reloading .300 winmag for multi-purpose

HeavyT

HeavyT

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Hey out there,
Does anybody out there reload .300 WM and cut back on the bullet and powder charge to be able to hunt whitetail with it without blowing it to smithereens? I am looking for a good all purpose rifle, and will be getting into reloading. I will be hunting deer, moose and black bear. I know people out there swear by the .308 for all of the above, and others don't. I'd rather have a little more mustard available for the larger game, than not enough, and plus, I totally fell head over heals for a particular rifle, and its .300wm.
Thanks!
 
A 300wm will not "blow it to smithereens"....No need to load it down, people have been using the 300wm to kill deer since it arrived.

For that matter, I use a 300RUM for killing deer. No issues on "smithereening" deer.
 
KodiakHntr said:
A 300wm will not "blow it to smithereens"....No need to load it down, people have been using the 300wm to kill deer since it arrived.

For that matter, I use a 300RUM for killing deer. No issues on "smithereening" deer.
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Nice!, "smithereening", i'm going to use that. Thanks for the feedback KodiakHunter. I am new to the game, and was under the impression that .300 is a little much for deer. Keeping in mind too that I am in Ontario, and won't have those 3-400 yrd shots, (at least not that often)
 
Yup, shoot good quality 180grn bullets.
Then you have everything covered in the big game dept. from Small Blacktails to Brown Bear.
But, that is my opine and others will differ.
Become one with your rifle and bulllt choice and you will do fine.
Rob
 
my 300 wsm is hard on coyotes but not deer

however i think my friends 300wm was having problems with the bullet expanding before it hit the deer because the entry wound was huge and the bullet disintegrated making a huge mess of things.

so imo if you have good bullets that stay together you'll be fine.
 
fish_e_o said:
my 300 wsm is hard on coyotes but not deer

however i think my friends 300wm was having problems with the bullet expanding before it hit the deer because the entry wound was huge and the bullet disintegrated making a huge mess of things.

so imo if you have good bullets that stay together you'll be fine.
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So that would mean the velocity is too much for that particular bullet right?
 
74 grains of H4831 pushes a 165 grain bullet in mine at 3000fps. It seems like a pretty mild recoiling load and is very accurate. I haven't tested it on whitetail yet, but if I plan to use my 300WM that will be my ammo. Just don't shoot the deer where you intend to remove meat. If you hit it in the shoulder with a 308 or 300WM that meat is ruined.
 
HeavyT said:
So that would mean the velocity is too much for that particular bullet right?
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not according to nosler... their bullets aren't the best

2900 ish ft/s and it was coming apart

just use better bullets. i use hornady interbonds and they haven't failed me yet
 
I've downloaded the 300 WinMag and used it for years. It's one of the things I really liked about the 300, very versatile and accurate. I use 165gr Hornady SP's, loaded to about 30-06 ballistics, nothing special required for deer in Ontario as most shots are within about 200yds or so. I bought some powder from Higginsons (H414SL) and it has worked out very well, not only in my rifle but the exact load works as well in a friends 300, sub MOA out to 200yds.
 
X-fan said:
Say what?
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a friends nosler ballistic tips were separating at 2900 fps and making a mess of everything... we would usually find two entrance holes then just a mess

nosler said they weren't shot too fast because the limit is 3100 fps

so imo nosler = garbage :nest:
 
If you shoot a premium "Hunting" bullet that is designed NOT to explode on impact as B. Tips, Scirroccos etc do the 300 s not a problem.
Something like a Partition, Barnes X or any other bullet that has a thick jacket, is bonded or is a solid copper will expand to 2 or 3 times original diameter, do its job and exit leaving little damage, but dead critters.
I prefer my 300 for antelope as it does FAR less damage than a 243 does due to he bullets NOT blowing the meat to h.ll.

Why anyone would down load a magnum eludes me, shoot a 308 if you do not want to capitalize on the 300 win parformance. To me it seem like buying a Ferrari and tooling around town at 30MPH:confused:
 
Last year I used my 300WM to hunt antlerless mule deer and there was no more damage than with my 280. I used 180gr speer boat tails and the deer dropped quickly with little blood shot meat. Using a lightweight thin jacketed bullet will "smitherene" things but otherwise you should have no problems.
 
fish_e_o said:
a friends nosler ballistic tips were separating at 2900 fps and making a mess of everything... we would usually find two entrance holes then just a mess

nosler said they weren't shot too fast because the limit is 3100 fps

so imo nosler = garbage :nest:
Click to expand...

Should have sent the rest of the bullets back for analysis/refund, must have been a bad lot. I used to shoot 150 gr out of my 270wsm at 3250 fps the bullets never flew apart.
And yes they were ballistic tips.
 
Altberta Tac, sorry but have to disagree about downloading. I purchased the Sako over 20 years ago and planned on using it for moose but liked the rifle so much I started using it for deer as well. I didn't have enough money for a full stable of rifles so I downloaded, both for the fun of shooting it at the range and hunting as well. I also download the 450 Marlin (and 12ga slugs) as I usually put through 50+ rounds practicing at the range and don't really want to put up with the heavy recoil, don't really see anything wrong with that. I think I read that David Tubb recommended using slightly reduced loads for practice out to 200yds and thats with a 308. I wouldn't mind having a Ferrari....... I saw 2 of them, together, driving in Toronto a couple of years ago, they were the slowest cars on the road. I don't think the guys wanted them for their speed, they wern't "tooling" they were trolling, you should have seen all the women. You don't always need to go fast to get the job done.
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
If you shoot a premium "Hunting" bullet that is designed NOT to explode on impact as B. Tips, Scirroccos etc do the 300 s not a problem.
Something like a Partition, Barnes X or any other bullet that has a thick jacket, is bonded or is a solid copper will expand to 2 or 3 times original diameter, do its job and exit leaving little damage, but dead critters.
I prefer my 300 for antelope as it does FAR less damage than a 243 does due to he bullets NOT blowing the meat to h.ll.

Why anyone would down load a magnum eludes me, shoot a 308 if you do not want to capitalize on the 300 win parformance. To me it seem like buying a Ferrari and tooling around town at 30MPH:confused:
Click to expand...

X2 Just shoot the deer in the parts you don't want to eat. If the hunting local lends itself to shots at angles less than optimum, then use a bullet that will hold together or learn to pass up a shot that is less than perfect. it's not like there's a shortage of deer anywhere.......
 
I have had excessive meat damage in Ontario deer witha 150 gr bullet in a 308 (100 yards). Solution was to switch to 180 gr big game bullets.

This is a good moose load and on deer does not do as much damage as the lighter bullet.

One load, one bullet - good for deer and moose.

Or, you could download so as to not beat yourself up when practiceing.
 
I've never foudn 300WM recoil objectionable from field positions. Sitting at teh bench working up a load is a different kettle of fish. Anyone who equates bench time with practice has been sorely misled.
 
I do use reduced loads in all my rifles for practice (using field positions) to reduce costs and to extend shooting sessions. I agree bench shooting is practice for bench shooting or for load development. I use lighter bullets and reduced charges for my practice loads, a side benefit is extended barrel life especially in magums.
 
Hunter5425, well stated, I do about the same. I only go to the bench for load development, after that it's offhand, kneeling, prone and sitting. Sometimes I'll use a bipod (prone) but most of the time it's just a sling.
 
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