Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .300 Win Mag - The one rifle battery

I carry a .300 WM for most all of My big game hunting, I got tired of all the different dies, powders etc. when I owned 6 or 8 different calibers, do still own a 30.06 but it shoots cheap as it is also .308 dia. I can shoot the same powder and TTSX bullets I shoot in My .300's.............It can get mighty pricey stocking reloading supplies for a bunch of different calibers as many of you know and I got better things to spend My money on these days...............................Hb

CW: The old comparisons of the 7mm's kicking less than the 300's were generally made between the 7 Rem Mag and the 300 Weatherby. We know which one wins there.

We have a lot of 7mm magnums and 300's today and it's true you can heat up some 7 mags to the point where it's hard to tell the difference.I ran into a few boxes of 7mm WSM from Federal with 160 gr bullets that averaged over 3250 fps and turned a Kimber Montana into a nasty, disagreeable monster....with handloads at 3050 or so it was fine.

And many 300 Win Mag factory and handloads don't give any more than 3000 fps with a 180 gr bullet,so could feel like a 7mm mag at the bench.But my old favorite 300 Win Mag was a long throated job on a magnum pre 64 M70,Brown stock and 24" Krieger....with bullets seated out, it gave 3150 with the 180,acted and kicked like a 300 Weatherby. My 7 Rem Mag was housed in a lighter rifle and was much easier to shoot.

Best way to look at it I think,is compare them at equivalent velocities with roughly comparable bullets......start a 160 gr bullet from a 7 Mashburn or Weatherby at 3200 fps; it takes powder charges in the mid 70's to do this.Then try to start a 180 gr 30 cal bullet at the same velocities(a 300 Win Mag is not generally capable of this but a 300 Weatherby is)in a 300 Weatherby,and powder charges jump substantially into the mid 80's.

That's about 10 gr more powder and 20 gr more bullet at the same velocity.We shoot a pair of 7mm Mashburns and a 300 Weatherby,all loaded as stated above, side by side frequently; both Mashburns are lighter rifles and my pal and I both agree the Mashburn rocks a good deal less than the 300 WCeatherby,even with 175 gr bullets over 3000 fps.Plus there is no way we could build a 300 Weatherby as light as the Mashburn without getting kicked a lot harder as well.

Shoot a 300 Win Mag with 180's at 3050;and a 7 Rem Mag with 160's at 3050.....your powder charges will be a bit heavier in the 300,and the recoil will be greater for the 300 in the same weight rifle.

So, for roughly equivalent ballistic performance the 7mm's will rock you less,and this is what many of us mean when we say the 7mm's recoil less for a given level of ballistic performance but I never said they were gentle

For the purpose of the original post....one gun for all North American game....one would be hard pressed to find a better choice than the .300 Magnums.

The .300's shoot as flat as any cartridge made, and thus are great for long range shots, and have enough raw power with heavier bullets to handle animals of any size. Most other "contenders" either give up too much on truely large game (think .270, .30-06, 7mm Magnum) or don't have the velosity to be as effective at long range (think most non-magnum cartridges). The .33 magnum can really "do it all".

With that said, I don't own a single .300 Magnum rifle. I've used them in the past (mostly the .300 WBY version....the best of the lot), but have moved on to other rifles over the years.....even though the .300's did everything I asked of it.

The "problem" is that, to me, the .300's are classic "tweener" rifles.

300's are more gun than is needed for smallish pronghorn and deer, even at long range. That chore is better done by something like the .25-06 or .270 class rifles that shoot just as flat, kick less and kill effectively.

On the other hand, for use on truely large game (elk, moose, big bears) the .300's can get the job done, but not as well as something like the .338 Magnum or .375.

The .300 magnum can really "do it all" better than almost any other cartridge and that would be fine if you are limited to a single rifle. I have never had that problem.....I own many rifles for each type of game. For dedicated shooting at longish ranges on smaller big game, I choose the .25-06 or .270. For bigger animals (long or short range), I jump right over the .300's and go to the .338 magnum.

Nothing "wrong" with the .300 magnum.....I just have better tools for each individual situation and don't have to settle for one rifle to do everything.

In truth, I feel the .338 Magnum is a better choice for a "do it all" rifle, but I also realize that the recoil level of the .338 is likely more than most hunters can tolerate. I have always been somewhat uneffected by recoil, but even I begin to notice the kick of rifles at or above the .338 level.

For most the .300's are truely the best choice for a one rifle battery.

It might give up just a bit to the .338 for larger game, but it still performs quite well. It might be shaded a bit by the smaller, high speed rifle cartridges, but is almost as flat at any range.

Any other choice for a one gun battery gives up something at one end of the spectrum or the other. Smaller guns don't have the raw power and most larger guns don't have thr flat trajectory.

Thank goodness I don't have to be limited to a single rifle, so I will likely never use a .300 magnum much.....but I would be very well armed if I did so.

Good thread. How have we kept the magnum haters away?

To me it's that bullets that carry their energy down range better than others have a better improvement with a larger powder column than those that don't keep the energy so well.

The 300 WM definitely falls into that category, and unlike the WSM longer bullets don't take up powder column space... always hated that crunching of powder with long bullets.

MM - because there is just too much testosterone for their liking - jus' kidding.

Bob - I agree with everything you say about the recoil comparision of the two calibers. My recoil comment is only about my two rifles shooting similiar loads in the same weight rifles. There is no "felt" difference between them from the bench. My 7 WSM shooting the same 160 Partition at 3000 fps is much tamer than any of our 300's. And same as you, I did purchase a very "stout" box of factory of 7 WSM ammo when it was released. My box clocked 3080 fps with Nosler 160 gn Failsafes and showed more excessive pressure signs than anything I have ever fired before or since. High puker factor that day!

mathman - my 7 Bee is the Model 700 Classic that was for sale on here a month or so ago. Though the classic stock is not my favorite, I don't think the recoil issue is due to poor fit. It's just plain physics. My 7 Bee uses 4 grains more powder, achieves slightly higher velocity with only 20 grains less bullet weight than our 300 Winny loads. With the rifles weighing the same it's a no brainer that it will feel "much like" shooting a 300 Winny.

"300 Winchester Magnum"

Twenty some years ago, during first rifle season, a good friend and I had backpacked into a deep hell hole without a trail and into a big canyon that always held elk during the summer and fall. After getting skunked on opening day and on a quick whim we decided to head into this place. We made it to the valley floor very late in the day and while slipping my pack off, my eye caught the distinctive color of a lone elk way up high across the far canyon, standing in an open aspen grove. With the binocs in the packs, I threw my rifle up on my shoulder and found that lone elk was a nice big bodied 6x6 and he was headed away from us and into a high saddle that would take him farther away from us and the trucks. With only an hour or so of daylight left, we grabbed our knives and rifles, left the packs loaded and headed up after him.

We made the 800 foot climb up to where we last saw him just as the sun was setting in our faces. With an empty aspen grove and a dead still evening, I looked at my friend, shrugged my shoulders and said, "oh well". With nothing to lose I gave a whimpy spike whistle. Almost immediately we had a deep bellowing answer. Figuring this old boy was alone for reasons we couldn't know, my bud quickly popped out his "elk makeup and lipstick" kit and proceeded to let the old boy know there were some girls in town tonight. My friend gave the old boy some naughty elk talk and we barely had time to chamber our rifles as the bull came boiling back thru that saddle screaming to us the entire time. He appeared from the thick trees and into the aspens heading from right to left at about 60 yards. With no leaves on the trees he was easy to follow. I told my friend to take him but after many long seconds my friend said, "I can't, he's moving too fast". Before he could finish saying it, I threw up my 300 Winny, swung the rifle forward of the bull and found a small shooting lane. As the old boy walked broadside into the lane, I centered the cross hairs on his chest and squeezed. A 200 gn Partition hit him tight to the shoulder and exited the far side. He nose dived into the dirt.

We spent a long hungry night taking care of him under a bright half moon. The next 3 days were spent sweating and groaning as we got him out.

"300 Winchester Magnum"

Creekwarrior,

You said it well, several times. Yes, there IS a difference between the big guns and the small ones when things do not go just right. And if you hunt hard enough and long enough, eventually you will screw up a shot - maybe just a little - but enough that a big bullet hitting hard will make a difference.

The only thing that I would add to your terrific dissertations is try saying:

"300 Weatherby Magnum" Now THAT on conjures up some imagry and reflection for most folks my age!

There, there, now Creekwhiner. Every night when you go to bed, gazing up at your dreamcatcher, tucked into your pink buffalo robe, say these magical words;

Wakan Tanka

I am big enough.

I am strong enough.

And doggone it, I should be able to take 7 MM Weatherby recoil like a man.







Well son, paybacks are a bitch, no?

Yo Nordhead, you forgot the part here I stomped my foot and hissed, crying, "Why is it always me!?!?!?"

And my buffalo rope is pink with purple polka dots, so there!

First off, hates to bust your nuts with this, but those ain't purple polka dots, them is Arby's sauce spots, ya nudnik, you can't eat those things in bed!

Secondly, if the 300 is so damn good, why does John Burns prefer a Remington 7MM Magnum. Can't believe the 7MM Mashburn wing nuts haven't come out to chime in.

I tole ya I would buy that Weatherby, but you had to have it. Now quit yer damn snivelin.

Thought John Burns was a .264 Win mag guy? Anyway, cool Elk story Creekwarrior!

Yah, that ol Indian can spin a story alright. Here some free advice, if you are ever lucky enough to hunt with him, do not, I repeat do not, let him sleep in the big teepee with you. He gets the night scares.

I can't comment on bear hunting cause we have none of those here...

But if I was to regularly hunt all Aussie species from pigs and goats to scrub bulls, water buffs and the seven species of deer here, I would pick the 338 WM as the best allrounder.

160g Barnes bullets (or 180g Noslers) loaded to around 2800fps would handle all the pigs, deer and goats. You might push up to the 200-225g bullets for sambar deer.

The 250-300g bullets would be perfect for the scrubbers, buffs and wild horses and I reckon they'd be hell on camels.


More versatility in the 338 cal than the 300 magnums, for my money at least. I'd be happy to use a 338 for just about everything and have a 222 Rem for anything smaller.

Good post Bob. Same here. Or should I say hear, hear!

What? The kids are starving and you shoot most of them?

After 33 years with a 7mm RM and 10 years with a .300WM, I don't see a whole lot of advantage for the .300WM. But keep your damn hands off of my .300, its a keeper. Until I got the .300WM I always wondered if I had made the right decision getting the 7mm RM. Didn't wonder too much, though, as the 7mm RM was always effective with the one exception involving an unfortunate buck antelope and Barnes 160g XLCs. I blame that on the bullets, not the cartridge.

Experience with the .30-06's is even less, 7 years, but 3 elk versus 2 with the .300WM. No drama with either. The .30-06's dropped all 3 in their tracks but I attribute that to bullet choice and placement. Neither shot with the .300WM went far enough to matter, maybe 25 yards with one and much less with the other.

When it was time for me to select a rifle as a wedding gift for my soon-to-be #2 son-in-law, I started looking for a .30-06, which is what #1 got. For a variety of reasons, including a ridiculously low cost I couldn't refuse, I purchased a new/display model Ruger MKII in .300WM instead. The only real downside to the .300WM is ammo tends to be more expensive. As for recoil, the .300WM can be downloaded with reduced recoil factory or handloaded ammunition. On the upper end, my 180g .300WM loads run about 3050fps and recoil, while stiffer than the 7mm RM or a .30-06, is still quite manageable. For a while I debated whether to keep the .300WM for myself or keep looking for a .30-06. A few days ago the decision was made when my daughter was visiting and I showed her the .300WM. It is going to my future son-in-law.

IMHO the .300WM is at the top end of all-around, do-it-all cartridges. With reduced recoil handloads or factory ammo it can emulate a .30-06 or even a .308 Win while with full power loads it can provide an extra 100+ yards over the .30-06 in terms of retained energy and velocity. It is one of the best choices for elk.

Of course if future son-in-law doesn't like the .300WM, he can always trade for one of my .30-06's...

One rifle?!!! That's no fun. That guy ought to be drummed ought of the shooting writer's union or something!

I've often wondered what percentage of hunters have just one big game rifle. Most probably start out that way.

In the circle of friends I have hunted with over the years all the new hunters started with just one. My 7mm RM was my only big game legal bolt rifle for 20+ years.

I have always had two or three big game rifles.. At least two since I was twenty.. I had an 06, then a .300.. Since that time, it has expanded to many be twenty.. Haven't counted lately.. If one included the big .22's I guess there would be even more..
But I would guess the percent of guys who hunt big game with only one rifle is pretty high..

In much of the country, only whitetails are available.. If they aren't varmint hunters, then only one rifle is needed I guess. I am pretty certain the hunters a generation before me mostly only had one rifle..

But on the other hand, with the number of guns now available, and the ability to make a DIY style hunts, folks probably own more guns than their dad's or grandfathers.. Pretty interesting thought. Most of the guys I hangout with have many rifles, but this is good big game country also.. Or at least it was...

The .300 WSM is almost identical to the Norma in power and recoil.