30.06 vs 300WSM

[Bigeclipse]

Hey all I know this is beating a dead horse but I just wanted some quick insight as I am buying a new rifle soon. It will be my only deer hunting rifle. I live in NY state. It will only be used to hunt deer. That being said, id say 99% of my shots will be under 250 yards but there is one field I sit in that can get upwards of 400 yards. I will not be reloading so only off the shelf loads will be what I am after.
Hear are my concerns with the 300WSM....the WSM lines of ammo seem to be dieing off, especially the 7mm WSM (almost all manufacturers of 7mm WSM rifles have discontinued them) However, the 300WSM seems to be doing well....do you all think it will be around for years to come like the 30.06? In my area, 7mm WSM ammo is rare and when you find it, it is about 40 bucks a box, two years ago it was 26 a box. I used to own a 7mm WSM by the way. Do I even need 300WSM? I am worried that the 30.06 wont be good for the rare 400-maybe 450 yard shot...been a while since I measured the field.
All opinions would be welcome....P.S. I am looking into a browning A bolt maybe X-bolt, savage 110 with accutrigger....any other rifles I should concider? My budget is between 500-800$ new

 

[winmag]

Either one will serve you well.

Typically an -06' is kinda considered a 500yd Elk rifle, so Deer well past that should be no problemb.

No the 300WSM is not going to die out. It'll be around for a long long time. The 300WSM, & the 270WSM are the 2 classics that will have longevity. Not looking as good for the 7 or the 325, but for those of us that handload it's no big deal.

Oddly enough I just had my ol -06 turnned into a semi custom long action 300WSM for Elk to 850yds, & Deer to or past 1k. Seeing as how I'm a 270, & 30 cal freak, I like your choice in cartriges

I'd look very hard at the Weatherby Vanguard S-2 in either -06, or 300 WSM.

Inexpensive, & a great reputation for accuracy. tuneable factory trigger. The Weatherby Vanguard & the Howa 1500 are twins, so aftermarket upgrades are available if you choose to do so.

I'd also recomend looking at the 270 Win. & 270 WSM if your of a mind to. Lots of great bullets, & factory offerings that'll get you to 600+ on Deer, if the accuracy is there.

 

[texas]

I have to agree with WINMAG, either of them will do the job. The 300 wsm is great, I just got a 300 wsm AR upper that I'm looking forward to reaching out and touching some game with before I decide to turn it to a 375/300 wsm.

 

[Caleb]

Hey all I know this is beating a dead horse but I just wanted some quick insight as I am buying a new rifle soon. It will be my only deer hunting rifle. I live in NY state. It will only be used to hunt deer. That being said, id say 99% of my shots will be under 250 yards but there is one field I sit in that can get upwards of 400 yards. I will not be reloading so only off the shelf loads will be what I am after.
Hear are my concerns with the 300WSM....the WSM lines of ammo seem to be dieing off, especially the 7mm WSM (almost all manufacturers of 7mm WSM rifles have discontinued them) However, the 300WSM seems to be doing well....do you all think it will be around for years to come like the 30.06? In my area, 7mm WSM ammo is rare and when you find it, it is about 40 bucks a box, two years ago it was 26 a box. I used to own a 7mm WSM by the way. Do I even need 300WSM? I am worried that the 30.06 wont be good for the rare 400-maybe 450 yard shot...been a while since I measured the field.
All opinions would be welcome....P.S. I am looking into a browning A bolt maybe X-bolt, savage 110 with accutrigger....any other rifles I should concider? My budget is between 500-800$ new

I own one of each. The 30-06 will do fine out to 400 yards. Off the shelf ammo will be cheaper, there will be more variety, and you can probably by 06 ammo anywhere ammo is sold...not so much with the WSM. The 06 is a great gun that will never be old news or out-dated and is all you will ever need in a hunting cartridge on this continent. Most of the hunters that I know use them with much success.
My 300wsm is expensive to shoot, kicks a little harder, and I've had the occasional feeding problems that have been spoken about with some of my reloads. The hard part is....the 300wsm just plain out-performs the 06' in just about every instance. It is noticeable on paper and in the field. Just depends on what floats your boat.

I love A-bolts. My 30-06 is a Remington 700 CDL and the 300wsm is a Winchester Model 70....both great guns. I'm not a Savage fan and I don't care too much for the X bolts compared to the A bolt...no personal experience other than handling them but I do have an A bolt 25-06 and the x bolts that I've handled in stores felt a bit cheesy. I have a feeling they are good guns though. People who own and shoot Savages seem to love them, I just have never brought myself to purchase one. If I buy another rifle it will be another Winchester.

 

[angus-5024]

I cant think of a single reason to go to a 300 WSM over the 06' for your situation.
The 300 WSM is horespower for elk or long range deer, and it does very well for those applications.

The ole 06' has more than enough energy/momentum for deer at 500 yards, it has less recoil (meaning comfy in a light rifle), it feeds better USUALLY, and the big one... there are a plethora of inexpensive but accurate factory loads for it. I used to shoot my .338 RUM for everything, but now I have a .280 rem and thats my 600 yard deer rifle.

If you dont hand load I wouldnt even consider the 300WSM!

Enjoy the new rifle purchase!!

 

[WildRose]

Hey all I know this is beating a dead horse but I just wanted some quick insight as I am buying a new rifle soon. It will be my only deer hunting rifle. I live in NY state. It will only be used to hunt deer. That being said, id say 99% of my shots will be under 250 yards but there is one field I sit in that can get upwards of 400 yards. I will not be reloading so only off the shelf loads will be what I am after.
Hear are my concerns with the 300WSM....the WSM lines of ammo seem to be dieing off, especially the 7mm WSM (almost all manufacturers of 7mm WSM rifles have discontinued them) However, the 300WSM seems to be doing well....do you all think it will be around for years to come like the 30.06? In my area, 7mm WSM ammo is rare and when you find it, it is about 40 bucks a box, two years ago it was 26 a box. I used to own a 7mm WSM by the way. Do I even need 300WSM? I am worried that the 30.06 wont be good for the rare 400-maybe 450 yard shot...been a while since I measured the field.
All opinions would be welcome....P.S. I am looking into a browning A bolt maybe X-bolt, savage 110 with accutrigger....any other rifles I should concider? My budget is between 500-800$ new

There's really nothing you can't do and do very well with the 06 out to at least 600yds.

The .300wsm will do it faster, flatter, and a bit further by comparison.

I can't imagine a situation where in our lifetimes one would not be able to find a steady supply of ammo for the 06.

Personally if I were buying any factory ammo I'd buy a few boxes, see what shoots well in my gun, and then buy a full case of the same lot number. That way I don't have to worry about being away on a hunt and not able to get what I need.

As for the availability of the 300wsm in the future? I think it's gained enough popularity to last but ammo for it will probably always be more expensive than for the 06.

Personally I'd go with the 300wm (ammo will always be around for it too) or 300wsm because I'm a bit of a speed freak, but the 06 will certainly meet your needs.

If you are buying factory ammo, buy online and buy in bulk and then you don't have to worry about it.

As for rifle choices as always I'd go with the 700 Remington or the Model 70 Winchester. They are the two most popular and reliable bolt actions on the market for a reason and for all of those reasons there will always be a great aftermarket parts availability for them.

 

[Bigeclipse]

ALL.....Thanks for your input. I think I will be going with 30.06. The biggest reason being I do not reload and love the fact that I will have a very wide variety of ammo to choose from. I have noticed with guns in the past, that brand, size, model of ammo has had an effect on my older rifles. Sometimes not a drastic affect, while other times ive shot some ammo with 6 inch groups (federal ammo), then changed to remington core-locs and shot 3/4 inch groups. It seems the 30.06 will be fine for the ranges I will be shooting <400 yards. I did have one more question...when it comes to magnum rounds, I have heard that barrel life decreases. How much? What would typically be the life of a 30.06 barrel vs a magnum barrel. Also, just to throw it out there, They had a browning x-bolt in 338 win mag discounted compared to the other x-bolts...maybe its not popular around here... what would the recoil between that and a 7mm WSM (my old rifle).

NOW...I need to decide on a gun. Here in NY, you need to have an FFL license in order to order a gun on line which I dont. Most shops will charge you 50 bucks to do the transfer, and most shops will only do it for a gun they dont offer...so ordering on-line wont work. Unfortunately I only have two gun shops available to me, both mark their prices up a bit. I was looking at browning A-bolts and X-bolts. The remingtons were far pricier so I wont be getting one of those. I dont think thay had any weatherby's but I will check today.

 

[Caleb]

I didnt think the basic Remingtons were more than the Browning, but vise versa. Often the cdl's can be had for 8 -9 hundred and they are nice guns that you can do a lot with as far as customization. I really like the A bolt rifles. I love mine, and there are more aftermarket products, such as stocks available. The bolt on the A bolt seems a lot heavier than the X bolt, which I like. the composite stalkers are a good, basic but rugged hunting gun. I also dont like the rubberized stocks that come on most of the X bolts. If those are your choice, I would go with the "A".

 

[WildRose]

To answer your barrel life question... The only magnums that have problems with barrel life are those we deem as being "over bore". Lots of case volume relative to a smaller diameter bullet.

The .264wm, the 300 Rum, the 7mm STW are considered by a lot of folks to be "barrel burners" because if you shoot high volume in them heating them up, continuing to shoot, you will burn out the throat in as little as 500 rounds.

The .300wm, 338wm are good examples of magnums that really don't have the same problem unless again you really push them with high volume, hot barrel shooting, and they will still last longer than the above.

As for the 06, I'm not really sure a guy could stand to shoot one enough to burn it out.

I've seen some 03 Springfields and M1 Garands with literally thousands of rounds down the tubes that still shoot bug holes at ridiculous ranges.

As for rifle choices if you could find a CDL model Remington you'd really have a nice rig you could count on forever with an endless array of aftermarket upgrades.

Like the above poster if I were going with the browning I'd go for the A bolt.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Well, after checking all the stores in my area, I ended up with a x-bolt 300wsm. Hopefully I didnt make a mistake... I couldnt find a single gun in 30.06 minus a few savages, one synthetic X-bolt which was grey(SO UGLY, I know looks arent everything but it was just BAD) and one remington that was way over my budget....1300 bucks. The guns have been flying out the door for the upcoming hunting season. Every place I went said both A-bolts and X-bolts in 30.06 were on back order for at least a month if not more. After holding multiple guns in calibers ranging from 270 to 338....the x-bolt just felt the best. The only concern I have is...

WILL THE 300WSM survive the test of time???
The gun shop I purchased it from actually had a surprising variety of 300 WSM ammo. I just dont want to be hard pressed to find ammo in 3 years and I dont hand load...yet at least.
So did I make a mistake? Should I return the gun?

 

[dragman]

300WSM all day. more effiecent and an awesomely accurate caliber IMHO. I have had just about all of them hahaha.

 

[Vinootz]

Well, after checking all the stores in my area, I ended up with a x-bolt 300wsm. Hopefully I didnt make a mistake... I couldnt find a single gun in 30.06 minus a few savages, one synthetic X-bolt which was grey(SO UGLY, I know looks arent everything but it was just BAD) and one remington that was way over my budget....1300 bucks. The guns have been flying out the door for the upcoming hunting season. Every place I went said both A-bolts and X-bolts in 30.06 were on back order for at least a month if not more. After holding multiple guns in calibers ranging from 270 to 338....the x-bolt just felt the best. The only concern I have is...

WILL THE 300WSM survive the test of time???
The gun shop I purchased it from actually had a surprising variety of 300 WSM ammo. I just dont want to be hard pressed to find ammo in 3 years and I dont hand load...yet at least.
So did I make a mistake? Should I return the gun?

You still have the 300wsm? It is a great caliber. Years ago I used to hunt the Adirondacks and Catskills. The 30-06 woulda been just fine up there but it's cool to have a WSM. I own two 325wsm rifles. I may convert them to 300wsm if brass gets harder to find and if I burn out the barrels. Hope you've enjoyed owning it.

 

[FEENIX]

WILL THE 300WSM survive the test of time???

It's been around for nearly two decades. It will more than likely survive at least the life of your barrel.

The gun shop I purchased it from actually had a surprising variety of 300 WSM ammo. I just dont want to be hard pressed to find ammo in 3 years and I dont hand load...yet at least.

Then buy enough ammo for the life of the barrel.

So did I make a mistake? Should I return the gun?

Only you can answer that.

 

[NEMTHunter]

*cough* 7 year old thread. *cough*