300 win. Mag or 300wsm

[Mighty Peace]

Neither. Both will bounce off an Elk like rubber balls. You might as well bring a slingshot.

.338 Win Mag or .375 H&H is the way to go. Personally I would opt for .470 Nitro, just to be sure.

Why be smart about it! Oh BTW I didnt think you could hunt your elk in Ontario. Or are you allowed to hunt with a 338WM or larger in Ontario with all your caliber restrictions.

I guess its guys like you that need larger calibers to make up for poor shot placements.

 

[Spcamno]

Why be smart about it! Oh BTW I didnt think you could hunt your elk in Ontario. Or are you allowed to hunt with a 338WM or larger in Ontario with all your caliber restrictions.

I guess its guys like you that need larger calibers to make up for poor shot placements.

Yup, no open season for elf in Ontario.

However, Spot-n-Stalk has already mentioned has some disability issue and won't be very practical to track down game if its not dropped on its track so I think its not fair to say he's a crappy shooters.

Besides, its an obsession to own / shoot big bore; I remember once my gunsmith told me he was working on one of his customer's 50 caliber pistol and I ask him what for and his reply was there is no place for anything larger than 22 to shoot at paper but there are always someone out there like to shoot big bore regardless handguns or rifles and in the end its our own hobby and we can use whatever the shooter / hunter prefer.

 

[kayaker1]

You are crazy, and yes there is such a thing as overkill...ie edible meat damage.

If I had to choose between a .300mag/180gr and .375/300gr for less meat damage I would choose the .375

I have seen .270's bruise more meat than a .375

Combination of velocity and bullet construction has more to do with meat damage than bullet size. eg a 500gr TSX from a .458Lott at 2200fps will likely cause very little meat damage on a deer (although could whistle through 10 of them!). A 140gr Speer Hotcore at 3100fps from a 7mmRem Mag will cause way more damage with the same shot....

 

[bravestardmc]

win mag for sure, WSM just doesnt cut it for me.

 

[Tcon]

I like both cartridges but i'd go with 300 Win Mag with 210gr Berger VLDs.

 

[BlackBrant]

FWIW ,I own a Rem. 700 CDL SS in .300 WSM and the gun performs flawlessly ,recoil with the R3 pad is a pussycat.Shot my spring Black bear with it @ 65 yrds (I know, no big long shot) and dropped it where it stood.Like everything else ,everyone is going to have an opinion ,but since I have never shot the .300WM ,I can only tell you how i feel about my gun and the way it has performed to date.I`m glad i bought the rifle and have never looked back.

BB

 

[303carbine]

I have owned a couple 300 WSM's, the short action is the biggest negative point for reloaders.
However the 300 Winchester magnum case is larger and can hold more powder and heavy bullets can be set out further due to the magnum action being longer. One of the WSM's I owned had feeding issues and the bullets had to be seated deep to fit in the phony plastic mag. This limits usable powder space.
Anyone who #####es about the length of pull or the extra 3 or 4 ounces of a magnum action should go to the gym more often and stay out of the field.

 

[Eagleye]

Get a 338, head and shoulders better than a .30 for Elk.

Better not tell that to the 35+ Elk I have shot with everything from the 7x57 up!! Never had any Elk go over 80 yards after a hit, and only one went that far. Average distance is less than 40 yards. Eagleye.

 

[shogi]

Hands down for the 300WM for sure. Ammo availability and cost are major factors where the 300WM wins out. It also is better if you handload (see the myriad of previous comments advocating it) due to the fact you can increase the fps/ft lbs should you feel the need. WSM doesn't offer much room for extra punch.
If money is a deciding factor then 300WM should be your choice.

 

[Woodsman]

None of the two. The .30-06 is still KING. And you get up to 5 shots in the mag + one in the chamber if it's a Ruger M77. Why limit yourself to 2 in the chamber. This is better?

Here's a scenario. You're in camp and a grizzly comes in to make a mess of the place. Do you want 3 shots or 6?

 

[Spot-n-Stalk]

None of the two. The .30-06 is still KING. And you get up to 5 shots in the mag + one in the chamber if it's a Ruger M77. Why limit yourself to 2 in the chamber. This is better?

Here's a scenario. You're in camp and a grizzly comes in to make a mess of the place. Do you want 3 shots or 6?

If a grizzly charges you will only have time for 2 shots MAX. With a bolt action maybe just one. Therefore mag capacity does not matter.

And a .30-06 is not a reliable bear stopper in that situation either.

The fastest and most RELIABLE in that situation would be a double rifle in let's say .470 Nitro, as I mentioned earlier in this thread

 

[djs0110]

None of the two. The .30-06 is still KING. And you get up to 5 shots in the mag + one in the chamber if it's a Ruger M77. Why limit yourself to 2 in the chamber. This is better?

Here's a scenario. You're in camp and a grizzly comes in to make a mess of the place. Do you want 3 shots or 6?

I got my 30-30 with 8 shots in it, for the bear dumb enough to come close to my camp, if it just about quantity of ammo. 300 win mag is great for just about everything you are going to hunt in Canada.

 

[Woodsman]

If a grizzly charges you will only have time for 2 shots MAX. With a bolt action maybe just one. Therefore mag capacity does not matter.

And a .30-06 is not a reliable bear stopper in that situation either.

The fastest and most RELIABLE in that situation would be a double rifle in let's say .470 Nitro, as I mentioned earlier in this thread

You're assuming he's making a beeline for you and you only. You also forget the chaos that's created. You will need the 6 just to connect a few times.

.470 nitro? That's so realistic. There must be a ton of those in our northern forests in use just for that purpose.

 

[Dogleg]

If I had to choose between a .300mag/180gr and .375/300gr for less meat damage I would choose the .375

I have seen .270's bruise more meat than a .375

Combination of velocity and bullet construction has more to do with meat damage than bullet size. eg a 500gr TSX from a .458Lott at 2200fps will likely cause very little meat damage on a deer (although could whistle through 10 of them!). A 140gr Speer Hotcore at 3100fps from a 7mmRem Mag will cause way more damage with the same shot....

I've seen .270s kill faster than a .375 too. More damage has a way of doing that.

 

[Mighty Peace]

I guess Spot-n-Stalk finds lots of Grizzlies run up and down the streets of Toronto.

As for the main reason for the post, either will be fine. Maybe if you are in the western part of Canada and hunting elk/moose and in grizzly territory or hunting grizzly, a 338WM or RUM with 225-250gr bullets might make you feel better if you are looking for a "1 rifle for all".

I personally have no problems packing my 300WM with 180gr Accubonds hunting elk/moose in grizzly territory.

If thats the case you can use 200gr premium bullets in the 300WM.

I have taken my last couple elk using my Tikka T3 LS 270WSM with reloads of 140gr Accubonds. Does the job superbly. Last year's large cow was about 200m-1 shot double lung pass thru and she reared up and over backwards dead.

470 Nitro---thats too funny...like I said compensating for something which is shooting ability.

 

[MTM]

Better not tell that to the 35+ Elk I have shot with everything from the 7x57 up!! Never had any Elk go over 80 yards after a hit, and only one went that far. Average distance is less than 40 yards. Eagleye.

I said .30 cal, it doesn't hold a candle to the 7 x 57. As always, a well placed 22 will kill stuff.

 

[Spot-n-Stalk]

I guess Spot-n-Stalk finds lots of Grizzlies run up and down the streets of Toronto.

470 Nitro---thats too funny...like I said compensating for something which is shooting ability.

To be honest, I haven't seen any in my neck of the woods recently

Regarding the .470NE it does compensate for me missing a leg. Everything I shot with my double, was shot twice in the boiler room and anchored there and then.

Of course if you don't handload and don't cast your own bullets, you will never have the satisfaction I have shooting it. And that's what counts

 

[kayaker1]

Originally Posted by kayaker1
If I had to choose between a .300mag/180gr and .375/300gr for less meat damage I would choose the .375

I have seen .270's bruise more meat than a .375

Combination of velocity and bullet construction has more to do with meat damage than bullet size. eg a 500gr TSX from a .458Lott at 2200fps will likely cause very little meat damage on a deer (although could whistle through 10 of them!). A 140gr Speer Hotcore at 3100fps from a 7mmRem Mag will cause way more damage with the same shot....

I've seen .270s kill faster than a .375 too. More damage has a way of doing that.

+1
On smaller animals carts like .243, .25-06, .270 etc tend to drop them quite fast, especially with more frangible bullets (with exceptions of course, like the springbuck my mate shot with his .270 that had no reaction to the shot and simply trotted away, apparently unharmed, only to fall over dead 5 seconds later).

An anecdotal story about big bores...a past bush-hunting mentor of mine bought his first Mod70 .458 in his twenties, with a plan to take his first ele in Botswana. He a friend took out their .458's on his farm in northern zululand to practice and hunt impala with 500gr solids (he had his .222 in the truck with them). My boss lung shot an impala with the .458 and it took off. They followed up and a half minute or so later they found said ram, still on his feet! My boss took his Sako .222 out of the truck and flattened the ram with a single 50gr soft. He said they both looked at each other, looked at the .222, looked at the 500gr 'elephant bullets' on their belts and walked up to that ram in dead silence!!!

 

[archie_james_c]

Better not tell that to the 35+ Elk I have shot with everything from the 7x57 up!! Never had any Elk go over 80 yards after a hit, and only one went that far. Average distance is less than 40 yards. Eagleye.

I think you're the only one here who realizes you don't need a WizzBang Magnum to kill big game. I mean I'm from Ontario and never seen an Elk killed myself...but is there something I'm missing? Do they have a pure bone exo-skeleton that I'm not aware of? Out of the dozens of moose that have been harvested by our hunting party only a handfull have been taken with a Magnum of some sorts (.308 Norma, .300 WM) the MAJORITY (3/4's) have been taken with .270, .308, and .30-06 (and soon to be a .338F ).

So what exactly do these tough Western Elk have for armor that necessitates a fawking .338-.378 Roy Mag, or .300 magnum class rifles.....

 

[NAA]

.300 Win Mag

On the question originally raised in this thread..... .300 WSM vs. .300 Win Mag......

I'll stick with my .300 Win Mag.......

NAA.