Handloading for .300 WSM

[tomt]

I'll be going to Colorado for the second gun week to hunt elk. The Nosler 180 Partition bullet is what I have picked out to develope a load. I have a IMR 4350, H-4350, RL-17, RL-19 and several other powders. I'm developing the load in Central Florida where it's hot and going to be hunting when its' cold. I longest I plan to shoot is 300 yards because that is our longest range, might go 350 yards if the shot is right. My gun is a Browning X-bolt with a 23" stainless barrel. My goal is to have a 2MOA load (6" @ 300 yards), would like smaller but will take 2 MOA.

How much of a concern in powder selection is temperature?

 

[mtelkhntr78]

It certainly can be a concern. Going from hot to cold should leave you on the the safe side of things but its hard to say how consistent it will be. I would reccomend using H4350. I found it to be the most stable in my 300 WSM and produced good accuarcy. RL-17 has been real erratic for me. H4350 may not be the most high performance but it will consistent.

 

[backwoods83]

Imr4350 will be just as stable and consistant, but net higher velocity, I do reccomend using standard primers, Fed210Ms or CCI BR2s.

 

[brentc]

At 300 yards temp stability is not nearly as much of a factor as it is for longer range. As long as the temperature variance doesn't induce a huge POI change, then you can run about whatever you want.