Economics- .308 vs .300WinMag

[JAMMAN]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty well settled on making the .308 my first rifle for use for going long (although I do have a .270 to play with until then) but want to throw in the mix the economics for maximum shooting enjoyment.

1) What is an average load for the .308 running YOU?
2) What is an average load for the .300 WinMag running YOU?
3) What is the brass costing for for the .308/.300WM?

Could you help me break it down? Here, the brass at one shop for the .270 is $28/100. I forget what the cost was for the MatchKings.

Also, with any waste or such, how many loads are you getting per container of powder?

I'm asking all this as it appears that the .308 will end up substantially cheaper to reload, but I haven't run all of it and don't know quite enough to do a very good job of it.

Anything else I've missed in the consideration of this subject, please just set me on the straight and narrow!

Thanks

 

[daveosok]

I dont shoot either a 308 or 300 but a pound of powder contains 7000 grains of powder.
You can do the math and figure out how many rounds of powder youll use by weight of load.
The 300 win will go upwards of 70 grains plus netting you around 100 rounds per pound. The 308 is almost around 200 rounds.

 

[1doug]

the cost of the bullets, primers, and intial brass will be the same, however the performance gains at 600 plus yards are worth the extra cost of powder to me. If you are on a tight budget get some friends together an buy the powder in 8 lb jugs so you can save on hazmat charges, jm2cw

 

[JAMMAN]

Some math with it, and what about brass life?

Ok, here's some math. Tell me if I'm getting off base.

I figure that, in looking at different recipes and the books, an average load for the .308 could be in the 42g area. So, 7000/42=166 loads. This is allowing nothing for loss of any sort.

The 300WM looks like there is around 70g per load avg, and if that's correct, you're looking at 100loads/pound.

So, if I bought powder at $20/lb from local supplier then I have $0.12 per load with the .308 and $0.20 per load with the .300WM. This is powder cost only.

Russ Haydon's Shooter Supply has Bulk Brass at $24.00/100 for .308 and $34.00/100 for .300WM. Lapua brass at $0.37 per for .308 and $1.02 per for .300WM

Primers seem to be about $0.12 each.

Bullets (Match Kings)seem to be about $16 for a box. How many in a box? I don't know, but that's what it was at the same source. Let's call it 50 for arguments sake. That's $0.32 per.

Using these figures, I come up with a range of $0.80-0.93 for the .308 and $0.98-1.66 for the .300WM. Do these sound like I have the figures in there close? What am I missing?

These were with no tax figured in, or shipping costs. I do have shops in the area to utilize, though I've not priced them. But this should get me a good idea of what I'm looking at, I would think.

Also, what kind of brass life difference is there between Win Bulk and Lapua? Is that going to figure in here significantly?

Thank you

 

[1doug]

Re: Some math with it, and what about brass life?

me personally, i would not use the lapua brass. it is no doubt the best brass you can get out of the box, but unless you are trying to make a living at shooting i would advise against it. win. brass is cheaper and as durable. you can buy the powder in the one pound cans, but you will never get the consistancy as if you had 8 or more pounds of the same lot number. i know that spending 100 plus dollars for 8 lbs sounds like a lot plus hazmat fees. trust me i bought 8 lbs of retumbo with the haz fee for less than i could get it at the local shooting supplier.
with the powder capacity of the 300 win you could use some "pulled" powder that is aroud 50 or so dollars for 8 pounds the 308 would not be able to utilize these slower powders

<font color="red"> remember this is just my opinion you as you want </font>

 

[JAMMAN]

Re: Some math with it, and what about brass life?

d-a,

Nope, I appreciate the reply. I *did* ask for opinions and I thank you for yours.

But I'm a bit unclear on one thing. What is the "pulled" powder? Is it "pulled" as in regected or something?

On the brass, I just wasn't sure if people were getting 2x or 3x the life out of that brass than what they were the Win, thus offsetting the higher cost with more uses and enjoying the plus of having the same cartrigdes.

More thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated. I'm currently reading an older book by Carmicheal, have "Precision Shooting to 1000yds" coming to get to read, and am working to absorb several sites on this, not to mention having the sierra and lyman manuals I keep referring to and reading. I need some perspective to help filter all this info.

Thank you

 

[bailey1474]

Re: Some math with it, and what about brass life?

The pulled down powder is just military surplus that they have pulled the bullets on loaded rounds to reuse the powder.

Another thing to consider is recoil. The 300 Win will kick significantly more that the 308.

Another cartridge to consider might be the 300 WSM. I haven't loaded for one but I THINK(might want to double check me) that you can = the performace of the 300 Win(or at least very close) w/a little less powder.

I would also recommend using the 1 lb containers until you have settled on a load. Then buy a hefty supply.

Good luck,
B.J.

 

[daveosok]

Re: Some math with it, and what about brass life?

Brass life depends on size of chamber and how hot you load it. If your maxing out your loads then viable reloadings of it will decrease if your using a lower veloctiy load that nets you better accuracy you can epxect longer brass life.
I have a 7mm stw and I have reloaded the brass 6 to 7 times but my loads are not hot and my chamber isnt bad.
Pulled powder is ok if your using it for plinking but its consistancy will not match some of the smokeless powder manufactures. It usually is also temp sensitive and extreme spread may fluctuate beyond what your wanting.
Many variables come into play when you start talking long range hunting, culling your brass, weighing your bullets, weighing your loads, seating depths, extreme spreads, proper bullet weight for twist, type of scope, trigger enhancements, bedding the rifle, the muzzle crown, and many more items all contribute to extended shooting ranges.
The more of them you buy the best of the less error you will have this does not mean that you may have an accurate rifle the shooter plays the biggest part in this equation and pratice is key. But you can be certain that your rounds are consistant and this is one key element of accuracy.
Dan Lilja writes a nice article on long range hunting and its a good read. I suggest you browse his site and look for it maybe some of your questions can better be answered in a more technical meaning?
Dave

 

[Michael Eichele]

Re: Some math with it, and what about brass life?

The nice thing about Lapua brass is that it weighs the same from lot to lot, where as Win, Rem, ect... seldom ever does. I have had 308 brass from winchester weigh as much as 15 grains diffeance from lot to lot. What happens here is differant pressure from differant wall thickness. I dont like to re-develop loads any more than I have to. Its nice to have at least 1 component that doesnt change. Besides 308 brass from lapua is 35 bucks for 100 cases and I have spent 10 bucks on 20 winnies (50 bucks/100) The lapua brass makes good sense.

PS there are 100 bullets per box of SMK.

 

[Jake Levi]

Thanks guys, good thread, it answered similar questions for me.

 

[tomt]

Assume five firing from the brass for a total 500 firing.
.308 Winchester
$46/100 Remington brass .092/firing
$35/1000 CCI 200 primers .035/firing
$157/8# IMR 4064 powder .121/firing
$150/500 SMK 175 .300/firing
Total .548/firing

.300 Win Mag
$71/100 Remington brass .142/firing
$37/1000 CCI 250 primers .037/firing
$157/8# H-1000 powder .224/firing
$165/500 SMK190 .330/firing
Total .733/firing

Round numbers $.55 per for .308 win, $.73 per shot for .300 win mag

 

[Jake Levi]

Thats great Tom, thanks for your work on it.

 

[BountyHunter]

Now here is the real cost difference, not just bullets and powder.

Barrel life!

A Win Mag will go 1200-1500 max for effective accuracy in barrel life.

A 308 will go 3000 plus rounds by most records.

A new barrel will cost $325 for the blank and another $200 for chambering and crowning. Maybe little more or less, but that is the ball park in todays $.

So the Win Mag is 2-3x as costly to shoot in barrel life as the Win Mag.

If you plan to shoot a lot, better figure and save for the replacement barrel.

+1 on Lapua brass also. Barrels, Bullets and Brass are the most important components. Do not skimp on either. It will cost you 2x in the long run. Been there done that and have the bloody T-Shirt hanging in the closet.

BH

 

[Jake Levi]

Now that is something I hadnt considered !! A major item !

Thanks !