Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game .300 Weatherby for Brown Bear ? .300 Weatherby All Around Caliber ?

How well does the .300 Weatherby perform on Brown Bear ? Do most guides/outfitters allow the .300 Weatherby for Brown Bear ? Would you consider the .300 Weatherby an all around caliber for NA with the right bullets ?

How would the recoil be with a Vanguard S2 with a AccuBrake and a LimbSaver recoil pad ? Would it be close to a .270 Win ? The Vanguard comes with a 24" barrel, but the brake adds 2" to the barrel, would this give the same performance boost that a real 26" barrel has ?

I'd feel perfectly fine hunting Brownies with the .300 wby with good heavy bullets.
In 2001 I had the choice of shooting my Sako .375 H&H or my ultralight Weatherby in .300wby.
I chose the wby and dumped a 10 foot plus Boone & Crockett Kodiak on the first shot at about 250 yds, I put a couple more into him for insurance, but really didn't need to.
Elk, Moose, Browns, Grizz, Blacks & long range deer, the .300wby can do it all although I prefer more comfortable chamberings for the smaller end of the spectrum.

Nice bear Salmonella!

One accrues no velocity gain from installing a brake. One should be able to squeek by with that chambering in north America.

Would never again hunt with a braked rifle. Did it once and ear pain for 3 days afterwards was pretty intense. Simply not worth it to me. YMMV.

If I did own a 300 Wby, I wouldn`t hesitate in the least using it on any NA big game.

The brake will reduce the recoil by a good margin. But beware of the extra noise levels. Many don`t like hunting with a braked rifle because of the added noise.

Good field hearing protection will be a must.

See the middle round below. Noisy? How about when fired from a braked Accumark?.........Naaaaa!...........

Salmonella, Beautiful Brownie!!

JrHunter, I have a Vanguard in .300 Wby. I put it in a custom stock with a Limbsaver pad, had it fitted with a KDF muzzle brake, and installed a mechanical recoil reducer in the stock. I've alternated shots at the range with it and a standard .270 Win, and my .300 Wby kicks less than the .270.

I've never been Brown Bear hunting, but if I would, I'd probably use my .375 RUM, just because I have it. Years ago, many of the famous trophy hunters killed just about everything that walks with their .300 Weatherbys.

Muzzle brakes have an inside diameter several thousands of an inch larger than the diameter of the bullet. The bullet does not touch the inside of the brake and the pressure is not maintained like it is in the barrel.

I've used my braked .375 RUM on two hunts in Africa and my braked .300 Wby on another plus an exotic hunt in Texas and an elk hunt here at home in Montana. I'm looking forward to using it next year in New Zealand. Currently I'm shooting 10-15 rounds per week at the range with my .300 Wby.

But just barely.

Elgin Gates thought highly of the caliber.

From the time of its' introduction the 300 Weatherby has been highly regarded for all the world's big game;Elgin Gates took everything from elephant on down with the cartridge.Hunting literature from the 50's forward are loaded with references to guys using the 300 Weatherby in Africa and Asia for everything, including brown bears,and it was not unusual to see the 300 Weatherby listed with the 375H&H as a one rifle/do everything choice.

I've used it for western game up to elk in size;saw one brown bear killed with one and a 180 Partition.With todays good bullets,it's still one of the best.

But,if the recoil is so troubling that you need a MB to shoot it,I'd pass and get something more manageable.

I think Salmonella's picture about covers it and quite nicely I might add. Congrats on a great bear sir.

i was getting the brake so my son could use the rifle as well as me...

How old/big is your son?

easy answer - removable break. practice with it on, check POI shift at the range with it off, hunt with it off. this subject always gets both sides up in arms strongly....but really, its simple. removable break and a thread protector

My son will be around 13-14 when I get this gun, he is big for his age ( 5 foot 4, and 170 lbs, he is in shape the doctors says it is more muscle than fat thank god ) and he has fired many loads from a 20 gauge and has fired an old Kentucky Rifle style M/L a few times. Has shot a .270 and 30-06. Thought the 30-06 was about right ( this was after 40 rds ).

And to answer the other question I was looking at the Weatherby AccuBrake I don't know if it is removable but I am positive that is what I am getting. This is not a rifle that will come out very often few times a year or more.

I wouldn't put a kid behind that rifle. Keep him on what he's shooting now.

I'd be leery about putting a kid behind a big 300 too.
Likely to develop flinching problems that he will carry a lifetime.

I started my kid with a 7/08, he shoots real well.....

I couldn't agree more. How big someone is or how muscular they are tells you nothing in regards to how they will react to gobs of recoil.

Or muzzle blast...

Well, according to Weatherby, a 9 1/4 lbs rifle shooting a 180 grain soft point makes 39 ft.lbs of recoil. With the AccuBrake it is supposed to make the recoil at 18.4 ft.lbs of recoil which is 30/06 recoil levels. Add this wil a LimbSaver slip on recoil pad and a sweatshirt, I think he could handle it ( I estimate the recoil will be more on Par with 18.4 ft.lbs of recoil then if not less ). Now my kid can a handle a 30/06 well ( has shot 40 rds of 180 grainers ) and after that said that was enough. He had a sweatshirt and a LimbSaver slip on pad then and I think he could handle it when I put the Muzzle brake or AccuBrake.

Chuck Hawks says a 180 grain bullet coming out of a .300 Weatherby has 31.6 ft.lbs of recoil. Who is right ? Weatherby saying 39 ft.lbs of recoil or Chuck Hawks saying 31.6 ft.lbs of recoil ? My son Will start out on 130-150 grainers ( less recoil overall ) for shooting. And sight in with 165 grainers and hunt with 165 grainers.