Remington 700 5R .308 or Remington 700 5R .300 Win Mag???

[tacsniper0888]

hey guys, got a hard dilemma to decide on. I have a gob of .338 win mag brass I'm no longer going to be able to use because I rebarreled my 700 in .338 edge. I can get a 700SS 5R in .300 win mag or .308 for the same price. wanting one to just practice my fundamentals with at a 1,000 yards and closer to save the round count on the edge and take the edge from a 1,000 and beyond. I also have a gob of once fired (by me) lake city .308 Win brass laying around with no use as I no longer have a .308, about three hundred rounds of brass to be exact. lake city brass is 1964 production. had 168 gr. bthp match bullets in them. I have a couple hundred sierra matchking bullets in 168 gr. 175 gr. and 190 gr! 24 inch 5R barrel on both. .308 has 1-11.25" twist and .300 has 1-10" preferable for the 190's. I have powder for both, as well as primers. I have a millett lrs-1 6-25/56 just laying around new in the box as well as a primary mounts brand one piece steel 20 moa base for 700 S/A with ior valdada low mount 35mm steel rings. I'm seriously stuck between a rock and a hard place!!! please help!!!!!!!!! thanks guys!

 

[Michael Eichele]

Never owned the 300 version but did own the 308 5R. It was awesome. The 11.25 twist will handle up to 210 grain bullets. Believe it or not, 11.25 is very optimal for the 190 smk. Any modern twist calculator will back this up. I regularly took the 175 and 190's to 1000 yards. Even at near sea level and sub zero temps they punched perfect holes at 1k.

For just practice, it's hard to beat the 308. Long barrel life, easy on the shoulder, cheap to reload for, easy to load for, accurate as he!!. In my mind, for the purpose you're asking, it's a clear choice. Not to say the 300 wouldn't be good, just the 308 is so versitle when one needs a 'practice' rifle. Even if it is at 1k. It's less forgiving in the wind but that's a good thing when you're just practicing. It really makes you focus on the wind better.

My old 5R 308 was wicked accurate. I've heard a lot of similar statements over the years.

 

[rick523]

+1 on the .308 for practice, I have a .3005r I just purchased a few weks ago but I have the .308 for practice to save the barrel on my 7mm and the .300. The .308 with 175smk's is quite accurate at 1000.JMO

 

[jpd676]

That's a tough decision and I'd be loosing sleep over it. You can't go wrong with either. the 300 wm will be closer to your big 338 in performance. Everyone should have a 308 for practice. It will go long, makes you master the wind and has little recoil so it is easy to perfect the fundamentals. I would go with the 308 if I had your problem, but I love my 300 wm.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Love my .308 5R. Shot 74 rounds through her this afternoon, matter of fact. Which brought me to a total of 190 rounds down the pipe. Not even broken in yet, and it's still shooting 1-holers. Still might take it to my smith to have him 100% true-up everything just so I know it's fitted up 100% tight. Just a peace of mind, thing, ya know?

Anyway, I say go .308....Every shooter needs a .308 Win.

 

[tacsniper0888]

Thanks so much guys! I was thinking the same thing and even if I don't have the time to hand load I can always run lake city M118LR's through it. That's the 175 grain round the military issues to its snipers with the M24 and the new XM110 SASS. Also federal gold medal match is hat to beat from what I hear, especially in these rifles and I thought about shooting some black hills as well. I thought if I went the factory match ammo route .308 would definitely be cheaper! And the more ammo you can afford to buy the more you get to shoot, the better you become! I'm also going to have my smith thread the end of the barrel for a holland radial discharge type brake I bought off one of the members here. He makes them himself on a CNC lathe out of stainless bar stock. Wanna really be able to spot my own shots. And another thing I considered was that the .30 was more comparable in performance to the edge so would rather have something milder. Hey mudrunner2005, nice rig! What scope are you running?

 

[timmay]

Right now I say 300 winmag because you cant find any 308 ammo anywhere. Funny how people always say to buy the most common caliber rifle so when times get tough you can always find ammo....well times are tough and the most common calibers are non existant.
300 win mag is still around at most places. Im happy I have a 270 wsm, I can still find that at every store.
223 and 308 are nowhere!

But during normal times I say 308 for fun and medium distance hunting, 300 win for way out there stuff

 

[MudRunner2005]

Right now I say 300 winmag because you cant find any 308 ammo anywhere. Funny how people always say to buy the most common caliber rifle so when times get tough you can always find ammo....well times are tough and the most common calibers are non existant.
300 win mag is still around at most places. Im happy I have a 270 wsm, I can still find that at every store.
223 and 308 are nowhere!

But during normal times I say 308 for fun and medium distance hunting, 300 win for way out there stuff

I have a Glock 31C .357 Sig, and I can't find ammo anywhere. Odd-ball caliber, yet, no ammo in a 75 mile radius of me. So, not necessarily a true statement.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Thanks so much guys! I was thinking the same thing and even if I don't have the time to hand load I can always run lake city M118LR's through it. That's the 175 grain round the military issues to its snipers with the M24 and the new XM110 SASS. Also federal gold medal match is hat to beat from what I hear, especially in these rifles and I thought about shooting some black hills as well. I thought if I went the factory match ammo route .308 would definitely be cheaper! And the more ammo you can afford to buy the more you get to shoot, the better you become! I'm also going to have my smith thread the end of the barrel for a holland radial discharge type brake I bought off one of the members here. He makes them himself on a CNC lathe out of stainless bar stock. Wanna really be able to spot my own shots. And another thing I considered was that the .30 was more comparable in performance to the edge so would rather have something milder. Hey mudrunner2005, nice rig! What scope are you running?

Thanks man! That's a Konus M-30 8.5-32x52 scope with an EGW HD 20 MOA base, with TPS aluminum HD Medium rings. It is an awesome setup, however, with the 20 MOA base, the scope runs out of elevation upward so I cannot sight in @ 100 yards without shooting the 4th top Mil-Dot for 168gr. For 175, I am having to shoot the bottom of the top crosshair, which is where a 5th Mil would be. And when shooting 210gr Berger VLD's I don't even have a mark for that. LOL So, today the EGW HD 0 MOA base came in stock @ Midway, so I ordered one of those, too, so I can actuLly shoot @ 100 and 0-dope. LOL and when I shoot long-range I can swap on my 20 MOA, unless I buy a different scope later on. Either way, it's always good to have a backup base.

Also, for factory ammo the Hornady redbox TAP 168 HPBT's are fhe most accurate factory load I've ever shot.

Also the Hornady Match 168 HPBT's are next in-line in the most accurate factory ammo I've shot.

 

[timmay]

I have a Glock 31C .357 Sig, and I can't find ammo anywhere. Odd-ball caliber, yet, no ammo in a 75 mile radius of me. So, not necessarily a true statement.

I dont know about pistol ammo, but I have been able to find quite a bit of 300win mag 270win 270wsm and 7mm rem

once DHS gets caught up on their ammo hoarding that they plan on using against the people, then maybe the shelves will be stocked again...and once the people stop the panic buying....but thats a different story

 

[MudRunner2005]

I dont know about pistol ammo, but I have been able to find quite a bit of 300win mag 270win 270wsm and 7mm rem

once DHS gets caught up on their ammo hoarding that they plan on using against the people, then maybe the shelves will be stocked again...and once the people stop the panic buying....but thats a different story

Yeah, tell me about it....Don't even get me started on that gov't crap...I'll hurt a few Obama supporters feelings. Doubt there's many on here, but there's alwYs a few lurking around in the bowels of the forum....Oh how appropriate an analogy. Hahaha!

I see ammo everywhere (except .22), b/c I don't shop Walmart for ammo. I have a local outdoors store that has lots of ammo in stock, in all different calibers, now that all the gun ban talk has slowed down over the last several weeks, and especially since the gun ban talk is dead, now. Thank God!

 

[Greyfox]

I have a few 5Rs in 308 that I have put thousands of rounds through for several years, and a more recently purchased 300WM 5R that I have a few hundred rounds through so far. These rifles are exceptionally accurate right out of the box. For high volume practice shooting I think you can't beat the economy of the 308, particularly since you are well stocked with components. While 1000 yard, or further shooting can certainly be done with the 308, practicing at this range tends to be more quality than quantity shooting with wind reading skill development being primary component. I personally would lean towards the 300WM for serious high precision practice at this range. I think the extra 300 FPS with heavy, high BC VLD's (like 210VLD's @ 2800FPS) would be more representative of your 338's ballistics, and provide an advantage in hit percentage at this range. IMO.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I'm shooting 210 VLD's @ just a hair under 2,400 fps with my .308 Win 5R. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at 1000 with that load.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I'm shooting 210 VLD's @ just a hair under 2,400 fps with my .308 Win 5R. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at 1000 with that load.

What's your powder choice?