Winchester model 70 300WSM

[kennyt]

Im new to the site and long range hunting. I just purchased this gun and toped it with a Vortex Viper. Can anyone give me some advice on what loads might work out best? I have been completing alot of reasearch just hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

 

[WildRose]

Welcome to the addiction.

Before suggesting anything else I'd say go ahead and get a good free float and bedding job done on the rifle. You will have to get it done at some point and better to do it now rather than after a few hundred rounds of ammo when you still aren't happy with how it's grouping.

Second, follow the maker's recommendation on barrel break in.

Until you have at least fifty rounds down range I wouldn't even attempt to try and "tune" a load specifically to this rifle.

I too am a long time fan of the Mod 70 which makes us part of the vast unwashed minority around here HA!

 

[Wheatgerm]

Wild rose makes a good point.

However in my own experience with my 300 wsm I bought a box of factory rounds. And conditioned the barrel with them then called it good, I had talked to my Gunsmith about free floating the barrel (I has the rem sps stock that can't be floated) and he told me to wait and see how it shoots before I worry about it, it was shooting 3/4 inch groups and I was happy with it but I still got a new stock and floated the barrel afterwards.

As for your load it all depends what distances you'll want to be shooting. I just posted a thread called "210's and 300 wsm" I got great luck with the 210 bergers.

Good luck with the loads and welcome to the site

 

[WildRose]

Ok you have my curiosity up... . Why can't the SPS Stocks be free floated?

 

[angus-5024]

I also am wondering why you cant free float an SPS... I have two (had three) and I floated all of them.

 

[Wheatgerm]

Maybe you can? It was suggested to me not to, because the stock is so flimsy. They have the two pressure points on the end of the stock that touch the barrel I suppose you could just sand those off and bed the stock by the recoil lug. But it was shown to me that if I was to float and bed the stock, then try to shoot off a bipod the stock would just give or bow and be resting back on the barrel anyways... I took the stock off and looked for myself. It doesn't take much to torque or flex the stock in any direction.
Just what I've seen, if you've bedded yours and it worked that's good to know

 

[kennyt]

Thanks for the replies. I have completed brake in. The barrel is allready free floated. Next i will put a muzzle brake on it and have the action beded and trigger done. I was thinking of trying the A-Max 208s.

 

[WildRose]

Maybe you can? It was suggested to me not to, because the stock is so flimsy. They have the two pressure points on the end of the stock that touch the barrel I suppose you could just sand those off and bed the stock by the recoil lug. But it was shown to me that if I was to float and bed the stock, then try to shoot off a bipod the stock would just give or bow and be resting back on the barrel anyways... I took the stock off and looked for myself. It doesn't take much to torque or flex the stock in any direction.
Just what I've seen, if you've bedded yours and it worked that's good to know

He's got a point there. The platic stocks are pretty flimsy but you can open up the bottom channel and fill it all the way to the recoil lug with Marine Tex or Devcon or even lay a piece of SS rod (like a cleaning rod) in that channel and then epoxy it in with the above and make them extremely rigid. That's what I did with my 700bdl 7mm STW and it worked out extremely well.

I also added a thin washer on each of the action screws between the action and stock to give it about a 1/16th lift when I did the bedding to help ensure permanent free floating no matter what the conditions were.

A couple of hours worth of work saved me having to buy and expensive stock and I even used some lead shot mixed with the epoxy to weight the forearm a bit which definitely helped with muzzle flip.

 

[WildRose]

Thanks for the replies. I have completed brake in. The barrel is allready free floated. Next i will put a muzzle brake on it and have the action beded and trigger done. I was thinking of trying the A-Max 208s.

Sounds like you're on the way then. Amax is a great target bullet and I know a lot of the guys have done well with them at LR on deer and such but at sub 500yds ranges I'd be too worried about bullet break up to shoot deer size or larger game.

The Interlock in the other hand really shines on deer and larger game.

Personally I'm really looking forward to the new Nosler ALR (accubond long range) that is supposed to be hitting the market early next year for my 300 Rum and my LR 300wm. If they perform as advertised it's going to raise the level of competition for long range hunting bullets to a new level.

I found this chart over on Nosler's reoloading site.

Standard factory twist barrels should be able to handle even the 210gr.

 

[brentc]

You've chosen a great factory WSM. IMO it's the best factory WSM available. Your M70 is a 1 in 10 twist, and it will shoot whatever bullet you want it to, even up to the Berger 230. Don't settle for recommended OAL, load out closer to the lands. You'll be able to fit up to around a 3.000 OAL in your magazine.

I've tried several different powders and my favorites are the slow powders with either a 210 VLD, or a 230 Berger OTM. My favorite powder is IMR 7828ssc. It's an extremely consistent powder at all temps with great velocity. Another option is 4831sc. It's a lot slower, but it's accurate.