Please share your 300 Win Mag Hunting setups- slot open

[billy_boyle_2010]

Hi guys

I have a slot for a 300 Win Mag and wish to purchase a hunting rifle and wondered if I could ask for some advice?

It's purely hunting- so no need for monster long range rigs.

I think generally a good gun is a good gun in any calibre, but I'm particularly interested in-

Gun of choice
Barrel twist rate
Barrel length
Rifle weight
Moderator- weight and how effective it is ?

Finally- if you were buying again- would you change any of the above, or something else perhaps ?

Any thoughts or ramblings would be most welcome. I'm totally new to the calibre.

Thanks

 

[Rutland lad]

Take a good look at Schultz and Larsen.
They make a switch barrel rifle of high quality. Having handled the synthetic stocked version (Traveller ?) I was amazed at its build quality, accuracy an ease of assembly and dissembly. The bolt is sublime.
If I was to buy again, this would be a strong contender for my next rifle. Barrels aren’t cheap, but they’re a hell of a lot cheaper than another rifle/scope set up.

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

Yes S&L are lovely rifles. In an ideal world I would go for something pre loved- but just as classic. But a new S&L would be a lovely choice for sure

Thanks for the response.

 

[BushBoy6.5]

What Rutland Lad said. I have two S&Ls, both the Classic DL model (nice straight stocks, which I prefer to the Victory model's shape), one in 6.5SE and the other in 300WM. I've not weighed the 300WM rig, but it's heavy enough to make recoil a non-issue. It is significantly heavier than the same model in 6.5SE, because it has a longer, thicker barrel and much larger moderator (see further below). I use it for the Hill, and occasionally in woodland (where it goes in a Vorn quick-release backpack, for easier carrying). I've used the 300WM in SA as well, where it is super for bushveld hunting, and across deep valleys in the Eastern Cape (where I come from). The only thing I would say about the calibre is that if you use a light moderator and are firing off sticks you may experience a fair bit of muzzle flip (rather than shoulder battering recoil, as some uninformed folk might tell you to expect), which can be irritating when you are shooting at something fairly close in, at a magnification that was perhaps higher than it should have been for the range (we've all done it...).

Other points -
- Use good factory ammo (e.g. Federal) and you will get decent muzzle velocity (which is rather the point of a magnum, IMHO); use the cheap stuff and you will often get .308 speeds, in which case why bother? I load my own, so it's not a concern. It is a super-flat calibre with the right bullets. I have very little bullet drop at even 300m when using the lighter Barnes bullets (see below), which is worth thinking about.
- Use a beefy mod. Yes, I know that they are ugly/heavy/chunky things which can mess up the balance, but if ever there was good reason to moderate a rifle it would be with 300WM. Mine has a S&L model which is all steel, and stainless steel in the middle. It's brilliant and moderates the heck out of the firing experience. It is quite a heavy beast, though. Others may prefer something more elegant up front, which is totally fine and always better than bare-barrel.
- Harris bipod, picatinny rail on top and a S&B 8x56 on top. I also have a Zeiss HD5 with the 800m hold-over reticle which I sometimes put on it if I am going onto open ground. It is a calibre where there is no shame in having some optical assistance/fiddly bits, in my view, as you can then be comfortable that you are able to stretch its legs (especially in an emergency/mop up situation)
- Twist rate is 1:10, which is perfect for a range of bullet weights. I use 130 grain Barnes TTSX bullet heads, but also load 150 grains. I am going to load Berger Hybrid 215 grains for a long-range target day in October, just to see how they work, but I imagine there will be no problem with them. I use RS60 powder for the light bullets and RL22 for the heavier ones. This is one of the great things about this calibre: you can play with bullets from 130-220 grain, which means you can hunt everything from small antelope/deer to the big antelopes, bears etc. if you fancy it.
- Down sides: heavier rifles; factory ammo is expensive/not easy to find in the UK and loading your own is not 'free' as you get less reloads per case and use almost double the powder to many of the standard calibres; muzzle flip; noisier than non-magnum calibres (as you'd expect); less scope for seating bullets out very far towards the rifling lands, as most hunting rifles don't have very long magazines to house long bullets. Match/target/tactical long-action rifles tend to give the shooter more room for such fine-tuning, but you did say that wasn't your plan (i.e. to shoot targets).

For reference, I previously owned a Sauer 202 'Wolverine' model in 300WM, which is a great cross-over target rifle and excellent quality. However, it was seriously heavy when fully kitted up and it made long days on the Hill even longer (not in a good way!). The other more traditional pattern Sauer 202s are terrific rifles as well, and they are often found as used models on Guntrader.

The other big deal with S&L is that if you are a leftie like me, they make true left-handers for the Classic DL and Victory without a major 'leftie tax' on the price (just not in their newer synthetic stock designs, which really gets my goat as I'd love a Victory synthetic model). Steve Beatty at Ivythorn is where I got both of mine and if you want other accessories you can get them from Alan Rhone directly.

So there it is, for what it's worth! Hope that helps your decision making.

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

@BushBoy6.5

Thanks very much for the post. V useful indeed.

V interesting about magazine length. I have read that some magazines are shorter than others. Sako 75 reportedly quite long.

Floor plates presumably allow for v long ammo too I'm guessing ?

 

[david1]

Hello Billy,

I'm using a Sako 85 Long Range .300wm, 1:11 twist, 26" barrel, ASE 338 Magnum moderator. currently using 175gr LRX, 3,000fps, and it drills holes all day long. I've kept the speed down, as it's capable of more but I was just increasing the recoil unnecessarily and more powder. On the LRX I'm shooting Red and Roe with little meat damage despite what you might think, actually less damage than my 6.5 CM with the ELDX 143gr on roe. If the length is an issue, stalking in woodland / forestry or night shooting from a vehicle I have a Sako 85 varmint 20" barrel in .308 which is a handy size. Hope this was useful.

 

[Acm]

Hello Billy,

I'm using a Sako 85 Long Range .300wm, 1:11 twist, 26" barrel, ASE 338 Magnum moderator. currently using 175gr LRX, 3,000fps, and it drills holes all day long. I've kept the speed down, as it's capable of more but I was just increasing the recoil unnecessarily and more powder. On the LRX I'm shooting Red and Roe with little meat damage despite what you might think, actually less damage than my 6.5 CM with the ELDX 143gr on roe. If the length is an issue, stalking in woodland / forestry or night shooting from a vehicle I have a Sako 85 varmint 20" barrel in .308 which is a handy size. Hope this was useful.

I use this bullet in my 06 and so far results have been excellent.
@BushBoy6.5 how come you use such a lightweight bullet in your win mag? Past 250m that little 130grn bullet must be v slow. Burning lots of powder to get .308 performance surely?

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

.300 WSM - my open ground/hill rifle - 21lbs all in:

McMillan A3-5 stock
Tikka T3 Action
Sasson barrels 1-9” twist barrel at 27”
Schmidt Bender 4-16X50 PM2
ASE SL7i moderator
Harris Bipod

The setup is designed to be easy to shoot very accurately, maintaining sight picture of the target throughout the shot cycle, which makes culling hinds on the hill much easier.

I'm using the 148 Yew Tree TLR having tested it last season and found the terminal performance was exceptional. I'm reworking my load currently as my previous load was a quick guess to test it, but it'll be going in the region of 3350 FPS which gives me 700M+ of expansion (assuming 2000FPS Expansion velocity).

I have also used the 150 TTSX and 175 LRX in the WSM previously, the 150 at 3342FPS and the 175 at 3124FPS. I found the 150 gave better terminal performance than the 175, dropping nigh on everything in it's tracks.

Ben

 

[Acm]

.300 WSM - my open ground/hill rifle - 21lbs all in:

McMillan A3-5 stock
Tikka T3 Action
Sasson barrels 1-9” twist barrel at 27”
Schmidt Bender 4-16X50 PM2
ASE SL7i moderator
Harris Bipod

The setup is designed to be easy to shoot very accurately, maintaining sight picture of the target throughout the shot cycle, which makes culling hinds on the hill much easier.

I'm using the 148 Yew Tree TLR having tested it last season and found the terminal performance was exceptional. I'm reworking my load currently as my previous load was a quick guess to test it, but it'll be going in the region of 3350 FPS which gives me 700M+ of expansion (assuming 2000FPS Expansion velocity).

I have also used the 150 TTSX and 175 LRX in the WSM previously, the 150 at 3342FPS and the 175 at 3124FPS. I found the 150 gave better terminal performance than the 175, dropping nigh on everything in it's tracks.

Ben

Out of interest did you go away from the Barnes because you like the idea of the yew tree being british etc? Or was the Barnes leaving somthing on the table which the yew tree does not?

 

[ejg]

Sendero Light proof carbon barrel 24" in 300wm on a rem action sitting in a carbon E-Tac stock. For hunting it will go into a 670gram Evolution stock and have the 4-16x50 PMII on top. Recoil is no issue, as I am married.
Finally I will have a user friendly 300wm which will be used much more.
edi

 

[Andyquadra]

Recoil is no issue, as I am married.

Blooming

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

Out of interest did you go away from the Barnes because you like the idea of the yew tree being british etc? Or was the Barnes leaving something on the table which the yew tree does not?

For culling I was wanting absolute accuracy, so I knew the only variance is my shooting. I was finding with the Barnes that batch to batch variance was taking me from Sub 0.2" groups when I worked up the load and loaded with the batch to 0.5+" groups with the next batch of bullets (found the bullet base to ogive length was consistently different between them, as was the bullet OAL).

With the lathe turned designs I find they're so consistent, so it's very easy to get a very accurate and repeatable load, even between batches.

Further to this, having consistent/guaranteed fragmentation down to 2000FPS or below, combined with a phenomenal BC to weight with the TLR it gives me 700+m of expansion range vs. just 450-475M with the 175 LRX.


I will just highlight this is not a post to throw issues at the Barnes bullets, they work very well and I still use them in my .308 for woodland work where I like a high weight retention design that tracks straight, I just found the Yew Tree TLRs were a better fit for my use in my WSM with the open ground work.

Ben

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

Fascinating and very useful thanks guys

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

@Brave Echo Niner

If the bullets still expand well at 2000fps- do you find they over expand/fragment at close ranges when they are travelling at 2800-3000fps ?

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

@Brave Echo Niner

If the bullets still expand well at 2000fps- do you find they over expand/fragment at close ranges when they are travelling at 2800-3000fps ?

Nope - here is a roe doe taken at 50-60m. (off the top of my head the TV was 3200FPS+)
The exit is exacerbated by hitting the off side leg.

Exit:

Entrance:

Gralloch:

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

Or here impacting another roe doe at 140M off sticks, shot was a bit far back in the lungs for my liking, but still didn't get any contamination - (I would guess TV 2900-3000FPS):

Gralloch:

Inside the carcass:
Exit after skinning:

 

[billy_boyle_2010]

That's a heck of an exit hole! But a 300WM on a roe that's to be expected I suppose! Looks like you have an excellent setup there

 

[Rutland lad]

I realised I’d not answered your original post with my chat about Schultz and Larsen.

I have a Mauser MO3 Extreme with 60cm standard barrel, and a LP moderator as my .300 WM set up. It’s topped off with a Swaro z6i scope, and it’s favoured ammo is 180 grain Barnes TSX / TTSX doing about 2800fps.

Surprisingly for some fellow stalkers, this calibre and load combo doesn’t blow apart smaller deer like muntjac and roe, but knocks them flat and causes very little meat damage. Substantially less than my old .243 in fact.
It’s not a light weight set up as the whole point of the MO3 is the switch barrel - and I think I’m right in saying you could get a .416 barrel for it, so it needs some mass to soak up recoil. So, on the hill I use a Vorn to assist me with lugging it around.

I have got a muzzle brake for it, and that softens it so much I couldn’t believe it first time I shot it.

I personally consider it a great calibre due to the weight of bullets available, so it can reach well down into .398 territory or up into the .375 bullet weights. It shoots 220 grain bullets very accurately.
It’s my second rifle in this calibre, my previous one was a Steyr Prohunter 2 in synthetic stock, which was very accurate, but I couldn’t get over the stock being like Tupperware.

Buy wisely and enjoy it !

 

[Julian S]

Bergara B14 300wm with a night force scope and wildcat mod. Cheap rifle but shoots better than I can!!!

 

[Jon P]

Recently sold my Mauser 12 Extreme 300 winmag with a Barton gunworks sound mod, - very nice accurate rifle, only sold it as not getting the use out of it as also have .308 & 30-06.