mdslammer
Well-Known Member
Looking to pick up a .300 WM strictly for hunting.
Any suggestions?
Thnx
MDslammer
Any suggestions?
Thnx
MDslammer
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.300 Win Mag Advice
- Thread starter mdslammer
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lloydsmale
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
- Messages
- 991
What are you hunting? If its deer ive shot MANY wiht the 165 ballistic tip out of my 300 win. Shot quite a few with 180 cup and core bullets too and they left nothing to be desired. I use 165s mostly in my win mag because thats what it shoots the best. Just dont by into the croud that says you need a premium bullet. For deer sized game the cup and core bullets are the premium bullet.
mdslammer
Well-Known Member
Big game in general. Thanks for the bullet info.
I'm inquiring about:
Barrel length
Blued or Stainless Steel Barrel
Is a break necessary
Wooden or Synthetic stock
Weight considerations
External Magazine pros/cons
3 +1 or 4 + 1 capacity
Barrel Twist Rate
I'm inquiring about:
Barrel length
Blued or Stainless Steel Barrel
Is a break necessary
Wooden or Synthetic stock
Weight considerations
External Magazine pros/cons
3 +1 or 4 + 1 capacity
Barrel Twist Rate
I've got 2 300wm rifles. One is a sendero with a 6-20 leupold on it.It shoots spooky good but is heavy as hell.
The other is a tikka t3.It is really light and wears a Nikon 5-20 with the BDC reticle.It shoots awesome with almost any ammo.I really like having the detachable magazine.
It really just depends on your style of hunting. If you are truck based ,it's pretty hard to beat the sendero. But if you plan on moving around the lighter rifle sure is nice.
Also if you load your own ammo you can make almost any modern rifle sing a sweet song.The deer really hate when that happens.
The other is a tikka t3.It is really light and wears a Nikon 5-20 with the BDC reticle.It shoots awesome with almost any ammo.I really like having the detachable magazine.
It really just depends on your style of hunting. If you are truck based ,it's pretty hard to beat the sendero. But if you plan on moving around the lighter rifle sure is nice.
Also if you load your own ammo you can make almost any modern rifle sing a sweet song.The deer really hate when that happens.
mdslammer
Well-Known Member
Thanks digger11. Good advice. I was checking out the Sendero actually. But as you
mentioned, it weighs 15 lbs. I believe. Tempting, but then again, carrying around that much weight needs to be taken into consideration.
BearDog
Well-Known Member
Not sure where you got 15lbs, but that is a heavy estimate for a Sendero. I shoot the 300 Win Mag and have a Vortex Viper PST 6x24 on it, and it comes in at about 11lbs, maybe a little under. I swapped out the stock which shaved a half pound, maybe a little more. The gun is heavy yes, but I lug that thing with me on all my alpine hunts. It is worth it to me, especially if you are in areas that you are going to be presented with longer shots. If you go with the a Tikka, no doubt they are great guns, but with the 300wm round, be prepared to get your *** beat by that recoil. If it were me, and really wanted a light weight rifle, and liked Tikka's, im going with a 270.
As far as production rifles go, I love the Sendero. Like I mentioned above I swapped the HS stock for the McMillan Game Scout. Shave a little weight and doesnt have that massive palm swell and wide forend like the HS has. I shoot 180 gr soft tips, but that may change when/if I start hand loading.
As far as production rifles go, I love the Sendero. Like I mentioned above I swapped the HS stock for the McMillan Game Scout. Shave a little weight and doesnt have that massive palm swell and wide forend like the HS has. I shoot 180 gr soft tips, but that may change when/if I start hand loading.
mdslammer
Well-Known Member
Hey BearDog, I'm a pinhead. I got the weight wrong. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Say's it weights 8.5 lbs. YES!
Don't know where I got 15 lbs. unless I was looking at an overall shipping weight. In any event, I appreciate the correction. I will do more research on the Sendero.
Question: Does the recoil warrant considering putting on a break or not? I'm a relatively big guy / 250 lbs.
Thanks again.
MDslammer
BearDog
Well-Known Member
Haha, no sweat, I do that all the time. The recoil....Here's the thing. I don't have one on there. My first hundred rounds I was thinking, Man..I'd love a MB on this thing. I had only shot .308's and 30/06's up until then, so the .300 felt beefy. I will say that now that I'm used to it, it doesn't bother me, and especially when you have that adrenaline going and are focused on your shot, you don't notice it. My buddy asked me this same thing and I told him, no...it's not that bad, dont worry about it. He did it anyways (he has the same gun) and I will tell you, having MB on there is pretty **** nice. So nice that I REALLY want to do it. It makes it loud as hell yes, but at the end of the day, I am in favor of whatever will make you the most accurate shooter you can be. If recoil plays a part in your mental state when you are getting ready to shoot, then I say yes...put the MB on. Plus they are great because of how they help you stay on target. My buddy had a custom MB made, but it looks and functions a lot like the Vias MB. Anything that is going to give you more confidence and the ability to practice more, I am in favor of.
mdslammer
Well-Known Member
Well, initially, I will zero her in on a bench. But most likely, will be shooting prone off
a bipod, seated or standing maybe with sticks.
lloydsmale
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2012
- Messages
- 991
sorry i looked at the fact it was rifles bullets and ballistics and was thinking loading. Mines a rem 700 lss. Stainless laminate. 26 inch. Its a fairly heavy gun. Not quite as heavy as a sendero but real close. Recoils not a problem with it. But im a bit recoil resistant anyway. recoil is real simular to my 22 in a bolt 300 wsm if not a bit lighter. Only rifle i have with a brake on it is my stw. Believe me the brake does work. that stw is like shooting a 243 but is so loud it about shakes the ground. Ive shot a few deer without ear protection and learned a lesson there. Anymore and i wont use the gun hunting where i dont have time to at least put in a set of plugs. I wouldnt by another braked gun for hunting.
gillettehunter
Well-Known Member
Get a brake for the gun for at the range. Get a thread protector for $15. Take off the brake for hunting and put on the thread protector. Or leave the brake on and put in a pair of Lens electronic hearing protection earplugs each day you hunt. Bruce
MagnumManiac
Well-Known Member
My goto deer rifle is my Kimber 8400 Classic Select in 300WM, it is a very light rifle @ 7.5 lbs, even with my Leupold 3.5-10x40 scope on it. I don't even feel the recoil on this rifle shooting prone. I run 200gr Accubonds for long range hits on deer.
My other long range rifle runs the same bullets and loads albeit faster, it's based on a Sendero II and has a 28" barrel, it recoils like my 25-06 does because of it's hefty weight.
I really don't believe a 300WM requires a MB, but if you feel you need it, then who am I to tell you any different.
I have much heavier recoiling rifles, so I guess I'm used to heavier recoil.
You won't go wrong with a 300WM no matter how you look at it.
Cheers.
gun)
My other long range rifle runs the same bullets and loads albeit faster, it's based on a Sendero II and has a 28" barrel, it recoils like my 25-06 does because of it's hefty weight.
I really don't believe a 300WM requires a MB, but if you feel you need it, then who am I to tell you any different.
I have much heavier recoiling rifles, so I guess I'm used to heavier recoil.
You won't go wrong with a 300WM no matter how you look at it.
Cheers.
gun)
OK, lets cut to the chase. The recoil from a 300 WM is brutal. It doesn't matter if you are 5'7" and medium build like me, or as you mentioned a bruiser, the unmitigated recoil from a 300 is going to hurt and will bruise your shoulder. Getting ready to go hunting means sending a lot of bullets over the berm (Army Marksmanship Lingo) which in turn will bruise and hurt your shoulder while getting your rifle either zero'd or in practice. Lessons learned, several years ago I bought a Winchester Model 70 in 300 WM. While I can shoot a .270, 308 or 30-06 for extended periods with little ill effect the kick of the 300 had my shoulder begging for mercy within 3 shots. I never got to shoot that rifle very well because while you said you won't feel the recoil when shooting at that Elk (300 WM way to big for deer) your shoulder will remember and as you start to squeeze the trigger that shoulder memory will kick in and disturb the shot. I recently bought a Browning AB3 Hunter in 300WM and before I fired the first shot, remembering the beating I took from the Winchester (which weighed more that the AB3) I elected to have a muzzle brake installed. I sent the rifle down to America's Gunsmith Shop in Kenosha and Louis fitted it with a muzzle brake that not only reduced recoil tremendously but did not have any holes at the bottom so the escaping gasses did not blow up a cloud of dust and debris making it possible to shoot prone. I am a very happy camper since the AB3 doesn't have any more recoil than my Remington 1100 or Browning A5 shotguns using 3 inch loads. Oh and by the way the AB3 can shoot groups measuring 0.675 all day simply because it's a pleasure to shoot. Don't think of it like, " I'm a big guy and can take it (your body thinks otherwise) but consider making it so your 5'2" 125 pound sweetie can shoot it too.
