300wm - 165-185 projectile for reds?

[phillips321]

Hi all, currently using 220grain Sierra pro hunter, but they have poor BC and drop like a brick at distance.

As such I'm looking to work up a sensible load using a projectile with a better BC and overall less drop at distance. Also hoping for less impact from the wind.

I guess I should be looking in the 165-185grain weight range, any suggestions for something suitable for Reds that's also not too expensive?

This is going to be used in a Blaser R93 with a 25.6inch barrel if that helps.

Current powders I have are RS70, N160, N140 and N133.

 

[UpNorthMI]

.300 WM is a great cartridge, I've only been shooting it a couple of years but I'm very impressed. I see that you are not looking for expensive bullets. Here are a couple of my recommendations based on rounds that I've loaded:

Low Cost:
180gn or 165gn Hornady Interlock bullets

A little more cost:
180gn or 165gn Sierra Prohunter or Gamechanger

Slightly more expensive:

180gn or 165gn Nosler Ballistic tip - I shot 25 years of red stags with 180gn in .338 WM, very good bullet.
180gn or 165gn Norma Oryx
165 Barnes TTSX - Non lead

I recently picked up a great deal on Norma .300 WM loaded ammo, it has 150gn soft points. You should pick up a lot of velocity by moving down from a 220gn to 180 or 165gn bullet, I would suggest this will solve your drop issue and will certainly knock your red deer down just as well if not better. I remain a very big fan of Sierra and Nosler Ballistic tip.

If I was making one recommendation for red deer (shooting out to 250 - 300 yards) it would be 165gn Nosler ballistic tip for the .300 WM, it's fast, accurate and will hit hard, if too much meat damage try the 180gn version. I prefer a lighter, faster bullet. There will be many who say they hunt with 200-180gn as standard, they are not wrong. If you are shooting mainly 100 - 200 yards, I would consider the 180gn version. You may have to look at other powders to get the best from your .300 WM.

I'm about to take my .300 WM to Africa next month, I'm using 180gn Swift A Frames and Norma Oryx, both bonded bullets.

 

[Eric the Red]

178/180gr, RS70 (or poss N160). You should make 3000fps, so good compromise of speed and BC

 

[Outback]

Nosler 180 BT loaded with Viht 165 if I remember 75 grn's ,

 

[Biathlonjimmy]

I used the 210gr Nosler ABLR with RS70. Excellent bc and very good in the wind. Provided great energy down range.

I have switched to the 148gr yewtree. I wouldn't go back.

 

[wellywoodie]

Hi all, currently using 220grain Sierra pro hunter, but they have poor BC and drop like a brick at distance.

As such I'm looking to work up a sensible load using a projectile with a better BC and overall less drop at distance. Also hoping for less impact from the wind.

I guess I should be looking in the 165-185grain weight range, any suggestions for something suitable for Reds that's also not too expensive?

This is going to be used in a Blaser R93 with a 25.6inch barrel if that helps.

Current powders I have are RS70, N160, N140 and N133.

Burger 168 or 185 hunting VLD
No load data for the 185 but the 168’s love N160
From memory, 72gr (check don’t take my word for it) mine was through R8 but I’d think the same barrel as r93
High BC

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

used a 300wm for a while
always used 180gr plus bullets
even in short 22" barrel they were no more loopy than anything else

use something that can withstand close range impact/higher terminal velocity and won't grenade when you encounter a 50m snoozer

180gr Lapua Megas were great, standard soft point
208gr AMax (now ELDM were excellent at range and for clean carcases)

a standard soft point or a harder/thicker jacketed ballistic tipped bullet like the ELD-M will work well

I used N160, H1000 and now I would go RS70 etc

 

[Jagdmatch]

180 gn Barnes TTSX. Works in my Blaser R93. I use RS60/ RL17.

 

[Selous]

The 150 grain TTSX work very very well on red deer chest shots. Almost all just fold up on the spot

 

[stubear]

I like 180gn pro hunter or gamekings, and the 178gn ELDX.

I use RS70 and my pet load (while stocks last) is 75.6gn of powder and 180gn pro hunter. Shoots a 1 hole group at 100y

 

[Bowland blades]

A tTSX copper round of lesser weight would do very good of that i have no doubt . I only use 100 grain and 120 grain on Reds ( some big stags in among them ) 400 yards is no bother after that the Adequate expansion gets iffy ( FROM EXPERIANCE) . I bet something around 150 perhaps ? would fly fast and hit harder a good 150 further ( imo too much TOF the beast can move a reasonable distance when the bullet is still in flight ). Copper certainly needs impact speeds to be fast enough ,meaning over what lead needs

 

[david1]

I'm using 175gr Barns LRX, I use Vit N560. Been extremely good, accurate, clean kills and no more meat damage than any other calibres.

 

[Acm]

I'm using 175gr Barns LRX, I use Vit N560. Been extremely good, accurate, clean kills and no more meat damage than any other calibres.

I use this too, an excellent bullet

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

I've shot a good number of deer with each of these three bullets and would recommend them in the order listed:

1) Yew Tree 148 TLR - An excellent bullet and the ones I am using now, it has proven very effective at knocking reds down on the spot at 'extended' ranges, even when they have been very alert. The quality of the bullets being lathe turned makes them exceptionally accurate, with a good BC to compliment it, making the further shots much easier to call wind on.

Disadvantages: On smaller roe, even with exceptional shot placement I have found the shock can burst the rumen despite the diaphragm still being intact.


2) Barnes 150 TTSX - A very good bullet in the .300 Mag for UK deer. Damage is acceptable even on roe at closer ranges, but still has the ability to knock over reds well at 300-400M. At 'extended' ranges this bullet will drop out of it's performance window (depending on MV 400-450M).

Disadvantages: Barnes quality control has in my opinion suffered over the past few years, with batch to batch variation being very noticable, taking what was for me a 0.25-0.5MOA load to 0.75-1MOA upon change of batch. Further to this I have found pushing these bullets faster than 3200-3250FPS can lead to seeing the petals shearing at closer range, giving erratic wound channels with petal tracts travelling perpendicular to the bullet tract, which caused a few messier carcasses.


3) Barnes 175 LRX - An okay bullet for the .300 Mag. On reds this bullet worked very well, with good internal damage seen, dropping most of the deer shot where they stood. On roe I found they weren't opening up until 4-5" into the deer, causing less internal damage than I would have liked, while most dropped on the spot I did get a few runners where I haven't with the other two options. They exhibit similar performance at range to the 150 TTSX, with their performance dropping off as ranges get more extended (depending on MV 400-450M).

Disadvantages: Barnes Quality control issues were also experienced while using this bullet, with batch to batch variation being seen. Performance on roe was less than ideal in my opinion, with one lobe of the lung regularly remaining largely undamaged and the damage occurring further into the chest cavity.


Conclusion:

I would use any of these bullets again if they were all I could obtain. None are a bad choice, however I do feel for reds the TLRs have a significant advantage, particularly if ranges are likely to be 'extended'.

If you would like photographs of what damage to expect from each design on different species please let me know and I would be happy to provide examples.

Ben

 

[phillips321]

Yew Tree 148s ordered. Thanks all

 

[Rafter]

Late to the party, but the 180 grain Bondstrike from Norma is developing a good rep here - I'm loading the 143 grain in my 6.5 SAUM and it's a cracker bullet.