Northman999
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Yukon
For non-reloaders it's a no brainer - 300 win mag is $24.99 for a box of factory 180's at Can Tire. Try that with any of the others mentioned...
So Many .308 Caliber magnums, who got it right
- Thread starter Jayph
- Start date
I've had a 300WSM for about a year now and recently bought a rifle in .300WM. Ballistically they are almost identical until you get out to the longer ranges where the .300 WM seems to do better. The win mag kicks a little harder but this is probably the gun. The bigger difference is the cost and availabilty of ammo. Thought the WSM is becoming more popular and readily available it is still easier and cheaper to find win mag, though only perhaps $3-4 a box cheaper. I suppose it's a matter of do you want a long action or a short action. 30-06 is still my favourite though.
Over the last couple decades I've had several 300 Mags in different chamberings and liked them all....there is a couple 300 Win. Mags., an old 721 in 300H&H, and soon a 700 TI in 300 SAUM in my gun safe.
The biggest Mule Deer I've taken to date was dropped by a 308 Norma Mag. I should never have sold.
The old 721 was my main Moose gun for years, has taken my best Pronghorn and still shoots tighter groups than most of the other toys...if a 30 cal. bullet won't shoot well out of it most likely it won't work in anything else.
However it would be interesting to know how many rifles of different makes in 300 Win Mag are taken out into our Canadian hunting fields every Fall, those fields that were dominated by 303 Brit, 30-30, 270, 30-06, and others many years ago.....
The biggest Mule Deer I've taken to date was dropped by a 308 Norma Mag. I should never have sold.
The old 721 was my main Moose gun for years, has taken my best Pronghorn and still shoots tighter groups than most of the other toys...if a 30 cal. bullet won't shoot well out of it most likely it won't work in anything else.
However it would be interesting to know how many rifles of different makes in 300 Win Mag are taken out into our Canadian hunting fields every Fall, those fields that were dominated by 303 Brit, 30-30, 270, 30-06, and others many years ago.....
You are such a throw back
Realistically it is an inefficient design in anything but a single-shot. That doesn't mean I don't like it....
From Nosler No.4 - all with 180gr Partitions
.300 H&H
IMR4350 65.0gr 3010fps
RL19 69.0gr 2958fps
AA3100 68.0gr 3015fps
IMR4831 66.0gr 2940fps
RL22 71.0gr 3023fps
.308 Norma
IMR4350 68.0gr 2900fps
RL19 69.0gr 2956fps
AA3100 70.0gr 2920fps
IMR4831 71.0gr 2980fps
.300 Win Mag
IMR4350 66.0gr 2990fps
RL19 69.0gr 2890fps
IMR4831 69.0gr 2980fps
RL22 73.5gr 3023fps
.300 WSM
IMR4350 65.0gr 3024fps
RL22 69.0gr 3057fps
Those are all with 24" barrels. The H&H looks pretty efficient to me. The WSM beats it handily with RL22, but is in basically a dead heat with IMR4350. The rest are all beaten by the H&H in the grains of powder versus velocity contest. Yes, I know that different rifles/chambers do vary. But the point is this: The H&H, designed in 1925, is capable of burning less powder for the same velocity as the Norma (1961) and the Win Mag (1958). It is close to the WSM too.
I don't think the action length is a real factor either when comparing the Norma and Win Mag to the H&H. The M700, M70, Howa, MkV, Sako 75, Sako 85 etc can all handle the full length case. So to me, the newer ones aren't really an improvement.
To each their own I guess. I have owned the Winchester, Norma and Weatherby. I'd own any of them again. But if I had to choose just one of those three, I'd take the H&H.
Rembo,
Winchester originally made the 300 to fit into the pre-64 magazine which was 30/06 length. They were determined to have their cartridge fit into the niche created by the Norma offering. That they then turned around and designed an action with a longer magazine is just an example of coporate confusion. Over the years, I've built a whole bunch of rifles in 300 Win Mag, 308 Norma, 300 H&H and 300 Weatherby ( also 300WSM and 300 Ultra but I'm not proud of this!) Customers always came back and told me all about their rifle's performance and I got a pretty good handle on what was and wasn't possible.
The 300 H&H would do just over 3000 fps with 180's This was usually from a 26 inch barrel since this is what the 300 H&H shooters liked.
The 308 Norma would reach 3100 from the 24 inch barrels the Norma shooters preferred.
The 300 win mag almost always beat 3150 with 180's. Again, 24 inch barrels were most popular.
300 Weatherbys would just reach 3200 if everything was right. 26 inch barrels were the norm.
By the way, 300 WSM loads which reach 3000 fps with 180's are way hot! Most rifles seem most confortable run at 2950 or so.
In recent years, the advent of more slower burning powders has helped the larger cartridges perform to their potential. In the field though, any difference is likely to be more perceived than real. Regards, Bill.
Winchester originally made the 300 to fit into the pre-64 magazine which was 30/06 length. They were determined to have their cartridge fit into the niche created by the Norma offering. That they then turned around and designed an action with a longer magazine is just an example of coporate confusion. Over the years, I've built a whole bunch of rifles in 300 Win Mag, 308 Norma, 300 H&H and 300 Weatherby ( also 300WSM and 300 Ultra but I'm not proud of this!) Customers always came back and told me all about their rifle's performance and I got a pretty good handle on what was and wasn't possible.
The 300 H&H would do just over 3000 fps with 180's This was usually from a 26 inch barrel since this is what the 300 H&H shooters liked.
The 308 Norma would reach 3100 from the 24 inch barrels the Norma shooters preferred.
The 300 win mag almost always beat 3150 with 180's. Again, 24 inch barrels were most popular.
300 Weatherbys would just reach 3200 if everything was right. 26 inch barrels were the norm.
By the way, 300 WSM loads which reach 3000 fps with 180's are way hot! Most rifles seem most confortable run at 2950 or so.
In recent years, the advent of more slower burning powders has helped the larger cartridges perform to their potential. In the field though, any difference is likely to be more perceived than real. Regards, Bill.
- Location
- Yellowknife, NWT
I think the .300 H&H is the coolest by a country mile. Howsomever, I think the .300 WinMag was the one that got it right in a format that's lasted a long time and really made the .300 magnums as popular as they now are. The WSM may actually surpass it someday, though.
