Which bullet?

[J300UM]

Hey everyone! Im new to the site and I have a dillema. I'm having a rifle chambered to 300 weaver (shoots slightly faster than the 30-378) and I cant decide between the 190gr or 210gr vld's. Most of my shooting will be long range target. I usually use 200gr AB's for hunting but everyone tells me that the vld's work great as well. The barrel has a 1-11" twist so it should handle the 210's with no problem. I just can't decide if I should take advantage of the powder capacity and shoot the 210 or go for a flatter trajectory with the 190. I'm open to any opinions yall may have.

 

[linksmechanic]

I'd run with the 210's they have a super high b.c. and they will kill stuff bang flop.

 

[davewilson]

i'd stay with at least a 210 in a case that size. just curious, what case are you using anyway? there's more than a couple to choose from. wouldn't rule out the 220's. bottom line for me would be to try a few and go with whichever shot best.

 

[Fiftydriver]

I would agree, heavier will be better if your case is that large.

By the way, what is the 300 Weaver and what is the parent case? I assume either the Lapua, Rigby or Wby if your topping the 30-378.

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[J300UM]

Thanks for the info! The 300 weaver is a 300 rum with almost no case taper and a 40 deg. shoulder. Basically a 300 rum improved. It has a slight edge in capacity over the 30-378. I took my rifle to weaver rifles to get rebarreled and Kevin Weaver talked me into going with his little creation. I'm kinda excited to see how it shoots! He promises I wont be dissapointed.

 

[jmden]

Thanks for the info! The 300 weaver is a 300 rum with almost no case taper and a 40 deg. shoulder. Basically a 300 rum improved. It has a slight edge in capacity over the 30-378. I took my rifle to weaver rifles to get rebarreled and Kevin Weaver talked me into going with his little creation. I'm kinda excited to see how it shoots! He promises I wont be dissapointed.

Hmmm...30-378 should be around if not more than 130 gr. case capacity shouldn't it? Even the most straightened RUM case with a short neck and 40 shoulder (I've got a reamer for one I designed with Dave Kiff.) won't match that. Perhaps your 'smith meant just a few grains less than the 30-378? All things being equal, I don't think you're going to top the 30-378 with a RUM case. Even a blown out 338 Lapua case necked down to 30 cal and designed to handle 70K and not the typically 65K of most other cases will have to work hard to match the 30-378.

 

[James Jones]

A blown out and improved 378 Wby case is the biggest conventional case available certainly not close to the RUM improved.

You can probably match the velocities of the 30-378 with a 30-338 Lapua improved simple cause the lapua brass will handel more pressure but it would be close.

Although the 300 RUM case and the Improved version is nothing to sneeze at !!

As for your bullet choice I have found that the Berger bullets don't like to be abused with overly high velocities , i think that 3200fps would be about the top that you will get decient accuracy with the 210 bergers , Hell a 210 Berger VLD at that speed is gonna shoot realy flat though

 

[J300UM]

I very well could've missunderstood him. Oh well, I guess if I only gain 100fps or so I'm still benefitting from it since I'm the worst judge of distance in the world. The flatter it shoots, the better off I am. I guess if the vld's dont work out there's always the smk's. I heard they're a little more friendly to the novice loader. Any suggestions on those? I hope I'm not being a pain in the butt. I've been loading for 5 yrs but never for pure accuracy like I'm hoping to do now so I am just trying to gather as much info as possible. Again thanks for the help!

 

[adam32]

I bet the 300 Weaver would run right with the 30-378. Going by reload books, the RUM is just barely (50-150fps) slower then the 30-378 and even matches it with some bullets. So blown out it should be right with it or just a touch faster.

 

[30-06 boy]

with a case that big why not try the 210 berger,240 smk,or one of the big wildcat bullets?

 

[J300UM]

After searching through the site I think I might nix the Berger idea since everyone says they do not shoot at their potential when loaded to magazine length. I want to use the magazine when I'm hunting. That being said, should I just go with the smk or will the vld's shoot as good as the smk at mag length. I know it still depends on what the gun likes. Any thoughts based on your experiences?

 

[blygy]

do a search for wildcat bullets.. I think he has some new 30 cal bullets that are smokin....

 

[jmden]

After searching through the site I think I might nix the Berger idea since everyone says they do not shoot at their potential when loaded to magazine length. I want to use the magazine when I'm hunting. That being said, should I just go with the smk or will the vld's shoot as good as the smk at mag length. I know it still depends on what the gun likes. Any thoughts based on your experiences?

I'd take a hard look at the 240 SMK (.711BC) and Hodgdon US869. With my 10 twist, 26" Rem 700 in 300 RUM, I'm doing 3K at the muzzle with 104.5g US869-this is a cooler (at least 45F and below for me anyway) weather load. You'd be hard pressed to find something that will hit harder (carry more energy at long range) with less wind drift--wind drift (and wind reading) being a big issue with long range shooting. If Richard gets his big Al tipped Wildcats up and running and you have a 1 in 8 twist barrel, well, that's about all that will beat it at this point. I'm using Exbal on a pocket pc (PPC) and using the BC data from the program, I've been spot on to over 1K. Shot a cow elk at 450 with it last month--blew out a rib on the far side and I only found on small piece of jacket material lodged up against the far side skin. Managed to get a second hit on her with a quick recovery and that was a complete pass through at the base of the neck. I think second shots are a bit more difficult to place cause the critter is moving if it wasn't a boom, flop deal.