Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 300 win mag or 30-06

Which would you pick for deer and elk out to 450 yards? Why would you choose one over the other? Both would be shooting a 180 grain nosler accubond

300 mag. you can always load it down if you wanted but i wouldn't hack i use a 300 ultra for deer just because i like shooting it more than my 300mag. but if your going to be hunting elk and shooting out to 400 yds or more I'd opt for the 300

.30-06

-Additional recoil of the .300 Win Mag not worth it for the slightly increased velocity.
-If you reload: Less powder, cheaper brass for the '06.
-If you don't reload: Much greater selection of factory ammo.
-If you don't reload: Factory ammo is cheaper.
-Regardless if you reload: If you ever need a box of factory ammo, every store that sells ammo will have '06 bullets.
-No belt on the '06.
-Sight in at 200yds and the .300 Win Mag will drop about 40" at 500 yds, and the .30-06 will drop about 47". So the magnum isn't significantly "flatter."

I run the 300 WM in order to use the 200-gn
Accubond <grin>!

I'd say it comes down to your recoil tolerance. A 300 mag is a pretty sharp kicker. If you can shoot a sharp kicker well, then it's a "better" elk rifle- it will push a heavier bullet, which is a good thing on several levels.

If recoil affects your ability to shoot well then I'd go 30-06. It is very shootable.

Let me diverge from your question even further if you don't mind. In my opinion, if you are able and willing to tolerate 300 Win Mag recoil, then buy a .338 WM instead. Many- myself included- find .338 recoil to less bothersome than 300 WM.

Anyway others with more elk experience will chime in (I've only hunted them 8-9 seasons and killed a couple), but that's my opinion.

.300 WM.

That said, I have two .30-06's and wouldn't hesitate at ranges under 500 yards.

The .300 is just more authoritative. At 450 yards it will ahve about the same thump as a .30-06 at 300-325.

just get a 300 rum and be done with it. if you don't mind a heavy rifle get a sendero or a 700p. my 700p with scope weighs about 12# recoil is not bad at all and a 200gr at 3200fps is wicked medicine

Likely I'd go 06 with a 180 @ 2750 and mainly cause I can get the rifle in a lighter and more compact rig generally.

I feel that there's a high likely hood that the up and coming 84L is gonna be the most model perfecto factory rifle ever made.

At this time as much as I don't like certain things about it the Montana in 300 wsm is the model perfecto rig! I don't like it's beer belly and I wish that it had a skosh more weight in the tube. If the tube was 23" and .6" at mzl now that rig would speak to me.

Dober

The .300 WM kicks more, cost more to shoot, but only produces a 1-2" flatter trajectory. That is hardly worth it.

i get 3106fps with a 180 outta my 300wm. don't own a 06 what can they do with a 180gr.

I don't mind the kick, I just about hate the weight anymore though.

Dober

jeez, I dunno... A 12 pound rifle sounds like just the ticket for a late November mountain hunt, snow to the knees, 9000 feet elevation, scree slopes and side hills steep as a cow's face...

300 all the way

It did to me too, when I was 19...

Dober

I've owned both, and where I hunt, 200 yards is getting to be a long shot, so the '06 would be my choice, here. Now, if you were to be consistently shooting beyond 300, and more towards the 400 yard type shot, I would think hard about the .300 WinMag. With a 165 grain bullet, it has a wicked flat trajectory (but for deer, so does a 25-06), and where I would really consider it is if I needed to use heavier bullets.

A 300 WinMag with 200 grainers is a potent rifle for bigger game than deer, and the heavier bullets is where the big 30s will really shine.

If Elk (as you originally mentioned) were on the table, at longer range, I would have to vote .300 WinMag.

It's pretty hard to beat a 300 winchester magnum as a long range elk/deer cartridge,if you can shoot it well.....I've noticed the best 300 magnum shooters tended to be real riflemen, shooting a few thousand rounds a year from various rifles....many "two box a year" 300 magnum shooters I've seen were real bums,and far better served with something they could manage.

300WSM, it's way better than an '06.....(grin)

Ahem...

Id go with the .300 Win. just cause Im too old to think "WSM"

For that matter, I think the .300 Win. is a little " Buck Rogers" compared to the .300 H&H...which as we all know is the consummate elk cartridge......



Ingwe

With the premium ammo you can get these days, the 06 will do what the 300 standard ammo does. For example, with Federal premium ammo in 180 gr Barnes MRX bullets, you will still have over 1500 ft/lbs at 500 yards. Plenty for your purposes.

A (nice)300 H&H is on the wish list.
Just the sound of it has panache.

Its the only thing with sloping shoulders that I consider "sexy".....

Ingwe