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Old March 31, 2013, 10:01 AM   #1
F23Blackwidow2
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Why the .300 Win Mag?

I was looking at some guns that professional hunters use. You know, the guys on all those TV shows and the guys that get paid to test gear. It turned out that 9 out of 10 of their guns fired the .300 win mag. All the things I've read say that there is almost no difference between the .30-06 and the .300 win mag out until 400 yards. So why the .300? It's not like they're getting 500 yard shots.

Thanks,
Ken B.
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Old March 31, 2013, 10:46 AM   #2
Art Eatman
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In my more cynical moments, I write it off to the American penchant for "More, more!" It's cars'n'houses as well as guns.

I don't see them as a need, but if that's what some guy wants, that's fine by me.
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Old March 31, 2013, 10:57 AM   #3
Brian Pfleuger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Eatman View Post
In my more cynical moments, I write it off to the American penchant for "More, more!" It's cars'n'houses as well as guns.

I don't see them as a need, but if that's what some guy wants, that's fine by me.
Sounds like my less cynical moments
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Old March 31, 2013, 11:15 AM   #4
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Folks tend to fantasize about the 1% shot,and gear up for it.

Not knocking the 300 Win mag,

but in most cases,a .308 works just as well,maybe better if you like to eat what you shoot.

Most folks can shoot a milder cartridge better,or,most folks will have to overcome the tendency to flinch if they choose a 300 mag.

Its cheaper and easier to practice with a 308(or any number of other great cartridges).

Keeping your eyes open and placing a 308 will give better results than closing your eyes as you pull a 300 Magnum trigger.

Some folks shoot a 300 magnum real well.Some don't.
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Old March 31, 2013, 11:47 AM   #5
jmr40
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So why the .300? It's not like they're getting 500 yard shots.
Actually they are. And that is the reason in a nutshell. A 300 WM, 30-06, and 308 shoot the same bullets, just at different speeds. A 308 gives almost exactly the same energy and bullet drop at 450 yards, as a 30-06 at 500 yards, and a 300 magnum at 600 yards. And with the best loads these are about the max ranges each would be effective on elk size animals.

If the trigger puller is capable of making the shots. Most are not. A 308 is about as much rifle as the average hunter has the skills to use. But that does not mean others don't have the skills to shoot game at longer ranges.

People who really work at shooting skills can make a 500 yard shot look darn easy. Many of them are on the TV shows you watch

They can also shoot heavier 200+ gr bullets fast enough to be very effective on really large game. For the guy who wants to hunt the world a 300 mag would be the perfect 1 gun rifle batterey. There are only a couple of animals on the planet where you would be undergunned and if you have the skills most can be taken at very long range.
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Old March 31, 2013, 12:07 PM   #6
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The 300wm has more knock down power and less drop then any 308 or 06 at any distance. If you had to defend your life or the life af a client from a charging/wounded animal which would you rather have? To me the real issue is recoil, if you don't like or can't shoot a heavy recoiling rifle then a 308/06 would be a better choice but if recoil is not an issue then the 300wm is a great round. The same can be said for the 7mm mag vs 7mm08, 308 vs 30-06, 270 vs 270wsm. Love mine.
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Old March 31, 2013, 12:13 PM   #7
reynolds357
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What professionals are using it? All I ever see is .270 Win, some short mag, or 7 Rem mag.
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Old March 31, 2013, 12:29 PM   #8
eldermike
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The 300 win mag will cover all hunting needs and do them all well. Since I own all the other guns it covers I rarely hunt with it. But it would be last to go if I had to sell my guns.
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Old March 31, 2013, 12:41 PM   #9
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Years ago my brother got back from sighting in his 300 mag.. Then a month later asked me if I wanted to go shooting,, We went he shot the mag a few times & asked me to take a few shots to see if i could hit POA. One shot was plenty for me.
The thing about it is the futhest shot he has is 200 yards,, I told him to get a 06 and be done with it ; ) PS He sold the gun a few years later

Y/D
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Old March 31, 2013, 02:05 PM   #10
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I think the question is why not the .300 win mag? It'll do the same thing as the 06' or .308 in a flatter shooting form. It'll literally get down range faster, which helps if your target is moving or plans on moving while the bullet is traveling to it's intended target. It'll also hit harder and cause more devastation to the target (which could be negative if you want to preserve meat)

The only reason I can see why you wouldn't want the magnum is recoil. In a bolt action recoil is pretty negligible, IMO. As long as the shooter doesn't flinch there's no real problem. Also you could always back down a magnum load to reach velocities closer to the .308 or 06' if recoil was that big of a problem.

personally I'd go with the .300 win mag. You know what they say... Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
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Old March 31, 2013, 02:23 PM   #11
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My rifle--a Weatherby Vanguard--was a gift with a story.
It can cause a sore shoulder and it is heavy to carry, but I have no reason to not want to keep it or not use it.
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Old March 31, 2013, 02:46 PM   #12
HiBC
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The 300 Win mag is a great cartridge.I'd suggest someone new enough to the game to have to ask questions not make it the first choice.Work up to it if you need it.

If you have access to the PO Ackley books,there is an article in one of them by Les Bowman?I hope I spelled his name right.He was an established big game outfitter in,I believe,Wyoming.

He commented that he had an indcation how the hunt might go if the client had a 270,30-06,etc..adequate but not excessive.Odds were good the client could place the shot,and did not have illusions about 675 yd shots

A brand new shiny .340 Weatherby was a caution flag.

Once again,to those who carry a 300 mag,no disrespect.Great tool if you master it.

A .308 will make fine 300 yd kills on elk.

IMO,the real juice in a hunt is getting closer.
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Old March 31, 2013, 03:15 PM   #13
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As a former guide myself and as a hunter who’s met professional guides and hunters in 9 states and 5 countries, I can tell you that I have never known one that used a 300 mag.

Maybe the TV is showing some, but I don’t own a TV so I can’t say.

That's not to say anything bad against a 300, but every pro I ever knew ----if they carried a rifle at all ---carried a heavy hitter or their own hunting rifle. The “heavies” I have seen were 12 gauges with slugs, 458s, 375H&Hs, 416s and 404s.

The guides that carry their own rifles which they hunt with when not guiding carried mostly 30-06s and 270s one carried a 7mm Rem mag, and one carried a 338-06 which I made for him.
Also one man I know in Alaska carries an M-1 Garand with his own hand loads, (180 grain Barnes X bullets) but tells me he’s never had to use it.
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Old March 31, 2013, 04:10 PM   #14
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Nothing wrong with a .300 Mag, but I tend to agree with what Jack O'Connor wrote. He said it was neither fish nor fowl. It was not powerful enough to use on the large bears, and kicked too much for smaller game.

I realize it will take large bears, but I do not believe it is that much better than a 30-06 with heavy bullets. On one hunting trip both my partner and I took Kodiak bears with .300 Wby Mags, and both required 3 shots in the shoulder area.
The next time we used a .375 and a .35 Whelen. One shot in the shoulder area finished them.
I won't argue as to what cartridge will do what, but my own experience, admittedly limited, caused me to prefer other cartridges.

Jerry
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Old March 31, 2013, 05:26 PM   #15
lt dan
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having hunted with a 308 for the first 33 years of my life, the 300 mag brought something diffrent to the hunt. I had my 300 custom built. I use 180 Barnes TSX @ 2929fs out of a 26 inch barrel.

the first time I downed something other than wart-hog it was an oryx. the old bull was standing alone and the bullet hit sqaure in the vitals from the side. I remember being very impressed with the effect that it had on the animal. it was in a word deadly. I use it on bigger game on long distances.[ not more than 350yards]

however I tend to use my 308 more.

over here, we only have guides if the hunter is looking for dangerous game and then pro hunter that does the guide will have to cary at least 375
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Old March 31, 2013, 05:29 PM   #16
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The 300 is bigger...therefore better...simple as that...no backfeed please...
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Old March 31, 2013, 05:36 PM   #17
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Quote:
The 300 is bigger...therefore better...simple as that...no backfeed please...
LOL
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Old March 31, 2013, 06:01 PM   #18
JHansenAK47
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Quote:
In my more cynical moments, I write it off to the American penchant for "More, more!" It's cars'n'houses as well as guns.

I don't see them as a need, but if that's what some guy wants, that's fine by me.
Like the guys at my work that have a 300 win mag but think they need a 300 RUM because it has more power and a flatter trajectory.
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Old March 31, 2013, 07:18 PM   #19
eldermike
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Its the same action as the 30-06. When you see it from rifle design perspective its simply the best use of a standard length action in 30 caliber.
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Old April 1, 2013, 01:35 AM   #20
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My 300 reminds me of my Exwife.A BEAST IT IS.
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Old April 1, 2013, 07:09 AM   #21
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Some men are inherently displeased and unsatisfied with their penis length and hear about it from their wives because its it true. Therefore they feel the need to buy something they cannot handle well or use effectively to prove their manhood. In MOST instances the owners of the .300 Win, Wby, RUM et al fall into this category. Others that fall into the category are diesel truck owners that never pull or only pull a 6000lb or under boat, commute to the office and never actually use it to work.
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Old April 1, 2013, 09:23 AM   #22
Keg
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I hesitate to post after Saltydog....but what the heck! (Wife says I'm OK..but I did catch her in a white lie once..hmmmm)....

I have two 300 mags..one 30-06..and eight 308's....They all are good for what I use them for....They can all kill the same game..but I think some are better suited for different uses....It may be a different gun type that makes as big a difference as the caliber....I hunt with them all....

Is'nt the military promoting more use of the 300 win mag?

Oh..and Ken B........A buddy took bull elk over 400 yrds..with a 338 mag....One shot was on the move....He is convinced in magnum calibers for big game..and shoots them well....He shoots a 30-06 for whitetail....
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Last edited by Keg; April 1, 2013 at 09:34 AM.
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Old April 1, 2013, 10:34 AM   #23
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Tongue in cheek. Some people (99.9% men) feel that more power equates to deficiencies in other areas. I see the merits of the .300 WM for the armed forces sniper and to an extent a western hunter who has the time, ability and room to reach out. I do not see the advantages or worth for someone whose ranges are 300yds and under, it just isn't there, thus the compensation remark. If a .243, .7mm08, .308 etc kills something stone dead at 300yds which is stretching it for 90% of the gun toters I come across, then what advantage does the .300 WM or similar give, what disadvantages?

I use to shoot a .300 Wby and thought it was going to be the 2nd coming, it wasn't. I've killed far more deer, pigs, yotes, bobcats, foxes, etc with a .243, 7mm08 and .308 than I ever did with that .300 Wby and had a lot more fun at the range as well to distances of 500yds (limits of where I could shoot). Those large magnums are inefficient cases, cost more to buy and load, punish you with recoil and aren't needed for the majority of hunters.

The great thing though is that we live in a free country (at least for now) and can choose what we want. If a man thinks a .300 Whatever Mag is going to make him a better shot, better hunter and perceived as more manly, then go for it. My opinion is that most shooters become better shots when they aren't pounded by recoil, can afford shoot more, aren't afraid of the gun and realize the gun and shooter have limits.
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Old April 1, 2013, 10:51 AM   #24
AllenJ
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I've been using a 300 Winchester Mag since the early 90's as my elk rifle. I made the jump from a 30/06 because I witnessed an elk shot broadside in the heart with an ought six, 180 grain bullet, at about 250 yards, and the bullet was recovered. The elk ran over 100 yards and left very little blood to trail. In my mind then, and still today, is that 2 holes are better than 1 for tracking and that cartridge/bullet combination did not provide it at what I consider a very shootable distance.

So there you have it, I did not make the move to compensate for any bodily deficiencies, I did it to make the job of recovering animals I shoot easier.
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Old April 1, 2013, 11:28 AM   #25
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I don't own a 300 Win Mag and don't intend to get one, but that's totally based on what and where I hunt. The only 300 Mag advantage that would matter to me is that you can load that cartridge down to 30-06 levels whereas you can't load the 30-06 up to 300 Mag levels.

I've got two friends here in central TX that had custom guns made in what they say are 30-338 WbyMag's, which are for elk and mulie hunting. They shoot small fast bullets in them. To me that's just crazy, but they love their overbore cannons. And they brought me some Elk meat, so I praise their rifles.
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