Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ok. Now please tell me about the 300 wsm…

Jordan, 3M : how much does the neck length shrink ?
I always wondered about that aspect of the 7mm WSM. Maybe just Loony Over-Obsessing

Beat me too it.

So A 6 pound Forbes rifle Might be difficult?

Lively I'm sure, but the level of difficulty depends on how well the stock geometry suits you.

Nobody says you have to load it full throttle either.

Mathman,

that’s what I’m thinking as well. Found a place that does custom loads all the way down to 125 grains. That might be kind of fun! And maybe some 150 grain as well. Seems like there’s a wide range of Options to run through this thing.

If you are thinking about 300 WSM in one of Melvin's rifles you will need a Model 28 short action. Forbes were only manufactured with Model 20 and Model 24 actions.

Not a handloader I see.

How do these custom loads places work? Do they use your rifle for load development? Do they have a data bank of loads that have worked pretty well in many rifles? Do you tell them what to load?

Yes sir, my apologies, this is a secondhand ultralight arms rifle.

I don't own any ultra light rifles but I imagine based on my experience with my Super Grade that you would have to be very recoil tolerant to enjoy shooting an ultra light in this caliber.

Jim

My first experience with a New Ultra Light Arms rifle a little over 30 years ago was a Model 28 in .300 Winchester Magnum--the first .300 WM I ever shot or used to take big game. With a 2-7x Bausch & Lomb Compact in Melvin's rings, it weighed a little under under 7 pounds, and shot three different bullets--the 165 Hornady Interlock, 180 Speer Grand Slam and 200-grain Nosler Partitions--into a composite 9-shot group of around an inch at 100 yards.

I didn't find it the recoil all that bad, even from the bench, but his stocks fit me well and I was 38 years old. Killed some game with it that fall using the 200 Partition load, and offered to buy it, but it was one of the rifles Melvin sent to various gun writers for testing--and he said no.

Thirty years later recoil doesn't feel quite the same--but more importantly I found a .300 Winchester Magnum wasn't nearly as "necessary" for certain kinds of big game as many hunters think, and I've taken a bunch of big game in both North America and Africa with the several .300 WMs I've owned since.

Might also mention that I've taken big game with several .300 WSMs--one before it was formally introduced. The animals varied from pronghorns at ranges out to nearly 400 yards, to a 6x7 bull elk shot at 100 yards in thick timber. It worked very well, but can't say it worked any better than a .30-06 with similar bullets--except for shooting a little flatter at longer ranges.

In general, they're easy to get to shoot well. But one of the big reasons I sold my last one a year ago was brass started to become harder to find compared to .30-06 and .300 Winchester cases.

I had one for a while and liked it. Mine was a late production SS Winchester 70 set in a McMillan Edge stock. But I came to the conclusion that my 308 was as much gun as I'd ever need, and I have two older 30-06 rifles with too much history to sell that I could use if I ever felt the need for more power. Comparing it to a 300 H&H is about right, but you can have it in a short 308 length action instead of a long or magnum action. It's easier to put together a lighter weight rig with 300 WSM than 300 H&H, 300 WM or even 30-06. Most manufacturers seemed to have missed that point though.

I was getting 50-75 fps less speed than 300 WM while burning 10-15 gr less powder. That basically split the difference between 300 WM and 30-06 when I ran the numbers through a recoil calculator. My shoulder agreed. If I wanted near 300 WM performance in a lighter weight rig 300 WSM is the way I'd go.

I had one of the Colt Light Rifles in 300 WM briefly. That is basically a cheaper version of the Forbes rifle and IIRC mine was at or maybe a little less than 7 lbs scoped. That was just a little too much of a good thing for me. I didn't keep that one long.

The 7 WSM has a neck that is 0.054” shorter than that of the .300 WSM.

Exactly, load to 30-06 velocity, go hunting

I have had a 300 wsm for about 15 years. Its a win. mod 70. It shoots good. I have killed 2 elk, about a dozen WT Deer and as many hogs with it. Mostly use 180gr Nosler partitions. If you do your part and put the bullet in the right spot they usually drop where they stand. I like the 300wsm, but I don't see any more Elk hunts in my future. lately I find myself grabbing a lighter 270 when I go deer hunting.

Look at the cost & availability of brass before you jump my .02

*most definitely not a gun writer

Exactly. The last part exceedingly true, because you know someone's going to be crying about the H&H being a long action and the WSM is magical because its a short action.

Thanks, I was thinking it would end up much shorter when starting with 300 WSM brass.
That extra case body volume has to come from somewhere. Hence my question.
Thanks again. Good Shooting 😊

Then why use the .300 WSM? It's very rare to encounter a shortage of .30-06 brass, partly because so much already exists.