Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .300 Win Mag VS. .300 Wea. Mag. Which one, why?

Looking at both for a custom job. Want an all-around rifle, about 8 pounds, thinking of a compromise 25" barrel for portability (between 24" and 26").

Want to develop two loads- a 165-168gr and a 200gr. if a .300 Win. Mag. but maybe the .300 Wea. Mag with a 180gr load, given the extra velocity potential, would cover both bases? I'd use the 165-168gr. for sheep, deer and caribou (maybe a trip down south for Pronghorn, coues deer) and the 200gr. for elk, moose, black bear. What would you consider to evaluate the two? Is recoil that much more significant? How much would the .300 Wea. mag./ outperform the .300 win. mag. with a 25" barrel? Or how much more effective range would I get?

I'll bet Magnumtagem's got such a chubby right now, he's lost too much composure to type...

168 and 180 TSX's shoot like a champ from my Sako 75 in 300 Weatherby!If you handload I would go the Weatherby route,if you don't I'd go 300 Win.

Eight pounds limits you a bit in componentry, unless you're going NULA or the like.

The Campfire Rifle is a .300 Winchester Magnum built on a Rem 700 BDL with a 24" Lilja #4, I believe, with a 1" shank. It's in a McMillan Classic at 14" LOP, Talley LW, and a VXIII 2.5-8x36. It's 8.5 pounds with optics, sans cartridges and sling.

If you build this same blueprint and opt a McMillan EDGE of your favorite flavor, you'll make weight. Opt for a 70/77/1999/Mauser, etc., and the action weight goes up.

I'd stick to a 24" barrel, but have no arguments with a 25" if you prefer it. I like the shorter barrel because of balance, portability, and (in theory) an edge in accuracy potential due to increased stiffness. 50 ft/sec means little to me either way.

In terms of caliber, I'm a .300 Winchester fan, but have nothing but respect for the Weatherby. It's a classic cartridge, truly an "all-around," and certainly has BTDT.

My only thoughts would be to opt for SAAMI specs � full Wby freebore � so factory fodder is not an issue. Factory Wby ammo has a reputation (which I have corroborated) of being hot, and stuffing it into a short-throated rifle isn't something I'd want to accidentally do.

The Campfire Rifle in an EDGE would do the trick.

Rick

PS: An eight-pound .300 WinMag or Roy is going to get your attention when you touch her off. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

One thing that is worth mentioning is ammunition availablity. For 99% of people this is never a problem but for the 1% that is does effect it could make or break an expensive trip. It seems to me that 300 win mag ammo can be found most anywhere while 300 weatherby can be difficult to locate in some areas.

Not a reason to reject one over the other but certainly something worth considering if you plan on traveling a lot with your new rig.

Jim

Get a 30-378 and your problems will be solved...stillhunter73 are you some sorta poodle humper or something? jeeze... All seriousness I would take the 300 win mag and shoot 180's at about 3120fps for all the game you described.

Good call on the Weatherby freebore Rick.You just saved me a lot of grief on a up coming project.Actually a canceled up-coming project now.

it's a performance/pain equation....
in my experience, just about anybody who shoots a sporter 06 well can handle the winnie...

that simply aint' so with the .300 weatherby..... i myself consider it to be unpleasant to shoot... probably seen more flinches developed with the weatherby than all other cartridges combined... most that i know who shoot a weatherby practice with a P.A.S.T. pad, heavy hearing protection, and a heavy jacket on... and limit the number of rounds that they fire...

the winnie, for most experienced shooters is fun to shoot. there is good reason that it is so popular..... john w

Ah come on- there is day and day out a bit over 100 fps diff between the two rounds. Some rifles will be a bit more and some a bit less. But generally when both are loaded to the max there will not be much diff.

A person who can handle a WM can handle a Wby, there aint a hill of beans diff between the two.

Keep them in similar rifle types and one will never know which one they are working with

Mark D

Mo, I had this very discussion on ammunition availability in 300 Win/Wea with a hunter that has traveled the world over yesterday. His African trophies literally would put a large museum to shame. Something OVER 160 Cape Buffalo, plus lion, leopard, musk ox, dall, desert, stone, marco polo, all the African plains, etc. He highly recommended the 300 Weatherby. He said they are available everywhere he has hunted and it will do everything the Winchester will do plus some.

That opinion carried a lot of weight with me. Not sure if my Hagn will be a Win or Wea but I am leaning toward the Wea much more now.
SS

I consider the 300 Weatherby to be the most versatile caliber extant. Men like Elgin Gates, C.J. McElroy & countless others used it to take virtually ALL of the world's big game. I truly think it has an edge over the 300 Win Mag, at least from what I've experienced. Having said that, for a custom rifle, no question I would pick the 300 Win Mag. It is widely distributed, very accurate and a sure killer. Call me particular, but I only like Weatherby calibers in Weatherby rifles, jorge

that is exactly why the winnie is so much more popular....
why put up with the extra punishment of the weatherby for so little gain...
velocity gains in the upper end of the spectrum suffer badly from the rule of diminishing returns... it takes a lot of raw horsepower to effect that last 100 fps gain..... john w

most who claim to enjoy shooting the weatherby, actually enjoy being seen to shoot the weatherby..... they tend to run in crowds...

there are exceptions.... count me out..... john w

A few thoughts,

With 180gr bullets a handloaded 300win is 3100fps a Weatherby is 3200fps, not a huge difference, but a 300Win lives nicely in a 24" barrel and the Weatherby needs a 26". I had a 24" 300 Weatherby and ballistically it was a really loud 300 Win with too much muzzle blast.

I don't think there is a huge difference in recoil between the two all things being equal. IMHO the Weatherby seems to kick more because of Weatherby stock design, put them in a straight classic style stock and they feel about the same - I have 300 Weatherby's in both styles as well as several 300 Win's..

In the end both are great rounds but my choice would be the 300 Win if you want a 24" barrel and the 300 Weatherby has a little extra juice if you don't mind a 26" barrel, but if you really want more HP jump on up to a 300 Ultra and shoot 200gr Accubonds..................DJ

I've used both (the .300 Winny was "my" cartridge for a long time) and I couldn't tell that much difference in them. If you're limited to factory ammo I'd go with the .300 Winny. More choices and a bit less expensive.

HBB

I would choose (and have chosen several times), the 300 Win over the 300 Wby mainly because I don't like to fuss with the long freebore of the Wby. Sometimes a rifle likes to have the bullet close to the lands, and with the Wby that just isn't an option in a SAAMI spec chamber.

Your buddy might be right about finding ammo in africa. I can't tell you for sure as I have not been there yet. I can tell you that if you are hunting in backwoods arkansas, missouri, and many places in New Mexico you could end up SOL if you forget the fodder for the weatherby. Just a thought but like I said, not a real reason to pick one over the other if you are smart enough to bring your gear.

Jim

I have had both. The Weatherby is unpleasant to shoot just from being so LOUD. Recoil difference is minimal, mostly because the MK V Deluxe I had was HEAVY. I will take the Winnie any day. Mine shoots 180's at 3120, which just happens to be factory velocity for the Weatherby, with less powder which means less blast. Truth be known, I rarely shoot max loads anymore. I much prefer 165's in the Winnie or wsm. Less blast and less kick.

Guys it is the guns, not the rounds. The speed diff is not much I would bet 100 fps for the norm.

If you take and build two rifles exactly the same (not taking one factory in one cal built like this and one built in another factory rifle built like that), in other words keep it all apples to apples except for the speed. Except for the one is a WM and the other is a 300 Roy.

You will not know the difference in recoil!

I can most likely hit you harder than the extra 100 fps is gonna hit you in extra recoil!

Mark D

Mark you are 100% on the money................. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

If you're not planning on running around with a rifle in the woods and want some serious long-range power, well, quit screwing around and get a Remington 700 POLICE in .300 RUM...damn-it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />