Powders

[300 Driver]

+1 for R26 with the 215gr pills.

my factory savage 12 BVSS loved that powder/bullet combo

 

[Hunterjones]

Yes, RE17 is a super powder in this cartridge with the 168 TTSX.

I am shooting a 180 Accubond in my other .300 WSM ahead of 68 Grains MRP. It's very accurate too

 

[LoneTraveler]

I got my 300 WSM in 2004 in prep to retirement. I wanted a light walking high country rifle. With Win. Brass, Win. Primer, 180 Gr. Sierra Bullet and IMR 4350. First group 9/16" at 100 yds. 3000 FPS out of a 24" Barrel. Not bad for old eyes and with 4 rounds on board a 7 1/4 lb. rifle.

 

[jimbo111]

I have loaded for all wsm calibers except .325 and all love the 4350 powders and all shoot under an 1in. with mostly nosler bullets. Many bucks have been taken with great results.

 

[chav0_12]

I have been using the same load for over 20 years. A compressed max load of rl22 and a 168 barnes. Ttsx now . Started with a xlc barnes, then tsx. Gives me 3260 in a 26 in custom bm barrel on a win mod 70 action. My go to rifle.

It's almost crazy to think the WSM line has been around for two decades now. When I read that I though "it haven't even existed that long" then realized it was 2021. Pretty wild stuff to think of a "flash in the pan" lasting 20+ years.

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

RL16 is the pixie dust for 165-180's. If you can find it.

19 works well with 165 Accubonds

 

[Saskquatch6]

It's almost crazy to think the WSM line has been around for two decades now. When I read that I though "it haven't even existed that long" then realized it was 2021. Pretty wild stuff to think of a "flash in the pan" lasting 20+ years.

In my experience and the bullet weights I use (175ish), less powder, less recoil, less weight to carry around, less length to carry around (short action 23" barrel in 300WSM achieves about the same velocity as a long action 26" barrel in 300WM).

Was thinking same thing chav0_12 - this flash has lasted 2 decades because it's a great versatile accurate cartridge and for all the reasons mentioned by Dentite and others. Tooth Doc's comments got me thinking, so I looked back in my records and found first loadings for my then brand new 300WSM M70 Fwt was Oct 3, 2001 and that surprised even me. Since then we've added a Browning X-Bolt and a Savage 16 (this year) as first rifles for both sons. The versatility of this cartridge comes by using the right bullet for intended purpose and we tend to use it for everything from antelope to moose and elk. We generally use bullets in the 165 to 180 gr range for velocity, trajectory and bullet performance. I know lighter and heavier bullets work fine as well - but this range has proven itself for the hunting we do; just our preference. We tend to use 165 Nosler BT , SST or Sierra SBT for lighter game and bondeds (AB or IB) or Barnes TTSX for the big boys. Powders used along the way were H414, RL19, H4831SC, RL22 and they all worked well, but have now settled on Superformance which gives more velocity with less or same pressure vs above. I am currently working up loads for 165 and 178s with RL26 and have found a velocity increase of 100 fps over the Superformance for same (or less) pressure. Preliminary accuracy is promising at just under MOA and expect to improve on that following seating test in next few weeks.

 

[Huntz]

Try Ramshot Magnum in your 300 WSM.I have found it to be the most accurate and highest velocity in 5 WSM cartridges being 300WSM,270 WSM.6.5 WSM.

 

[Bull_Mtn]

I have settled on RL-16 with several different bullets, 180 Accubond, 190 ABLR, 200 Federal Edge TLR, 175 Federal Terminal Ascent, and now the 181 Hammer Hunter. All of these bullets have shot groups under .75 MOA, with the 175 TA and 181HH, .5 MOA. The rifle is a Mod 70 .300 WSM, purchased in the early 90's. Other than having the barrel and action bedded, a brake installed and trigger adjustment, it is an off the shelf rifle. I used RL-17 when I still lived in Montana, and developed loads there. Since moving to Arizona, I changed to RL-16 for better temperature stability. I just wish I could find some, I'm down to 1/2 lb and want to do more shooting to verify ballistics at longer range on the 181HH. This is the bullet I plan to use for my Montana elk hunt, this October.

 

[Laguna Freak]

I have settled on RL-16 with several different bullets, 180 Accubond, 190 ABLR, 200 Federal Edge TLR, 175 Federal Terminal Ascent, and now the 181 Hammer Hunter. All of these bullets have shot groups under .75 MOA, with the 175 TA and 181HH, .5 MOA. The rifle is a Mod 70 .300 WSM, purchased in the early 90's. Other than having the barrel and action bedded, a brake installed and trigger adjustment, it is an off the shelf rifle. I used RL-17 when I still lived in Montana, and developed loads there. Since moving to Arizona, I changed to RL-16 for better temperature stability. I just wish I could find some, I'm down to 1/2 lb and want to do more shooting to verify ballistics at longer range on the 181HH. This is the bullet I plan to use for my Montana elk hunt, this October.

Not to nit-pick your post. I'm guessing when you bought that rifle in the 1990's it was chambered differently because the 300 WSM was not introduced commercially until 2001. In fact only a few people knew the cartridge was in development before 2001.

 

[sw282]

My new Nosler#9 say the best powder in a 300WSM for 150-155gr bullets is IMR 4064. For 165-168gr bullets Nosler says H380 gives the best accuracy.

 

[Seabeeken]

powder valley loaded up with powders. selling fast. Hod, accurate, win, norma, imr

 

[Bull_Mtn]

Not to nit-pick your post. I'm guessing when you bought that rifle in the 1990's it was chambered differently because the 300 WSM was not introduced commercially until 2001. In fact only a few people knew the cartridge was in development before 2001.

You are absolutely correct. My rifle is the Model 70 Classic Laminated WSM. When I purchased it, the fire arms manager at the store told me it was the first one of this model they had received. My recollection was that I purchased it before retiring in 2002, however, my recollection ain't what it used to be. I don't know how many years they offered this model, but the .325 WSM was offered so it had to be after 2005. In any event, I love the rifle, it has filled my freezer with elk for many years.

 

[Saskquatch6]

Recommendations for powder selection for my 300WSM? Anybody have experience loading this cartridge? (Yes, I'm new at this)

RL26 and 300WSM loads - I debated starting a separate thread for this but thought updating my previous post would do the job. I have been (and still am) an advocate for using Superformance in 300WSM's (165-180 bullets) and personally have had good success in accuracy and velocity for hunting loads - but a new Savage 16 did not seem to like it at all. I recently was able to find some RL26 (planned to use for 270 Win), but found some data (Speer, Hornady, Berger) for 300WSM and thought I'd shoot a ladder with 165's in the Savage. All bullets were seated at 0.020 off lands. Got really nice velocities and what appeared to be 2 nodes, so narrowed charge increments down and shot again. The lower accuracy/velocity node was 71.1 gr/3126 FPS; the higher node was 71.8/3156 FPS (with some very slight bolt lift issues). The accuracy of both nodes was outstanding (for me) at less than .75 MOA - given rifle is scoped temporarily with Bushnell Banner D/D 3-9 and some rusty shooting skills. I'll be going with the lower node and refining with a seating depth test - if anyone's interested, I can post these results as well. Bottom line is that I've found RL26 to be a great powder in the 300WSM for the mid-weight (165-180) bullets I shoot - and as @Jud96 and @300 Driver have stated above, it also performs well with some of the heavier bullets they have used. IMO - RL26 is definitely worth a try if you're looking for a fast, accurate, consistent and reasonably temp stable load for 300WSM in quite a wide range of bullet weights.