Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 300 Win mag vs 300 WSM

She was well aware of my rifle weaknesses and still married me 50 years ago. "Miss Kim!" Thanks for a name for her. Can't wait to tell my wife.

For a hunting rig pick your poison and rock on.
The 300 win mag has a bit more gas and I have no use for a short action/light weight magnum, so the Win mag fits my needs just fine.

Given physics there is no free lunch. A 300 WSM certainly does kick much more than a 30-06.
Chuck Hawks is a complete gas bag, but this chart seems about right.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

Contrary to the marketing hype surrounding the .300 WSM when it appeared, it does not defy the laws of physics, whether we're talking recoil or ballistics. It does kick harder than the .30-06, and isn't capable of the same velocities as the .300 Winchester.

Whether those differences are important to an individual shooter is up to them.

Put them in a race with the same slugs, and the Win Mag will win every time. There were no performance gains from the short version.

Absolutely. No magic, no free lunch.

One other thing, and this is just my opinion, but why in the world would anyone want a lightweight magnum is beyond me? If I was looking for a light weight rig I would be looking at something like the .260 rem, 7mm-08 or a 308 win.

Bob I hunted for a good long while with the 30-06 in my younger days. It was great. Then I started hunting this dam power line and 3 years in a row game was further than I liked with the 06. So bought a 300 and everything I've shot since has been under 2 on the same power line. Makes for a good laugh

Mike that's what usually happens when we set ourselves up for "long shots"....seems they never materialize.

Until....one day....they do.

I can only spress myself. I like ALL of my hunting rifles to be light weight. Now mind you I don't take the light magnums for an hour long shoot off a bench. The 'mechanics' of shooting have already been established or engrained.

My 7 RM and 300 WM are both lightweight and I use them for 'hunting' where you CARRY ONE MUCH MORE THAN YOU SHOOT IT. For no more shots fired while hunting, "I" don't find the recoil objectionable.

I have no problem carrying my 8lb 300 ultra elk hunting in the mountains all day long. And that little bit of extra weight is comforting should I have to make a long shot from field conditions. I know from experience that "I" certainly shoot an 8lb gun much better than the Remington TI I had.
IMO for most people carrying a LW or ULW just decreases the max range one can shoot to accurately. I realize this doesn't apply to everyone, but I would bet it does to most.

Just do what I did, and buy one of each. Honestly, I looked for 5 months after moving to AK for a .300WSM, and found them to, but for an average of $150 more for the same gun chambered in .300WM. I ultimately went with the .300WM, and was happy, especially after I finally found a 180 gr. bullet it liked. Just three weeks ago, I bought a used .300 WSM off a guy, that is almost identical to my .300WM, except it has a floor plater (ADL vs. BDL). I've yet to shoot the .300WSM, but I am betting the caribou will not be able to notice it was a .300WSM and not a .300WM this fall.

300WM vs 300WSM vs 30-06

Comparing what? If comparing factory loads...why bother?

Under 400 yards terminal results won't be an issue with any of them. Their proponents argue that the real advantage of the Magnums lies in their ability to extend effective range...yes?

Ok...here's some food for thought.

Comparing the 3 rounds loaded to the same chamber pressure, and with the same bullet, the 180AB in this case, and in rifles of the same weight...

Comparing remaining velocity at 600 yards and recoil, here's how they stack up:

30-06 - - 180AB - 1800fps - 22.8 ft/lb

300WSM - 180AB - 1900fps - 25.8 ft/lb

300WIN - 180AB - 1939fps - 30.8 ft/lb

I own all 3, and the results are interesting. If 100fps means anything, then yes, the Mags do have an edge, as one would expect, but you gotta love the 30-06!

You guys complicate this stuff way too much, I went .300wsm,

Why?

'cause that's the only lefty Winchester I could get my hands on, done deal.

I have had both the 300 win mag and 300 wsm. I alos had a Remington 700 TI in 300 RSAUM.
I only own the win mag and a 300 ultra mag now.

I know where a real nice LH classic sporter 300 win mag is..

i have owned two Rugers in 300 win mag, see no need to change, I am sure if I started with the 300 wsm I would feel the same way about it, having one, I do not need the other.
Same with my Sako 375 H&H, I see no need for any other 375 caliber, though at one time I wanted to try the 375 winchester they came up with in the lever action many moons ago.

As a handloader ( forget factory stuff, who the hell uses that? ) I'd likely do the same things that I did back in the early 80's. I'd grab a M70 action, screw on a 24" Krieger SS barrel chambered for 300 Win Mag,and load the thing to H&H OAL with 180 and 200 gr bullets(yes I could make it a 300 Weatherby as well, and did in another rifle that I hunted with, too. In 24" barrels there was not enough velocity difference between them to notice).

Back then I used a Brown Precision stock; today I would grab an Echols Legend.I used a fixed 4X but today would grab a 6X,and the plan would be to have the rifle weigh in at 8-8.5 pounds.

Set up like this it was no trick to move a 180 gr bullet at 3150 or so,and a 200 gr at about 3000 fps without breaking the bank and with good case life.This, back then, was mostly with IMR4831 but today we have even more powders that will do it.

Those 180 gr bullets dropped 4 feet at 600 yards from a 300 yard zero(actual shooting not from a table);and at 400 yards were only down about 9" making chest hits on bull elk pretty simple.With todays bullets the numbers would only get better.

We can look at numbers until the cows come home, but in the field, on game, and at distance,the 300 win mag set up like this was "more gun" than a 30/06 in drop, drift,and visual effect on animals,IMHO; and with well placed shots it dumped bull elk and everything else on their noses out to 500 yards or so, about as far as I ever used it on anything.This is taking nothing away from the 30/06 at all;but there is no denying the 300WM shot flatter,and hit harder at distances past 300 yards than anything I could feed a 30/06.It's just physics and the bigger powder capacity and higher velocity of the bigger 30 cartridge.In the end I would prefer to larger capacity of the 300 Win Mag case;useful at any level but it would allow me to start a 200 gr bullet about as fast as I could manage with a 180 in the WSM; nothing wrong with that.

I figure the real world difference in rifle weight between a 300 WSM and a 300 Win Mag would be no more than 1/2 pound or so and I would not be interested in any 300 magnum, WSM included,that weighed 7-7.5 pounds.

I actually traded out of a very accurate .300 WSM CZ Model 5 primarily because it weighed more than I wanted in a rifle with a medium length action. I spent almost a year trying to find a Model 70 All Weather in .300 WSM and finally bought a Weatherby Back Country in .300 Win Mag instead. It weighs a hair over 7 lbs. 4 oz with a Leupold 3-9X33 Compact scope that had been languishing in the gun safe.



So far, I like it a lot. I have finished my load development with 165 ABs and will start working with 200 ABs for an elk load. If I still like it as much in a year or two, it will probably get a McMillan edge. The Weatherby stock is comfortable to shoot but I just prefer a more classic stock design.

Mudhen thats a fine looking elk hunting rig there, bout the perfect weight for the terrain we hunt in (I hunt just east of were you hunt) dont want a 8lb rifle it that area