zeroing in on my 300WM hunting load

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Apr 25, 2020
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Ive been doing a lot of reading and testing with my new 300wm I bought for hunting. Found a lot of useful info on here, but still have some questions I could use some input on.
Ive had great success shooting steel out to 500 with barnes factory ammo, so if all else fails, ill use that for this upcoming hunting season. Anyways ive been testing some reloads for this rifle with the barnes LRX in 200gr, and the 175. I Just could not get the 200gr to group well. I got great numbers as far as velocity and SD, but even when adjusting seating depth, my best group was about 1".

I dropped down to the 175lrx and it has been shooting lights out. Every group shot under an inch. all my loads shot great for the 175, but I got the lowest SDs (10SD) around 78.5gr of ramshot magnum with 3150 for velocity, and good groups with 82gr ramshot magnum at around 3250FPS SD at 7.07.

anyways from what I read, most guys seem to be pushing this bullet around 3100fps. With the higher ive load ive come across, are those velocities in the mid to high 3200s something to be concerned about? No pressure signs yet. Just dont want to burn up my new barrel too fast.

any input would be greatly appreciated. This is my first magnum caliber that ive reloaded for. Ive reloaded hunting ammo for both my 308, and 30-06, and those shot great when they were being pushed faster, but velocities were nothing near what I'm hitting with this 300wm. at least for now, I don't plan on taking any hunting shots over 500yds, so I'm not sure that extra velocity is absolutely needed. if you've got any experience with these bullets, and or caliber, I'm all ears.
thanks in advance!
 
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I don't see Ramshot magnum listed for the 175 gr LRX, but most powders show approx 3100-3150 fps in a 24" barrel. If your barrel is longer, you may get higher speeds. If your not seeing pressure, I'd likely shoot the most accurate load as the difference between a SD of 7.07 and 10 will not matter inside 100 yards. One consideration would be whether you will be shooting at elevated temps. If so, the lower node may be a bit more forgiving. Copper bullets generally require a faster twist to stabilize than an equivalent weight CNC bullet. You don't list your twist. It may be that it isn't fast enough to stabilize the 200 gr bullet, or your rifle may simply not "like it".
 
I don't see Ramshot magnum listed for the 175 gr LRX, but most powders show approx 3100-3150 fps in a 24" barrel. If your barrel is longer, you may get higher speeds. If your not seeing pressure, I'd likely shoot the most accurate load as the difference between a SD of 7.07 and 10 will not matter inside 100 yards. One consideration would be whether you will be shooting at elevated temps. If so, the lower node may be a bit more forgiving. Copper bullets generally require a faster twist to stabilize than an equivalent weight CNC bullet. You don't list your twist. It may be that it isn't fast enough to stabilize the 200 gr bullet, or your rifle may simply not "like it".

Thanks for the response,
I know ramshot magnum isnt listed on barnes newer published data. I do however have what i believe is older data that lists the 175lrx and that powder. The powder seems to burn very clean, and is shooting well from what i am gathering. Their testing shows a 24" barrel.

My barrel is a 26" 1:10 twist. The 200lrx requires 1:10 twist or faster. I went out on a wim with that 200lrx, knowing i could fall back on the 175. The 200 is a crazy long bullet. I was after that extra bit of BC while staying copper.

I live and hunt in california right now, so if anything the temps may be just a bit cooler during hunting season.

Ive got 10 more rounds of both the higher and lower charge 175lrx loaded up, and hope to test them next weekend at distance while gathering some more data on the chrono.
 
I like speed, just not at the expense of accuracy. I see Barnes lists Ramsot Magnum for the 175 gr Match Burner, but at much higher loads. I suspect it has a shorter bearing surface. If you can safely load at the higher node and get the accuracy you want, go for it. The higher load density ought to theoretically improve es/sd. Either way, it'll be a deadly combination.
 
When I purchased my 300 Win Mag Remington model 700 Montana series some years back and it has a 26" barrel.
I loaded up at least a dozen type of bullets with a variety of powders. The best grouping by far was with Swift Scirocco. Nosler and barnes were probably the worse. I also got better grouping with bullets 180 gr and 165 gr. 200 grain and above not so much. But that was that gun and all are different. Have a buddy with a 300 win mag and his loves 190 gr berger VDL bullets
I'm just now finishing up a Bergara premier mountain 2.0 300 win mag. Loaded up all 180 gr. Swift, Berger, Barnes and Nosler. Hope to get to the range this coming weekend if the scope gets here tomorrow and start trying different loads.
 
I like speed, just not at the expense of accuracy. I see Barnes lists Ramsot Magnum for the 175 gr Match Burner, but at much higher loads. I suspect it has a shorter bearing surface. If you can safely load at the higher node and get the accuracy you want, go for it. The higher load density ought to theoretically improve es/sd. Either way, it'll be a deadly combination.

Thanks tim. Yeah both the higher and lower node are shooting great. I have little 1" orange dots i use for my load development and a couple of these loads, im just stacking em in there. Fast and accurate with no pressure to speak of yet. Having to hunt with copper just throws a wrench in my gears. One extra obstacle to overcome as far as projectiles go.
 
When I purchased my 300 Win Mag Remington model 700 Montana series some years back and it has a 26" barrel.
I loaded up at least a dozen type of bullets with a variety of powders. The best grouping by far was with Swift Scirocco. Nosler and barnes were probably the worse. I also got better grouping with bullets 180 gr and 165 gr. 200 grain and above not so much. But that was that gun and all are different. Have a buddy with a 300 win mag and his loves 190 gr berger VDL bullets
I'm just now finishing up a Bergara premier mountain 2.0 300 win mag. Loaded up all 180 gr. Swift, Berger, Barnes and Nosler. Hope to get to the range this coming weekend if the scope gets here tomorrow and start trying different loads.

If i could hunt with a lead bullet i probably would. Some of those hornady, sierra, and berger bullets shoot great in my other target guns. The barnes factory ammo has shot wel for the most part, but leaves a lot to be desired as far as BC goes.
 
Ive been doing a lot of reading and testing with my new 300wm I bought for hunting. Found a lot of useful info on here, but still have some questions I could use some input on.
Ive had great success shooting steel out to 500 with barnes factory ammo, so if all else fails, ill use that for this upcoming hunting season. Anyways ive been testing some reloads for this rifle with the barnes LRX in 200gr, and the 175. I Just could not get the 200gr to group well. I got great numbers as far as velocity and SD, but even when adjusting seating depth, my best group was about 1".

I dropped down to the 175lrx and it has been shooting lights out. Every group shot under an inch. all my loads shot great for the 175, but I got the lowest SDs (10SD) around 78.5gr of ramshot magnum with 3150 for velocity, and good groups with 82gr ramshot magnum at around 3250FPS SD at 7.07.

anyways from what I read, most guys seem to be pushing this bullet around 3100fps. With the higher ive load ive come across, are those velocities in the mid to high 3200s something to be concerned about? No pressure signs yet. Just dont want to burn up my new barrel too fast.

any input would be greatly appreciated. This is my first magnum caliber that ive reloaded for. Ive reloaded hunting ammo for both my 308, and 30-06, and those shot great when they were being pushed faster, but velocities were nothing near what I'm hitting with this 300wm. at least for now, I don't plan on taking any hunting shots over 500yds, so I'm not sure that extra velocity is absolutely needed. if you've got any experience with these bullets, and or caliber, I'm all ears.
thanks in advance!
 
I run Ramshot magnum at 79.0grs with either the 180 t t s x 175gr l r x. Shoots great. Need a 1-9.5 or faster to see the real Preformance from the 200 gr l r x. The 175 at that velocity will do as well or better than the 200.
 
This load has worked in my Bergara HMR 300wm from first rounds and still groups like this @ 120 rounds it's shooting a little faster now. It's taken 2 elk in 2 years with 1 hole!
300 win mag load.png
 
The 300 winchester mag is the very best of all 30 cal magnums. next is the 308 norma mag. hands down... both in 26" tubes of course to be = to 300 weatherby and 300 ultra mag. the ultra mags are like the short mage in 10 years there will be none. also people will find out that the 260 rem and the 6.5 rem mag is a lot better tha the 6.5 creedless
 
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