.300 wsm hunting load

meathook

meathook

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I'm trying to help a friend out with his hunting rifle
Tikka .300wsm, 24" barrel, 1 in 11 twist
His preference is solid copper bullets so I'm going to pick
Up some Barnes ttsx for him
I'm not too up on what works best for that caliber so looking for
Some input on what would be the most accurate using either
165, 168, or 180 grain bullets.
Currently using imr 4350 and cci 250 magnum primers
 
I was told by a old guy that reloads more a mouth than most do in a lifetime that WSM's love 165. So I started hornady 165 btsp not bad groups. SST was a little better but GMX was consistent 1" group.... When I don't screwup
 
I use 180gr in my 300 wsm's. I'm shooting peregrine plainsmaster's I special ordered. They're an all copper driving band style bullet. With IMR 4451 I can get close to 3000fps with no problems and well under 1 inch groups.
 
You should choose bullet weight according to the prey you're hunting, then develop a load. The bigger the prey, the heavier the bullet. Also, the distance you're gonna shoot from makes a difference.

My tikka 300wsm can shoot sub-moa with el-cheapo campros 147grn, but I wouldn't hunt much with that though.
 
VinnyQC said:
You should choose bullet weight according to the prey you're hunting, then develop a load. The bigger the prey, the heavier the bullet. Also, the distance you're gonna shoot from makes a difference.

My tikka 300wsm can shoot sub-moa with el-cheapo campros 147grn, but I wouldn't hunt much with that though.
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With mono metal bullets that retain 95% of their weight, you don't need as much weight as you would want with other bullet designs.
 
I reckon both a 165 and a 180 grain bullet fired out of a .300 wsm could drop an elk with a well placed shot.
At a buck a bullet I'm just trying to get him the most accurate one without spending 200 bucks on various bullet weights.
 
meathook said:
I reckon both a 165 and a 180 grain bullet fired out of a .300 wsm could drop an elk with a well placed shot.
At a buck a bullet I'm just trying to get him the most accurate one without spending 200 bucks on various bullet weights.
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Im sure plenty of people have gotten excellent accuracy out of both weights, I'd decide which weight I like most, then try that.
 
My first choice would be the 168 gr. TTSX. I've loaded Barnes in many different rifles over the years, and have always seen excellent accuracy. Terminal performance has also been equally as good.
 
packstring said:
My first choice would be the 168 gr. TTSX. I've loaded Barnes in many different rifles over the years, and have always seen excellent accuracy. Terminal performance has also been equally as good.
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I have several Tikka rifles. If there is a fault with the T-3s I would suggest the magazines could have been made a few mm longer to accommodate seating bullets out just a little further. The 168 gr TTSX is an excellent bullet for deer,elk moose in the 300 WSM BUT the long ogive on that bullet requires it to be seeted quite deep to fit in the magazine. For that reason I would suggest using the 165 gr TTSX bullet. It has a shorter ogive and does not have to seated quite as deep.
 
rokoro said:
I have several Tikka rifles. If there is a fault with the T-3s I would suggest the magazines could have been made a few mm longer to accommodate seating bullets out just a little further. The 168 gr TTSX is an excellent bullet for deer,elk moose in the 300 WSM BUT the long ogive on that bullet requires it to be seeted quite deep to fit in the magazine. For that reason I would suggest using the 165 gr TTSX bullet. It has a shorter ogive and does not have to seated quite as deep.
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Here I was thinking why the heck would they even make a 165 and a 168, 3 grains more/less wouldn't make a lick of difference on game, but I guess if the bullet shape is a bit different and one is noticeably shorter than the other then it makes sense.
 
The best thing to do is get a long action bolt stop, and a long magazine. The bullets could then be seated out further, so there would be no issue with using a slightly longer bullet, like the 168 gr. ttsx. That would also allow the bullet to be seated closer to the recommended .05" jump. The advantage of the 168 gr. is it's higher B.C. Accuracy-wise, all of the three bullets mentioned should provide less than MOA accuracy, and terminal performance will be very similar. In reality, any advantage between any of them, would not be noticeable in any real hunting situation, only noticeable on paper.
 
In my tikKa 300wsm I have had great luck with sierta hpbt at 168gr. But they do not open up well so I have switched to 168 hosler ballistic tip. And having good success with that. I tried all copper bullets and no matter the recipe for powder best I could get was 3 inch groups my gun just doesn't like them.
 
I've used 130, 150, 168 and 180 gr TTSX bullets with good accuracy. The 130gr accuracy is astounding, and I would have no problem shooting a moose with it, but I pretty much settled on the 150gr as do everything hunting load. I used Varget with the 130, H4350 with 150 and H4831 with the 180. I've also used RL17 with 180 gr bullets and got incredible speeds but not as great accuracy.
 
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