and a bad back I'm more aware than ever how important it is to get regular exercise. Each year the mountains seem to get higher and steeper. My gun needs are easily filled by something that is light and shoots well.

I find that doing those exercises that strengthen the "core" are helping the most. Rowing as enabled me to train lot's of muscles at one time without impact. The best money I ever spent on exercise equipment was a Concept 2 rowing erg about 13 years ago. I bought it to train for climbing the 3 highest Mexican volcanos. I have used it steadily ever since and is probably now as important a piece of equipment to me as my rifle.

My knees ache, my back hurts, and come September I'll be chasing birds with my two setters, antelope in early October and then elk until F&G makes me quit.

Savage, I'd love to hear all about you experiences with the 300 Win. Mag..........

AD

308/30-06/300 win mag, not much difference unless you really stretch the range. I have personally found the 300 win mag a bit too stout in the recoil dept for my deer hunting chores. If I really needed a fast 300, I would spend more time with a 300 wm and get used to it. my 25-06 works fine so why bother. also, my 300 wsm will do all I need with 165 gr bullets.

still, if I had to choose one chamberinng for all of my hunting, it would be the 300 win mag. with handloading, I could make it do just about anyting I needed.

If jy jones could kill all North American game with the 30-06, the 300 win mag would do fine as well.