bullet selection for lightweight 300 wby load

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toddpotiphar

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I'd like to work up a light load for my 300 Wby (Wby Vanguard, 22" barrel, 1:10 twist) for shooting small game. The point is to have a few rounds in my pocket that I can reasonably use to head-shoot grouse when I'm hunting in the mountains. I think a box full of these rounds and a gopher-laden pasture would also make for some good trigger practice.

It seems to me that Trail Boss would be the best powder to start with; but what about bullet selection?

I assume that lighter is better, but what role will bullet length play in achieving an acceptable level of accuracy at 50-100 yards? Will the freebore make a difference?

Hornady makes an eighty-six grain sp rn that seems like it would be a good place to start, especially because they're available for $30/100.

What other factors have I not considered? Has anyone developed this kind of load for a similar gun?
 
I've run some trailboss through mine. If memory serves it was 23 grains of trailboss under a 168 grain Hornady Match. Shot decent groups at both 50 and 100 yards, a lot of drop though.
 
Ganderite said:
That little pistol bullet would take a small dose of fast powder in a huge case.

If I was looking to make a grouse round, i would look at a 200 gr cast pullet and 20 gr of shotgun powder.
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I've dabbled in neither shotgun powders nor cast bullets. Does it matter which particular kind of shotgun powder?
 
Ganderite said:
That little pistol bullet would take a small dose of fast powder in a huge case.

If I was looking to make a grouse round, i would look at a 200 gr cast pullet and 20 gr of shotgun powder.
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I really like the idea of cast bullets, mostly because they're less than half the price of pretty much anything else. The problem is that, by the time they're shipped, they end up costing nearly as much as whatever I can get my hands on at most retail outlets (or have shipped for free if I buy some other stuff as well).

Is there anywhere in Calgary or Lethbridge that I could get my hands on some cast bullets?
 
I ordered some 200 gr cast bullets from Jetbullets and loaded up some test rounds with Trail Boss. It looked to me like 27 gr was a full case, so I loaded 20-27 gr in 1 gr increments.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out and do a little shooting on Tuesday, but we'll have to wait and see what the weather does. I'd like to find a subsonic load, just to keep the noise down as much as possible. (Better yet, I hope to find a subsonic load with a POI on the same vertical plane as my hunting loads.) My plan is to shoot the test rounds over the chronograph, beginning with the highest load. This way, I'll avoid the unlikely (but still possible) result of a bullet stuck in the barrel.

cast%20300%20light%20load.png
 
I have a book .......The Art of Bullet Casting.......that has Chicken Loads featuring the .300 WBY.He used a lathe turned plug that fits in the nose of a regular .30 caliber mold leaving a 55gr GC wad cutter and one hole accuracy at 50 ft with 5gr of Unique.If you want the 2 page details send me your mailing address and I'll send you a copy.
 
I did a little testing today: 27 gr gave me 1745 pfs; 20 gr yielded 1465. I suspect there will be a couple of plateaus in the velocities, so I'll continue to load in one grain increments from 19 down to 10. I've got a little stash of cotton balls to use as filler as the cases get emptier.

All of the bullet holes were still round (meaning that the bullet was stable), but I wonder if that will change as the velocity decreases. mbogo3 sent me a great article detailing the 55gr wadcutter load. If I can't figure things out with the bullets I have then I'll likely order some 86 gr Hornady bullets and try that.
 
I shot some more test rounds this evening. At 13 grains I started getting subsonic results (1094 fps). I could tell even before I saw the result on the chronograph; there was only a "thump" and no "crack" to the shot. 12 grains gave me 1050 fps, 11 was 1000, and 10 produced 950. All the bullet holes were still round at 30 yards.

One of the side-benefits of the load is that I shot 13 rounds in a string and the barrel was hardly warm to the touch.

I suppose I'll load up rounds in half-grain increments from 10 to 11.5 and see if there any decent results. If I can get minute of gopher at 50 yards, I'll be content; at 100 yards, I'd be ecstatic (and very excited for some warmer weather!).
 
Here are my results from yesterday's shooting. I shot from 50 yards with a less than stellar rest. There is some obvious shooter error and some good data to go on. Looks like 11.4 grains of Trail Boss and 200 grains of lead should be good for gophers.

10.jpg

10.7.jpg

11.4.jpg

12.1.jpg


This will be a lot of fun, but it's still a little too loud for what I was hoping would be a grouse round. I've order some 90 gr Hornady hollow points to see if I can get my load quieter.
 
7.5 grains of Trailboss and a 90 gr Hornady XTP made for a pretty good result. The POI at foolhen range was even with the lowest line in my scope reticle (about 2 1/2" low at 25 yards).

grouse.jpg
 
How can you use a light , small-game load in a hunting rifle that is zero'd for a heavier bullet for hunting big game? Point of impact will be very different and headshots would be hard I think. I'd rather toss a 4 lb marlin model 60 .22lr or 3lb Savage rascal over my shoulder for those occasional opportunistic small game shots. Quieter too.
 
sgt.rock said:
How can you use a light , small-game load in a hunting rifle that is zero'd for a heavier bullet for hunting big game? Point of impact will be very different and headshots would be hard I think.
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toddpotiphar said:
The POI at foolhen range was even with the lowest line in my scope reticle (about 2 1/2" low at 25 yards).
Click to expand...

That's how.

Yes, the 7.5 grains of Trailboss is louder, but it beats carrying two guns around.
 
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