Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 300WSM---Is it a dead duck?

Probably the most successful of the WSM lineup but that still doesn't make it a going concern. So is the 300WSM still viable and worth having or is it a flop?

Myself, I always have a 30-30 and 308win, and some form of a 338 around. Recently I've added an 270win and 30-06 so I really have it all covered. Seems it's an hard sell when I already have the 30-06 or can fire 185gr or 200gr out of one of my 338's.

Now the weird part. I picked one up and it's going to an nephew so I guess he's stuck with it. The other nephew is getting an really nice 1953 Winchester M70 30-06. Hope I didn't mess up getting the WSM for one of them.

I wanted to like it but when it’s almost online ordering only ammo….I will pass…..

I see ammo at Cabelas, but not Walmart. It does seem to be getting more and more expensive, but even so, it'll never really go away. Too many rifles out there and too many western guys who still only want short actions.

There's been 228 threads on here about it.

The answer is no.

I havent seen a WSM caliber rifle on the gun shelves in a long time

I don't think its a dead duck. I bought one a few years after they came out. My gunsmith said he liked the fact that the head spaces off of the case shoulder, instead of the belted head space design of the 300 WM. So I thought I'll give one a shot.
I have killed a couple of elk, a dozen or so WT deer and as many pigs with it. It's a good all around caliber imo. I just buy ammo online, I have not had any problems getting it. However lately I find myself grabbing a lightweight 270 when I go hunting.

If there is such thing as an inherently accurate cartridge the 300 wsm is it. I've had many rifles chambered in 300 wsm and most shot incredibly well.

Bb

I've never shot one.

A moot point, the belt on a 300WM has not been used for head space for decades

Great answer^^^

I'd be looking for a different gunsmith. Or at least one that knows wtf he's talking about..

Agreed....And I have owned a dozen or so bolt action rifles chambered in .300 WSM and I like the cartridge its not hard to reload for, the only reason I dont own one at the moment is I sold off all my powder hogs but I will most likely buy another soon as I miss My Magnums 😁......Hb

At one-point Hornady used the 300 WSM cartridge as the basis for accuracy testing their 30 caliber bullets. They found it to be the most accurate 30 caliber cartridge. I'm assuming that is still the case.

I had one for a while and liked it. I just didn't need that much power for anything I'll ever hunt and had a chance to sell mine at a profit. I let it go, but if I ever felt the need for anything with a magnum headstamp that is the one I'd buy.

Sometimes it takes time for some cartridges to catch on. The 300 WSM is just over 20 years old. The 270 was a dead duck at 25 years old and almost dropped from production before Jack O'Connor started writing about it.

The lawsuit over the rights to the cartridge hurt all of the WSM's. After Winchester was forced to pay royalties on each rifle sold, they stopped pushing them. Even though they were required to keep making them as part of the settlement. Those royalties are why almost no other manufacture made them which also hurt. In fact, the only reason Ruger developed their RCM cartridges and Remington their SAUM cartridges was to avoid paying royalties. Very few people understood what its advantages were, and Kimber was the only manufacturer to ever make a rifle designed around of the cartridge's capabilities.

One of these days someone will figure out that it makes a darn good accurate, lightweight mountain rifle cartridge giving 98% of the 300 WM performance, from shorter barrels, but with manageable recoil even from a rifle that is 1-2 lbs lighter than a typical 300 WM. Once people figure that out it should start making a comeback.

Sounds about right. I wasn’t even aware of that lawsuit until the time limit was about over. IIRC Remington designed the SAUMs around the stubby M7. I don’t discount the desire for an in-house design either.

Also to be considered I think, is that not all that many have much use for a rifle more powerful than a .30/06, so once the market is satisfied for a time, demand will slack off. Of course Loonys will point out that you don’t have to run a mag full blast, but as JB has pointed out pretty often, most hunters and shooters aren’t handloaders, so are stuck with factory.

I was looking at a used rifle at a local lgs some years back. Was at their cleaning bench giving it a lick and a wipe as well as a patch through the bore. They come out ahead letting me clean them up as I check them out even when I don't buy it. Anyway I'm cleaning one and this western style dressed dude came in saw me working on the gun and asked where the 300wsm ammo was I pointed him in the right direction. So he goes over to the rack and picks up 3 boxes of 180 gr Npt Fed premiums and then found an inexpensive leather sling. Hauled his stuff over to the register and paid for it with 2 c notes. Got back less than 20 in change and left. This was 7-8 years a go before stuff really got jacked in price. I never have been able to forget it, it brought a completely simple understanding of the saying
" Has more money than sense" to me. At the time you could have bought 3 boxes of Fed Premiums in 30-06 for less than 75 bucks. Even wallyworld handled 300 WM ammo back then. Just something I never forgot that idea of 300 wsm owners having more money than sense. Flame away God damn it..mb

I use the brass for 7 WSM. If a 300WSM rifle I found to be cool came my way for a fire sale price, it'd have a home. As for ammo price, the only centerfire rifle stuff I've shot up in the last ten years in any real quantity has been LC head stamped 5.56 stuff. Most of that was bought at about $6 a box.

I've never seen anyone use one

With the prevalence of reloading now, I'm not sure a cartridge can truly die unless brass is impossible?

I have a 270 and a 300 WSM. Both are very accurate, 300 is a touch less recoil than a 300 Win Mag loaded to the same velocity in two Remington 700’s. I think they are great, depends on what you like. I have 300 H&H and 300 wby’s also. Toss them up in the air, use whichever one that falls in your head.


You can always load them down to 30-06 speeds if you felt the need??

I bought my first WSM, a 7mm used not long ago. Now that I've spent some time building loads and shooting the rifle, I would buy a 300 if the right deal came along.