Magnum obsession seems real

About 11 years ago, anticipating a hunt for grizzly, and another for cape buff, I bought my first 375 H&H, as that seemed an appropriate cartridge, without being too ridiculous for black bear or elk. This one is a Ruger Number One.
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Later, a second nice, used 375 Winchester Model 70 seemed to just throw itself at me, and I took it home too. Both have proven to be great rifles.
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I shot a few black bear with the Number One. Unnecessarily powerful, but it worked fine.

Ended up taking the grizzly with my 30-06, and am pretty sure I'll never get around to the cape buff hunt... So, have two nice 375's that are more unnecessary now than they were when I got them. :)

I still like 'em though. Fun to handload, actually pretty pleasant to shoot. Don't need them, but I do like them.

Guy
I don't need my 35's either, but they're about as much fun to shoot as anything I own. Your Ruger and your Winchester make me envious, though. I have a No.1 in 25-06, and would love to have one in 30-06 with a 24 or 26 inch barrel. I'd really like to have open sights on it, too.
 
This is a really great thread!!! I think it shows that NEED has very little to do with why we buy good looking rifles in various calibers, and we all manage to take game and love most of our guns. The "Only 06 " guys seem to see very little need for big magnums, ( "all you Need is an 06 and well placed shot" ) that's often true, but that does not mean you MUST ONLY shoot elk ,or Bear ,with an 06. If you feel like also owning a big 30 Mag; or 338 Mag ; or the classic 375 H and H , who is to say you cannot or should not? Who would dare to say , they don't work on Big Game ?? The pride and the pleasure of owning a fine , ( elegant ) really accurate rifle , is a great thing. Taking Game with that rifle adds to that pleasure. No matter Magnum / Ackley Improved/ or Standard caliber. Its all about having fun enjoying our hobby. So many great calibers to choose from . The old time tested classics, and new 6.5 Creedmore /PRC/284!!! Enjoy all your rifles , shoot as much as you can, find that magic handload , and don't forget its supposed to be fun!!!!! Enjoy your Trophies gentlemen !!
Sometimes people forget that before there were magnums there were long range rifles. And they really were long range. Among them were Sharps, Remington and Brownings which shot large caliber, heavy bullets at very moderate velocities, which were still very effective at pretty incredible distances, killing moose, elk, buffalo and every African game animal you can name. Billy Dixon killed Quana Parker's sub-chief at the 2nd battle of Adobe Walls in the Texas Panhandle(on the Canadian River) at a surveyed(by the Army Corps of Engineers) 1538yards with a Sharps Big 50(50-90). I think that's long range in most people's books. I'd really like to have a 50-90 Sharps, just to play with.
 
I got a 300 WM in lieu of a 6.5 CM for a ballistic advantage over my 308 Wins. I could still face my friends with a 300 WM, but to go 6.5 CM I just can't get into skinny jeans and man buns.
 
300 Winchester Magnum isn't too bad to shoot. I even like the 338 Winchester Magnum. I think as I approach a 200 grain bullet in the .308 mode, it makes sense to move to the .338. if I find a good deal on a larger caliber rifle I will buy it and try it. It matters not if it is belted or has Magnum in the name. Bumper sticker: The proper tool for the proper time.
 
I got a 300 WM in lieu of a 6.5 CM for a ballistic advantage over my 308 Wins. I could still face my friends with a 300 WM, but to go 6.5 CM I just can't get into skinny jeans and man buns.
You could have faced them with a 30-06, too. But you could really one-up them with a .338-06 or a 338 Win Mag. Both calibers are sledge hammers for effectiveness, with the 338-06 being a little better on recoil. The 33 Nosler is also a good long range round, and all three can be made to push a 250 grain bullet to 2550fps, with the Win Mag and the Nosler exceeding 2650fps with some loads. Trajectory is not as flat as the 300 win mag, but it doesn't have to be, because the bullet arrives with more diameter, weight and inertia. That means it makes a larger entrance wound, penetrates better, and makes a larger exit wound. But this is all true of the 300 win mag over the 6.5 anything, too.
 
You could have faced them with a 30-06, too. But you could really one-up them with a .338-06 or a 338 Win Mag. Both calibers are sledge hammers for effectiveness, with the 338-06 being a little better on recoil. The 33 Nosler is also a good long range round, and all three can be made to push a 250 grain bullet to 2550fps, with the Win Mag and the Nosler exceeding 2650fps with some loads. Trajectory is not as flat as the 300 win mag, but it doesn't have to be, because the bullet arrives with more diameter, weight and inertia. That means it makes a larger entrance wound, penetrates better, and makes a larger exit wound. But this is all true of the 300 win mag over the 6.5 anything, too.

I don't disagree with you on any particular point, Sir! I also shoot a 9.3x62 Mauser using 250gr Accubonds at 2550fps.
 
Depends on the bullet design of course. The issue arises when shot at smaller, thin skinned game at short distance. With a conventional soft point bullet, you can pretty much pick a particular weight for the game in question, and be fine. Typically, from a .30 cal, a 180 for elk or large deer. Years ago, I settled on 165 gr. for my 30-06. I've taken many deer and elk with it. When I went to the "Magnum", I stuck with the 165 gr., only i shoot exclusively Barnes TTSX. They have also worked on everything I've shot. The last deer I took was a Coues whitetail at 95 yes. with the 300 RUM. The shot was center, right behind the shoulder, with a 1" diameter exit. The last elk was 600 yds., with the same results. The only difference is, I wouldn't have taken the shot at 600 yds. with the '06!

I guess that I'm a little puzzled with Bang4the Buck's post. I understood him to indicate that a high velocity bullet at close range "penciled through"! Unless the shooter was using FMJ bullets, the shooter "should" have had pretty dramatic expansion with any expanding bullet..... with a potential "blow-up", with a bullet designed for long rang work! For the past 25+ years all of our game has been taken with Barnes mono bullets, and they have given expansion from muzzle to well in excess of 400 yards. The smallest caliber bullet was .338 @ 225 grains, the largest, a .375 @ 250 and 270 grains. Excluding varmints, the smallest big game taken was antelope....and we got expansion. In short, with bullets/calibers designed for larger game....we get expansion on small game ....no "pencil through"! The shooter "should" have gotten expansion! 🤔 memtb
 
I like both standard and Magnum cartridges & I find most replies are accurate and reasonable (on both sides of the issue)

I'm an incurable rifle junkie myself. I like developing loads for different calibers and rifles and I have specific rigs for specific situations.

Performance is the issue at hand. If you use an appropriate cartridge to suit your hunting style, environment and intended game it doesn't matter what it's called....
 
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I once went antelope hunting with my friend and his neighbor, who just bought a new 300 Weatherby Mag for the hunt. My friend and I both thought he was way over his head with that blunder bust, but he assured us that he could shoot it just fine. So when we went to check the zero on our rifles we shot first and then handed him his gun. But my friend took the neighbor's gun and pretended to chamber a round, but secretly held the cartridge in his hand. When the neighbor pulled the trigger he almost jerked himself off the bench, even though the rifle didn't fire. He was mad as H#%!@, but we got a pretty good laugh from our little antics! :D In the end the neighbor did whittled down a poor prairie goat, but it took him 8 poorly placed rounds.
The take away from that adventure was, most average guys are too recoil sensitive to handle big magnums.
I know that muzzle breaks, etc. make a big difference now days, but I still reside much more in the camp of being comfortable with your weapon and accurate with reasonable shot placement.
 
IMHO the 300WM is the most versatile round on the planet. I load it with everything from 110gr VMAX for prairie dogs to 200gr AB for elk. If the barrel wasn't in its latter stages I'd probably work up heavier bullets.

This is a Long Range Hunting site. I've been a member here 17 years now, learned a lot in those early years which let to my first centerfire rifle (300WM). Took an elk at 620 yards. Learned about the 338 Edge here, build one and took an elk at 730 yards with one. Performance was MUCH more dramatic than the 300WM.

I don't get what is controversial about the increased performance of magnums at Long Ranges. It's simply a fact. They hit harder, are moving at higher velocity, and have less drift (drops are easier to predict).

Now, outside of Long Range, I quickly look to other rounds. Here in Indiana if I'm hunting open fields on whitetails to 500 yards, I'm carrying my 243AI. But my primary hunting property now is typically <100 yard shots, 150 yards max. I rotate between 35 Remington, 45-70, 458 SOCOM, 44MAG carbine. Yes, I exchange displacement for diameter to drop them quickly. I have smaller rounds for my kids to hunt with but in my experience frontal area matters.
 
A few years ago I was finally able to travel out of Oklahoma for my first elk hunt with my son, and his college frat brother as our guide. The safe had plenty of choices for us for an elk hunt...a pair of 300 Wby Mags, 270 WSM, a 30-06, and a 264 Win Mag.

There is a long story behind the 264 WM, much too long to share here, but it was my choice. I had bought the rifle in 1968, at 14 years of age, with plans to use it hunting deer in OK, AR, MO and KS, but mainly to take on an elk hunt someday. Little did I know that it would be almost 50 years before that elk hunt would happen. My son took his 300 Wby Mag.

Our 'guide' was excited when we arrived as he knew where 'the herd' was, and we had a few more hours of daylight. We changed, packed up, grabbed our rifles and went out to "buck up" a big hill. (I heard that term over and over while we were there. LOL) A few miles later we slowly crept out of the trees atop said hill. (My watch showed that we had climbed 80 stories.)

In the valley below were approximately 200 elk grazing on this sunny afternoon. We ranged them at 460 to about 700 yards. As I got set up on a big rock, our 'guide' asked me what I was shooting. When I told that I had brought a 264 Win Mag he asked my son to let me use the 300 Wby Mag. I declined, as I knew that I had enough gun for this shot setup. Instead, he decided we should back off and go to one of the two passes this herd uses to get to where they will bed down at night. As you might guess, the elk herd went to the other pass that evening.

Back at the ranch house we ate dinner and our 'guide' asked to look at my rifle. I told him the story about it, and he asked to see the cartridge. When he examined it he said '****, that's as big as my 300 WM!' I told him that it's the same brass necked down to 6.5 caliber (264).

He had never seen or heard of that round. He then said that he should have let me take that shot. That in his mind I had brought something "under-powered". At the range we go to in OK they have asked us to put up paper and stop shooting the steel on the 300/400/500/600 yard berms. That they are having to replace them because of the holes we're punching in the 'animals'.

I guess my point is to say that there are choices. That some of us think we know what is an acceptable choice for a certain animal at a certain range. And some of us are bull headed and will shoot what we want to shoot. Had I taken the suggestion to use the 300 Wby Mag, my first elk hunt would have ended 4 hours after arriving in the Unit. Had he known more about the gun that I brought, my first elk hunt would have ended 4 hours after arriving in the Unit.

But it's your money. It's your hunt. Do your due diligence and take a caliber adequate for the game and likely range of shot. Take it a step further and ensure you have the right bullet(s). (I had taken both Accubonds and Partitions with me.)
 
I have an equal number of magnum and non magnum rifles, but if I'm hunting for a trophy animal it's usually a magnum I reach for. They offer a real advantage of landing a first shot in the vitals at the uncertain ranges that frequently crop up in a hunting situation. Their flatter trajectory, shorter flight time, and better wind bucking abilities stack the odds more in the favour of the shooter.
 
I think the only thing that bothers me about this discussion is this misnomer that because you shoot a magnum you don't care about accuracy or bullet placement. The fairy take "he pulled out this big magnum and missed several times in camp"! This slant of the magnum for the guy without skill to shoot a standard caliber to take game. I see it in every forum and I just laugh to myself. The guy who flinches with the mag is going to flinch with the 6.5 CM . The worst day I ever had at the range was a day a guy with a AR was shooting his 5.56 using a break . This muzzle blast fierce and even with double hearing protection effected my shooting. The 5.56 is no magnum and I was even shooting it.
I shoot both non mags and mags , I shoot both with equal vigor !I don't shoot the big 300's or the 338's for the Maryland and PA whitetails because the 6mm's 6.5's the 270 win and the 3006 have been more than enough. Though have only limited western experience the several Pronghorns and Mule deer I have taken were with my 270 win. Also more than enough rifle and bullet to do one shot DRT ! However in this time of limited tags and once in a lifetime chances of a dream hunt I'm going to bring the right rifle ! See I have time to develop the rifle /cal combo, I have time to practice , I have time to become proficient . What I don't have is a lot of chances to draw these tags so I'm going to pick the best rifle to cover my needs.
In a perfect world shot placement is no problem, standing broadside, a pause for the cause and the animal is DRT. No quartering shots in cover , no deflected bullets by a unseen limbs or brush . No steps while engaging the trigger. No wind kick up at the shot. I don't live in that world , I live in the world where sometimes there is need for a second shot , I live in the world where it may be a a less than desirable angle. I live in a world where I want enough gun. That all being said I will master my rifle and only take ethical shots , I will use magnums to increase my chance of success!
 
Over the years, many names for performance have been used to describe different cartridges like Nitro, Express, BP Express, Magnum, Ultra Mag and other names picked by the designer to differentiate his cartridge from others. In the beginning, it was used to identify that a cartridge would be more powerful that others for certain uses.

Then it became a marketing ploy to sell more/their fire arms. When all of the usual "Magnum" names were used up, they now seem to choose catchy names that indicate something special
when in reality, it is just another cartridge that falls somewhere between the smallest and the biggest.

Now days the only thing a name does is to confuse or mislead many, and differentiate one from the other for the more knowledgeable shooter/re loader.

The days of caliber and powder charge name are long sense gone that could help someone chose what they actually needed. and standardizing to keep things simple are also long gone because any little changes to cartridge design can make them unique.

Only the owner needs to know what he needs and wants, the only problem is getting the best cartridge for his/her needs after sorting through all the Hype and names. After all all cartridges are basically the same and kin to each other.

Cartridges are much like people, We are all basically the same just with different names, and performance:)

J E CUSTOM
 
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