Are 208 or 212 grain bullets more accurate than 180 in 300 win mag?

[Les in Wyoming]

Greetings. I have worked up a load of H1000 79 grains under a 180 gr hornady btsp. It sometimes prints very well but sometimes spreads out to 1-1/4 moa. Same shooter same set-up. Could be the shooter or maybe it is not on the edge somehow. A half grain more or less than 79 grains prints 3" groups at 100 yards. But this will have 2 or all 3 touching. I bought some 208 eld bullets. I see a lot of you use them. Are they more stable or flatter shooting at longer distances than 180 gr? They have a BC of 690. Whereas the 180's have a BC of 475. I appreciate all input and advice on this. Thanks.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

Going to depend on your twist rate of your barrel. If your group is changing I would check scope mounts. See if barrel is hitting stock and action screws are torqued correctly

 

[DJ Fergus]

Greetings. I have worked up a load of H1000 79 grains under a 180 gr hornady btsp. It sometimes prints very well but sometimes spreads out to 1-1/4 moa. Same shooter same set-up. Could be the shooter or maybe it is not on the edge somehow. A half grain more or less than 79 grains prints 3" groups at 100 yards. But this will have 2 or all 3 touching. I bought some 208 eld bullets. I see a lot of you use them. Are they more stable or flatter shooting at longer distances than 180 gr? They have a BC of 690. Whereas the 180's have a BC of 475. I appreciate all input and advice on this. Thanks.

180s will usually do very well in a twist rate from 10-12 in a 300 win mag with one of the 4350 powders. H1000 is known for doing well with 200gr and even more so known for doing well with 208s up to the 230gr bullets. If you have a 10 twist a 208 eld should shoot very well. They are some of the best shooting and least finicky bullets I've shot in a 10 twist 30 cal magnum. With all that said, in a light weight 300 win mag I owned, 208s shot well, I could not routinely manage the 6.5lb rifle well enough to shoot the group it was capable of with the 208s. However, I could manage it much better shooting 180s and I could shoot them well more consistently. Not that there was much difference in the accuracy between the two. The difference was me. I can shoot the 208s much better in my 30 cal mag that's a good 4lbs heavier.

 

[Les in Wyoming]

Thanks. I am using a new Bergara rifle. 1 in 10. Action screws torqued to 55 lbs. Scope was put on recently and torqued with locktite. I started with 4350 powder but the loads seemed to get more accurate the hotter they went until pressure signs were way too much. Now I went to H1000. Is 208 grain eld bullet flatter than a 180?

 

[DJ Fergus]

Thanks. I am using a new Bergara rifle. 1 in 10. Action screws torqued to 55 lbs. Scope was put on recently and torqued with locktite. I started with 4350 powder but the loads seemed to get more accurate the hotter they went until pressure signs were way too much. Now I went to H1000. Is 208 grain eld bullet flatter than a 180?

Well, it depends on how fast you are pushing each bullet and depending on what 180 gr bullet you are using based on it's ballistic coefficient , if you are slow will the 180 vs a max load & fast with the 208, there's a possibility that the 208 will be flatter shooting for example out to 500 yards. But in general if both 180 & 208 are of a low drag high b.c. style bullet such as the eld is, and are shooting both to their max safe pressure velocities, then the 180 would shoot flatter to 500 yards but may or may not necessarily be flatter if shooting both to 1000 yards. In most situations the 208 would be more desirable to shoot to 1000 yards because it won't drift as much from wind deflection and won't slow down at as fast of a rate as the 180 would. Within 600 yards for deer, some people might would choose a 180 over the 208. For elk, probably more people would choose the 208. The 180 will drift more in the wind at any distance more so than the 208. I like the 208 the best but if it doesn't work out then there's still a lot that can be done with a 180gr bullet.

 

[Mram10us]

A 10 twist is fine for 225 eldm and 230 in a 300wm. Loaded some 212 for a friend's 300wm and it shoots very well. 208s work very well in my 1-10 30-06 comp rifle. Try your 208s with h1000 and let us know what you think

 

[DJ Fergus]

I agree with mram, the h1000 & 208 is a perfect match for each other in a 10 twist 300 wm.

 

[Les in Wyoming]

How many grains do you recommend? Using F215 primers. Setting the bullets at .020 from lands. Any input or advice is much appreciated.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I shot the 200eldx in my 300wm with great accuracy. Those were factory loads though.

215 Berger's are my favorite.