recipe for 300 win mag?

[LOUD]

I was wondering if anyone had a favorite recipe for the300 Winchester Magnum? I shot a new rifle today( Ruger M77 MKII) with factory 165 gr spire points and was Very pleased and was wondering if I could come up with better ammo by reloading any input on this will be greatly appreciated.....LOUD

[oneoldsap]

Mine likes 70 Gr. of IMR-4350 and a Barnes 168 or a 165 Nosler partition .

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

LOUD,

First and formost, go with a premimum quality bullet. Yes the cost is higher, but the results are well worth it, besides the cost of the bullet being a very small part of the total cost of hunting/reloading.

A bullet at the quality level of the Nosler Partition gives results, and over the years since I first began to use them, I have seen a number of times when the damage caused to good eating game meat was far less then from the typical cup and core bullets.

A quality bullet will expand to a point, then hold together and keep going.

We are blessed with a lot more quality choices now, then when I started using Nosler Partitions in the 60s, but the same reasons for choosing a bullet of that quality level are the same today as they were almost 50 years ago.

Will the cheaper bullets take game? yep, but if you hunt long enough, the time will come when the use of a premimum bullet will pay dividends, in spades!!

As per loading, go to 2 or 3 good and recent loading manuals and look at what provides the best velocity and if listed the best groups.

Then start to work up loads with one or more powders.

You'll probably find that IMR 7828, H & IMR 4831, Reloader 22 are some of the powders favored in the manuals. There is a reason for that, they work in the 300.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Shoney]

What you intend to do with "the load", will make a big difference in the bullet.

Are you intending to shoot paper, and out to what yardage?

Are you intending to shoot medium sized game (deer, antelope, black bear, gazelle), out to what distance?

Are you going to shoot large game (elk, moose, Kodiak, grizzly bear, Cape Buff), and again to what ranges?

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Shony is correct to a point, and this is just IMHO, but -----------

Yes if your going to shoot paper, put whatever down the barrel that will shoot the smallest groups. Same for varmits.

However, for any game animal, deer on up, the use of a premimum bullet WILL pay dividends in the long term.

AS I have already said, yes the typical cup and core bullets will put down that critter, but with little if any margin for error.

Errors which will occur is you hunt long enough.

Having hunted since the 50s, I have seen enough "bad" hits to know the premimum bullets pay for themselves.

The "folks" made 105lbs of mincemeat the year a cousin put a 30/30 slug through the hams of a mulie buck.

That was with a 30/30, not a 30/06, 308, 300 mag, 264, 7mag, 243 etc. etc. but with the lowly 30/30.

Also in the years since that time I have seen equally bad hits with rifles in the "mag." class which produced nothing like the damage done with the 30/30.

The reason, quality/integrity of the bullet.

I recall years back, taking a quartering shot on a mulie doe with a .243. The bullet was a 95 or 100gr Nosler Partition. I expected there to be a bit of a mess when I got to the field dressing part of the process, but for whatever reason there wasn't. The bullet put 24caliber holes through the guts - NO BLOWUP!!! - hit and took out the far side lung and exited or nearly so.

I have seen enough poor hits over the years, and the resulting damage, to be convinced that a premimum bullet is worth the cost when hunting any game animal, large or small.

Hunting since the 50s, I have spent enough time in the woods to see some shots go wrong. It will happen, to you or those you are with if you spend enough seasons hunting.

I hunt for meat. That is the main reason I take to the woods in the Fall, not so much for the "sport" of the thing, so therefore anything which maximises the amount and quality of the meat I bring home is worth the cost.

I am not saying the premimum bullets do not cause tissue damage, I am just saying that while doing their job, they are less distructive then the bullets with less integrity.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Toddco]

i have shot my .300 win mag for over twenty years now. Throw the little boy bullets away and get some 180 or even 200 grain bullets. The nosler are a great choice, i used to use the partition, i now use the accubond. A 200 grain accubond has a bc of .588, compare that to any round almost in any caliber. It is simply outstanding, it carries over 1400 ft. lbs. of energy out to 700 yards, recoil is a little higher than 180's though. The 165 grain bullet is just a little to small to shoot out of the .300 with any serious velocity it starts to blow right through game and as stated above creates problems in knocking down big animals. I have shot a lot of game over the years with my .300 and found the 180 to be very effective even on deer it doesn't make huge holes with decent shot placement. Shoot the big boy bullets you will like the results, especially using good quality bullets.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Toddco,

I'd agree that the 180 Nosler is a very good choice and the 200 providing the rifle has a long enough action and mag to keep the long 200grainers seated out.

I used them in a #1 which my son now has and the throat on the rifle allowed us to seat waaaaaay out.

As per the 165, I had a browning A-bolt with a very bad barrel and just had a hard time getting anything that would shoot a consistant group.

Finally went with the 165 Nosler Partition as it gave the best the rifle was able to give, and when that rifle went to be replaced with a RUGER and a beautiful barrel I just kept using the stock I had on hand.

I am putting them out the tube at around 3200fps and have never seen one not do what it was designed for, expand and then just keep driving through the critter.

During some preseason tests a year ago, the RUGER put out a 7/8" group at a touch over 3300fps. Have old browning loads to finish off before I go to the new one.

I think anything other then a premimum 165gr bullet could be chancy, with the likely result of a great amount of distruction, but the 165 Nosler Partition just gives the normal great proformance those bullets are known for.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[GeauxTide]

Crusty has an excellent point. I've found that a standard game bullet of any caliber with a velocity in excess of 3000fps will be very destructive to the surrounding tissue. Speer advised against using "light for caliber" Hot Cores in the Magnum rounds in Volume 13. For example, the 150 Hornady and Speer loads in '06 and 308, pushing 2900-2950 were explosive. The 140NBT and 145 Speer were very explosive in the 7mmRM. A friend shot a 150# deer at 160 yards quartering toward him. It was almost disemboweled by the 145gr Speer at 3130fps.

These days, I use Partitions in the 7 and stay at 2800 or below for standard bullets on deer in the non magnums.

[LOUD]

Im gonna have to check out those Nosler partition Bullets . I plan on hunting whitetail deer at out to maybe 300 yards. I just bought the gun a week or so ago and just got to shoot it last Sunday ! I have a thread over in the art of the rifle section titled " opinion on a Ruger M77 MKII in 300 win mag" . I was very please with the factory ammo I was shooting . I just think I can make better and more accurate ammo than what is comercially available. Comercial manufacturers have to make ammo that is suited to a wide array of guns , I just want to make ammo suited for mine. So far I really like the Ruger and like the way it shoots, 1 inch groups at 150 yards. I greatly appeciate your knowledge and time for your input .How do you feel about seating depths in regard to the longest lenth possible , should the bullet touch the rifling ? Or should it have a little clearance. Dont laugh, Im just a new reloader asking cuz I dont Know. Many thanks........LOUD

[Shoney]

LOUD
I first started shooting 300WinMag in the early 70's, I shot out that barrel and am well along on the second. I harvested lots of game animals with 165, 180, and 200 grain bullets in Hornady Sierra and Nosler.

I settled on the Nosler partition 200 gr for all around shooting.

For an interesting comparison, check out the ballistic tables for the 3 weights of bullets, using a velocity 100 fps below the max velocity for each bullet weight in loading data.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

LOUD,

Yes, as Shoney indicated, the 200 gr Nosler Partition is a great one.

The only fly in the mix is if your chamber is short throated or your magizine is short. If that happens, the powder space is cut down a bit.

As per seating depth, I, providing the action length and magizine agree, usely seat to just clear the lands when starting load development.

HOWEVER, there is some thought and some testing done by Rick Jameson (SP?) that changing seating depth seems to have some of the same results as dialing in changes on the Browning/Winchester "BOSS."

I have not done extensive tests, but my limited tests do seem to show that thought may be true.

So, if and when you get a really good group with "X" load, you might try slight changes in the seating depth for possibly tweeking the best out of a load.

BEWARE, do NOT force the bullet into the lands on a max. load, as presures could quickly get out of control.

It is possible to develop loads with the bullet seated into the lands, but you need to start low and watch for high pressures to arrive before max published loads are reached.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[JD 500]

75.0 gr RE-22 and a Barnes TSX 180gr, COL = 3.340"

Please do not start at this powder charge, but rather start lower and work up (I work up at .5 gr increments) , looking for pressure signs.

This load gives me moa groups from a Browning BAR, and a Bolt gun (Tikka T3).

[GeauxTide]

With magnums, I have stayed with the COAL spec in the manuals. Most of the accurate loads are at the top end, so if a bullet is too close to the lands, there could be excessive pressure spikes.