reloading 300 win mag varmint rounds ?

Tak

Tak

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Hi, I was reading the Hornady 7th edition and apparently 300 win mag might have some varminting potential. According to hornady you could drive a 110 gr. Vmax at close to 4000 fps.


I guess the down side is its gonna be way more expensive than reloading .223, but if I dont have to buy a new gun it might become worth it. Also if you dont load to hot I bet you can stretch the life of the cases a bit.

Other consideration would be bullet disintegration ?

What do you guys think of that ?
 
I would wonder what your barrel life would be if you did high-volume varmint shooting with a rig like that? A few rounds a year would not be of consequence, but it seems hard to justify burning your barrel (not to mention all that powder)??
 
I have had good accuracy results with the Sierra 110 gr HP in a .30-06, at around 3400 fps. Some others have not had such good success with 110 grain bullets, which is why many recommend 125-130 grain bullets.
I would recommend trying the 110 grain sierras, or 110 grain Hornady SP if you want to try this weight of bullet.
 
I have not tried 110 bullets, but many people warned me that the short length makes them sit rather far from the lands. I've heard people complain of poor accuracy because of this. Even if the accuracy was not as good I think it would still be a blast. It would make for a sweet coyote round
 
^^^ Agreed.
I loaded a bunch of 100gr. (maybe 110, can't recall) Plinkers for my 30.06 thinking they'd be great for varmints. They would be if I could hit anything with them. I was getting about 5 inch groups at 100 yrds.
I haven't experimented with them lately, but I wasn't impressed.
my 0.02$:)
 
There is a difference between the 100 gr Plinkers, such as sold by Speer, and the 110 grain bullets. While they may not work for you, they have worked for me.
 
unstableryan said:
a guy at our range with a 300 RUM was claiming 4200 with 125gr nosler ballistic tips. It was his crow and gopher gun.
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when i had my 300 rum i was getting about 3900 fps . with the 125 grain bullets i was using . i would be interested in the powder he was using .
 
Nothing wrong with a 300 Win ag for varmints. For work under 500 yards, I too would recommend the 125-130 grain bullets over the 110s for the higher velocities of the 300. I have had good luck with 110s out of a 308 though. The groups from the 125s are better out past 200 yards and they are flatter shooting. For real long distance, like trying to wack gophers in the 1000 yard club, I like the 168 grain Amax.

As far as burning barrels. Most of the 300 Wins I have used were good past 3000 rounds of varmint grade accuracy. Barrels aren't that expensive, the ammo you use to burn it out will cost you 8 or 9 times what the barrel does.(Even at only $15/20, 3000 rounds will cost you $2250, spinning a new barrel on a Savage, $300)
 
Thanks alot for the good advice guys, happy to know there is some good possibilities in that way. I did read something about the 110grs seating too far from the lands somewhere else too, so I will probably try the 125s. What Kind of powder would you suggest for that purpose ?
 
I would start with 4350 or 4831. The 300 mags shoot both well though most of mine have prefered 4350, specially in hte lighter weight bullets.
 
300 WSM "Gopher" Load

I run a 15 twist 300 WSM that pushes a 125 gr @ 3700 fps. 66 gr of varget. An absolute riot in the gopher patch...
 
i have used the 110 gr psp( i think they were hornady??) its been a couple of years ago. They were fairly accurate. Used them for crows, coyotes etc. I was given a part box of some 110grain .30 cal hollow points. They were incredibly accurate to the 100yrd mark. At 200 they were quite random at best. Shot a crow with them once and it was like a scene form a cartoon. Red mist and a couple of black feathers floating back to the ground. Wish i had it on a video clip.lol
 
StevieK said:
I have not tried 110 bullets, but many people warned me that the short length makes them sit rather far from the lands. I've heard people complain of poor accuracy because of this. Even if the accuracy was not as good I think it would still be a blast. It would make for a sweet coyote round
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I use the 110gn VMaxs in my .30-06. They are very accurate and repeatable out to 300yds (as far as I have shot them). The only this is you MUST crimp them. I use the Lee Factory Crimp die. This will standardize internal pressures and eliminate a premature jump to the rifling. No reason why this method shouldn't work with a .300. As a matte of fact, I may load some up for a buddy who has such a rig... We went 'yote hunting a few weeks ago and he too his .300 with the 180gn bullets he had used during deer season. I would think that he would like some 'yote bullets. Hmmm, got 20 or so cases lying around here somewhere...
 
I guess the down side is its gonna be way more expensive than reloading .223, but if I dont have to buy a new gun it might become worth it. Also if you dont load to hot I bet you can stretch the life of the cases a bit.
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The other downside is that the accurate barrel life on a 300wm is around 2500 rounds,compared to much ,much more with a 223.If you do a lot of varmint shooting,you will be replacing the barrel in the not so distant future.
 
stubblejumper said:
The other downside is that the accurate barrel life on a 300wm is around 2500 rounds,compared to much ,much more with a 223.If you do a lot of varmint shooting,you will be replacing the barrel in the not so distant future.
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Yes it might be more of a transition thing, but I think i'll try to keep the loads in the mid range if possible just to spare the barrel a bit. But as I was saying, I don't shoot way more than 200-300 rounds a year all guns included. However seems like apparently, as far as varminting goes, you can get caught into it pretty quick :p

Mind you, I would like to shoot more, just have to many hobbies and not enough time and money, but I gotta say, since I started reloading, I found myself shooting alot more, wich is awesome for me, and terrible for my wallet haha.

Alright so I will try both I think the 125 gr sierra spitzers and the 110 gr v-max. Perhaps let the cases stretch a little bit for the 110 gr and for sure, try to crimp a bit, I might have to get a factory crimp die, cause I'm guessing crimping small bullets with no canelure will be interesting with the seating die. How much would you cut on the charge, to prevent over pressure, when you crimp ?
 
Tak said:
Yes it might be more of a transition thing, but I think i'll try to keep the loads in the mid range if possible just to spare the barrel a bit. But as I was saying, I don't shoot way more than 200-300 rounds a year all guns included. However seems like apparently, as far as varminting goes, you can get caught into it pretty quick :p
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My bet is that the plan of a .300 Win as a varmint rifle will wear thin very quickly as you "get caught into" varmint shooting. While it can be fun and interesting for a while, there is a very good reason you won't see many .300's at a good gopher shoot.

Don't worry about barrel life. If you start shooting so much that barrel life becomes a real question, the idea of a much more suitable varmint rifle will begin to look very attractive.
 
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