Newby with 300 WSM

[Jon2]

Cheers Britz

Yes thats interesting. My theory is using N560 to get the velocity but I have little experience with this powder. Plenty of experience with the 1 series but not the double base stuff.

Anyway not sure when i will get chance to do down the range next I am too busy stalking at the moment.

Thanks again

JB

 

[HOGGHEAD]

300 Wsm

I shoot a heavy barreled 300 WSM for my long range deer rifle. I consider long range to be 600-700 yards. I am very effective with mine out to 600 yards. Hopefully by this coming season I will be proficient at 700 yards. Each 100 yards is really a milestone, if you want to be consistent. I think you are being a bit hopeful with a light rifle out to 1,000 yards, but that is just my opinion. I am sure there are people who can do it, but not I.

I started loading 155 grain Sierra Palma's in my 300 WSM. I am loading it with H-414, with great results. I am getting a little extra velocity with the H-414.

I am not a believer in the expensive bullets you talked about. I pretty much see them as marketing hype. But then again that is my opinion, not necessarily a fact.

My longest kill so far was on a nice 8-point in WV at 375 yards. The buck never knew what hit him. I have killed several deer with this setup(been using it for two years), and I have found the Palma's very effective on deer. Tom.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Thanks for the input Tom. You may be right as far as getting a 1000 yds out of a light rifle being optimistic. And yep, I plan to work up a 100 yds at a time. My farthest shot to date is about 425 yds on an antelope that I estimated at 450 yds. There was about a 10-15 mph wind blowing and I held on it's nose. I hit it in the neck, just above and in front of the shoulder and was hoping for just behind the shoulder. That was with an off the rack Ruger M77 7mm Rem Mag that wa shooting about .75 MOA. I did some long range plinking with that rifle out to about 800 yds. I feel fairly confident about getting the Finnlight to 700-800 yds and maybe farther. Time and trial will tell.

Thanks for the load info, H414 is a good powder but based on an experienced local shooter I am going to stick with temp stable powders. I think consistancy is more important than velocity with long range shooting. Hunting temps here in Montana can range anywhere from 80 to -30. And if I were to work up a load at 40 degrees and do some shooting at 70 or 80 degrees I could see some over prssures. The Palma looks like an interesting bullet. What speeds are you getting with it and how is it's terminal performance? When I run the ballsitics for the 180 E-Tip at .523 BC and 3000 fps against the 155 Palma at .450 BC and 3200 fps, the E-Tip does a little better down range.

Thanks again for the input.

Mark

 

[HOGGHEAD]

Bullets

I went to the Palma for several reasons. I has a great BC, it flies great, and shoot's accurately. Probably the main reason is cost. I can buy 400 or 500 Palma's and shoot my rifle a lot. I am not knocking the premium bullets for their perfomance. I just can not afford to shoot them. I feel as if I have to shoot a lot to be proficient at longer ranges, and the premium bullets are just too Dang expensive(for me).

Hunters talk about bullet performance, but then they sing accolades about a 243 with a 100 grain bullet. I can not imagine a 100 grain pill(premium bullet) being better than a 155 grain Palma?? Just my opinion.

I started shooting H-414 a couple of years ago. Are you trying to say that H-414 is more sensitive to temp. than other powders?? I really have not noticed a big swing, but I can not argue with the experts.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Yep, the premium bullets are a little spendy, but I figure once I have a load worked up and have developed the ability to shoot down range, I probably won't shoot more than a 100 rounds a year with those loads and get my trigger time in with other less expensive loads. I think Rock Chuck hunting will go a long way in helping my long range proficiency.

I'm not an expert on powder but just recently learned that there is a difference between temp sensitive and temp stable powders. I've heard some powders can change bullet velocity up to 2 fps per degree of temperature and that's fairly significant. Not all powders are as temp sensitive as others. If you go to the Hodgdon site, you'll see they have a group of powders they call *Extreme Powders*. These are the temp stable powders.

 

[su37]

MR,

I've been experimenting quite a bit with 8 different powders trying to wring out every last bit of speed for accuracy I can get in my light 300 WSM. I've tried H4350 H4831 7828 R22 3100 and others.

So far,

N165 with the 180 for a mv of 3,000 fps for best accuracy. with 200 AB's I'm getting
2880.

Best load so far is Ramshot Hunter with a Load Guide recommended max dose of 73 grains pushing a 168 Berger for 3,200 fps. This is lights out accurate.

I would use this on deer out to a 1000 with no qualms and elk out to 700 yards using an impact speed of 2,000 fps as a limit for elk.

This is going to be my go to load this fall for big game.

 

[britz]

Not to knock the palma rounds, but it is a 300wsm. Your barrel has a finite amount of life anyway, so I wouldn't go P-Dog hunting with it anyway. The price of the bullet is a drop in a bucket when you consider the cost of rebarreling. 180 -190 is a much more efficient use of the cartidge in a 300 WSM. IMO, any smaller will short you on BC and any bigger will cost you in case capacity (in a short action). I will admit that I didn't run the trajectory, but I will guess that the Palma will perform very well out to about 4-500 yards, but when you get out a little farther the higher BC of heavier bullets will really shine.

 

[Jon2]

SU 37

How many grains of N165 are you using to get 3000 feet with 180 grn Accu's?

Thanks

JB

 

[Strokerace_dave]

I too shoot the H4350 out of my Model 70 300 WSM, I have worked up a load of 66grains behind a 150gr SMK, i like the little Sierra it is so accurate in my gun, has anyone used this light of a bullet to take deer? I was sondering how much of a mess they might make at close range.

I also have some 168gr TSX but haven't loaded any yet, I checked the Barnes websit and they didn't recomend the H4350 for the powder? I thought the 4350 is a perfect WSM powder. Anyone have any good starting loads for me with the 168 TSX?

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Dave, I've read several sources listing about 64.5 - 65.5 gr of H4350 as max load for the 165/168 TSX. IMO 61 or 62 gr should be a good starting load.

 

[overbore]

300wsm

I am familiar with the round and with the Palma uses thereto and will add a bit to you data base:

1.Lee makes a great crimping die to put a hard grip on the seated bullet which will give you about+100fps over normal seating die uses with no powder changes.

2.Berger has a better bullet out which is the 155.5 gr match bullet.

3.You did not specify the twist so I suggest you establish/ verify the twist then match the projectile to the twist. If you have a Quick Load program you will find great pressure data.

4. You will get a very low SD if you use CCI BR-2 or 200 primers.

Best wishes, Overbore
ps I happen to favor 1-11 twist for S 190's.