Caliber decision

TZS Gunfire

Active Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
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30
Location
Eugene, Oregon
Hello folks,

I am trying to decide on which caliber to choose. 308 or 300 WinMag? My current rifle is a Remington BDL SS 30.06 with a older than dirt Leupold scope. I bought a heavy fluted barrel in 30 cal from a friend (who i trust with my life, since we work together) and a B&C M40 stock. Machine work is about $250 with a trigger job. Now its just deciding on what caliber. I like the longevity of a 308 and I know its a sister to the 30.06 but I like the 300 winmag but I am a little hesitent on the recoil. I am trying to build a rifle to start out in Long Range shooting (competition) but still use it for hunting without caring around a tank. Any advise would be great.
 
Hello folks,

I am trying to decide on which caliber to choose. 308 or 300 WinMag? My current rifle is a Remington BDL SS 30.06 with a older than dirt Leupold scope. I bought a heavy fluted barrel in 30 cal from a friend (who i trust with my life, since we work together) and a B&C M40 stock. Machine work is about $250 with a trigger job. Now its just deciding on what caliber. I like the longevity of a 308 and I know its a sister to the 30.06 but I like the 300 winmag but I am a little hesitent on the recoil. I am trying to build a rifle to start out in Long Range shooting (competition) but still use it for hunting without caring around a tank. Any advise would be great.
What is the profile of the barrel you bought? I would forgo a new barrel and spend the cash on a better scope, rings and a base. Just my opnion but 30-06 is not a slouch.

All that said go 300 win mag with a brake
 
Its a PAC-NOR at 26" which has to be rethreaded so I believe it will drop it down to a 22" I believe and its a heavy barrel contour with fluting. Its used one with only about 110 rounds through it. I have a Tubbs heavy duty recoil lug and I am ordering TPS one piece base along with their short rings. Yes I know I need a new scope. For now I am going to borrow my buddies Leupold Mark 4. I can get those at a good price when the time comes.
 
I am no expert by any strech. That said I would go with the 300 wm. With the little bit more MV and you can run the heavier bullets that have a higher BC. This is only my opinion. I am not taking anything away from the .308.
 
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No, I appreciate all the advice. I love the 300, I just know its cheaper shooting a 308 for practice with reloads than a 300 but I want the ability to reach out and touch something without having to aim like a howitzer.
 
You have a 06 right? Moving to a 308 is a step down in my opinion. Moving to a 300 WM is a couple steps up and the way I would go but it would be a minor mistake to use a 22 inch barrel on the 300. You need to talk with a smith and see how much barrel you can save. What is the barrels twist rate? You may want a different barrel.
 
If I stay with 300 cal then I dont think I need to cut the barrel but if I go with the 308 I need to cut and rethread. I just hear that a lot of people complain about the recoil from 300.
 
If your hunting is 600 yards or less, the 308 will be fine. I personally would prefer a barrel at least 24" on the magnum, 26" optimum. You will trade off the velocity advantage over your 30-06 with the short tube. iMHO
 
With the 22" I'd go with a 308 and great scope. After you become good at distances over 500 yards, then make a decision to go up with a rebarrel, you might jump right to a 338 edge or decide a 7 stw or a 7-300WSM for getting out into the 1200 range.

The 308 barrel may turn out to be a switch barrel if you don't shoot it out. Then you have 2 guns in 1.
 
Here's a thought. This will prevent you from having to cut your barrel back to far and give you a good cartridge for both target and hunting. The 300WSM, RCM, and SAUM all will work well in this application. I believe the SAUM and RCM are the better rounds for a shorter barrel. However all three will do what you want and more. The RCM and SAUM will use less powder than both the Win Mag, and WSM, but maintain the ballistic advantage of a magnum caliber. The reason I say you wont have to set the barrel back as far is due to all of these cartridges I have suggested, are the diameter of the rim on the Win Mag case. Take a look at the numbers. You could run a 168-185 for target. This will minimize the recoil. With the smaller case you could also do a reduced load for recoil management. Then when you are ready to go hunting, then stuff 185 Bergers or bigger (up to 215grn bullet) with a full power charge to slam your query of choice. Just going to put that out there.

Tank
 
Great advice on the WSM, you are giving up to much over the 30-06 with the 308. Recoil on a 300 Winmag, I don't think so. With any reasonable weight rifle recoil will not be an issue. Breaks are nice to see the target but suck on noise and sometimes blast. You'll be fine.
 
#1: You mentioned competition. Most competitions don't allow brakes.

#2: Felt recoil means different things to different shooters. To me, when I think of recoil in a hunting situation it is a non-factor. Sighting in, development and LR practice can be a real b!tch with a lot of recoil but in hunting you don't feel it. Is the 300WM that bad? Maybe. For me, itis too much for matches and the rest of the shooting I do. I shoot anywhere from 500-2000+ rounds a year. Believe me, recoil becomes a major concern. Most guys who say the 300WM does not kick that hard probably don't shoot matches or 1000 rounds a year.

It sounds like for what you are trying to do, the 308 or 30-06 would suit you better than the 300WM.

When I am faced with a similar situation, I will always go the route of the 308. The 308 is never a poor choice unless you're hunting brown bears or african game.
 
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