30 Nosler vs 300WM vs 300PRC

[snox801]

That's better than .300 RUM and .30-378 WBTY performance with 230s out of 26"; ~2800 FPS and ~2900 FPS respectively (source: Berger manual 1st ed). What's the .30 SM's case capacity.

I'm getting 3180fps out of mine with 214 hammers and rl26. That not showing any pressure yet. That was the top of my ladder and shot great so I'm rocking it this year then more load work in the spring.

 

[FEENIX]

I'm getting 3180fps out of mine with 214 hammers and rl26. That not showing any pressure yet. That was the top of my ladder and shot great so I'm rocking it this year then more load work in the spring.

30 SM?

 

[snox801]

Sounds like you need a 30 SM . Does that on a standard long action and has great brass.

 

[Gamesniper19]

A standard mag is neither here nor there when you CAN build a RUM to seat bullets in a 4" mag, if your Nosler can match that, then I need some of your magic.
I will stand by my statement that the PRC is no better than a 300WM in a 3.7" mag box.

Cheers.

Cant do that using box ammo - box ammo in a 4" mag = terrible accuracy so Nosler wins in standard applications.

 

[elkaholic]

26. I bet I could hit 3000. I still have a little room left in the case. But it's shooting single digit ES ans SD and single hole groups, so I am happy….for now.

Yes, 2900' is probably a pretty good place to run it with a 26" barrel and a 250. I can run 3050 no problem, with my 28", but I have a great node right at 3000' with the 245, and brass life is good there.

 

[MallardAddict]

Sounds like you need a 30 SM . Does that on a standard long action and has great brass.

The 30 SM gets compared to the 30 Nosler often but the SM does not get those velocities at normal pressures of the Nosler round so it's apples to oranges. Physics is still physics and the 30 SM can't defy those rules though people are free to believe and do as they wish.

As has been discussed ad nauseaum the better brass currently being used in the SM hides pressure better then factory Hornady brass. Same thing can be done in the Nosler but doesn't make it safe to do so. Most of the upper end SM kids are likely running at 70k per QL

 

[elkaholic]

I'm getting 3180fps out of mine with 214 hammers and rl26. That not showing any pressure yet. That was the top of my ladder and shot great so I'm rocking it this year then more load work in the spring.

not at all surprising. Ive reached 3300 with RL 26 and 215 Bergers before pressure was showing, and nearly that much wth N570. (28"barrel)

 

[MagnumManiac]

Cant do that using box ammo - box ammo in a 4" mag = terrible accuracy so Nosler wins in standard applications.

Who shoots precision with box ammo??
I certainly do not. Never have and never will.

Cheers.

 

[greenejc]

Hornady and the US Army co-developed the 300 PRC. The Army then ordered $1.5 million of Barrett MRADs chambered in 300 PRC. It is "beltless" and therefore measures its headspace from the shoulder and not a belt (like the 300 Win mag.) which can vary in thickness. Plus the 300 PRC has a longer neck to accommodate the longer heavy-for-caliber bullets without any possibly dangerous powder compression.

I'd choose the 300 PRC for those reasons - even though I used to shoot 300 Win mag, in both target and hunting rifles.

I don't really disagree with you on any point, but I already have around 1,000 300 Win Mag casings, two highly accurate Remington 700's and at least three loads for powders that I have 10 or 15 lbs of each. And I can find good once-fired brass at the public ranges where I sometimes shoot. I have found that most of the deer/elk hunters around me here in Texas and in Colorado where I am normally don't reload and a lot of them do shoot 300 win mags. I can and do get their brass at opportunity for free. I think that brass availability becomes mute if you can get once-fired brass at the range. I don't go above 200 grains in the 300 or any of my -06's only because I don't like the extra recoil. I've never had a problem with the performance of either the 200 grain Sierra or the 200 grain Speer, and I haven't had the privilege of hunting big bear, although I'd use my Whelen for that anyway. A 200 grain bullet will pretty much do any job I want out to around 1,000 yards. I'm biased. I just don't want to buy another set of reloading dies, brass, heavier bullets that I can't use in anything other than the 300 or the 300 PRC, a rifle in another caliber and basically get the same performance. I'd really like a Remington Long range, though, or preferably three, in 25-06, 30-06 and 300 Win Mag. I'm already set up for them. I did have a 35 Whelen made with an ER Shaw 26" 1 in 14 twist barrel and put in a Magpul stock, though. It'll reach out past 1,000 yards, too.

 

[elkaholic]

The 30 SM gets compared to the 30 Nosler often but the SM does not get those velocities at normal pressures of the Nosler round so it's apples to oranges. Physics is still physics and the 30 SM can't defy those rules though people are free to believe and do as they wish.

As has been discussed ad nauseaum the better brass currently being used in the SM hides pressure better then factory Hornady brass. Same thing can be done in the Nosler but doesn't make it safe to do so. Most of the upper end SM kids are likely running at 70k per QL

Nosler has ADG brass too now, but it wont run that fast without blowing primers!
Also, my brass comes from the same ADG runs as the PRC brass does, and in fact, "is" 300 PRC brass with my head stamp and it wont come close to keeping up with the SM........hmmmm?

 

[greenejc]

In answer to your powder question, the really accurate and consistent powders in my 300 Win Mag are: Imr and Hodgden 4350, IMR and Hodgden 4831, Alliant RL 26&22, H1000, Retumbo, And if I remember right, Alliant 4000. I mostly use IMR 4350 and 4831. They give me the best combination of accuracy and velocity with 180 to 200 grain bullets in both my 300 win mags and my 30-06's.

 

[MallardAddict]

Nosler has ADG brass too now, but it wont run that fast without blowing primers!
Also, my brass comes from the same ADG runs as the PRC brass does, and in fact, "is" 300 PRC brass with my head stamp and it wont come close to keeping up with the SM........hmmmm?

Just because it doesn't blow primers in ADG doesn't make it safe. Most wildcatters use the weakest possible brass to develop load parameters to ensure safety with stronger brass.

You just cannot add 2-4% to a cartridge capacity and get the improvements you claim without adding pressure, that's simple physics. The fact no one been hurt again doesn't make it safe either.

Your designs have some merits but the extra speed isn't one of them in my book as your loads were all too hot in the 3 Sherman's I owned and none would do what was claimed with sane loads.

It's odd to myself and many others that you've continually claimed your loads are safe when questioned yet you've never submitted your designs for pressure testing, why is that?

 

[greenejc]

Nosler has ADG brass too now, but it wont run that fast without blowing primers!
Also, my brass comes from the same ADG runs as the PRC brass does, and in fact, "is" 300 PRC brass with my head stamp and it wont come close to keeping up with the SM........hmmmm?

Yep. The army runs their 300 PRC and their 300 Win Mag at over-pressure levels, too. They don't plan on re-using the brass, so if it won't blow the rifle up, and doesn't spit primers out of the pocket, they don't care. I've reloaded some of their 300 Win Mag brass, and it had to be sized twice to three times before it would chamber in my commercial rifle chambers. Some wouldn't resize enough, and I had to toss it.

 

[greenejc]

Another thing to think about is barrel life. I am still shooting a .300 Win Mag I won in a raffle at an NRA banquet back in 1998, and its a Remington 700 ADL with a synthetic stock. It has a 24" barrel, and a blind magazine. I have a Shepherd 6 to 18 power V1 scope mounted on it, and it shoots into 1.3 to 1.4 inches at 300 yards. I've adjusted the trigger pull on the stock remington trigger to about 3.5lbs as measured by my friend and gunsmith, William Trotter. I've put around 2,500 rounds through it. I tested it at Fort Benning this Fall before going elk hunting in Colorado by shooting golf balls at 100 yards and bowling pins at 300 yards after zeroing it at 100 yards (5 shot groups, all less than 0.8, three inside 0.6"). My other 300 is another ADL with a 26" Stainless barrel, and it puts 5 rounds inside 0.9" with groups as small as 0.7". It has a 3.5 to 10 power scope, so I'm not as precise with it, I think. Mr. Trotter adjusted its trigger (xmark pro) to 3.5 lbs, too. Someday I'd like to put Timney triggers into both of them and both of my Whelens, but if I spend the money my wife will probably kill me with my own rifles-probably by beating me with them. Until then they will serve me as they are. The main thing is they work, and I have everything I need (not want) to make them work well. You should have seen the rangemaster's eyes when I put the golf balls out at the 100 yard mark and hit them with both the 300 Win Mag and the 35 Whelen. That was fun. Icing on the cake: they were my son-in-law's golf balls, so it didn't cost me anything.