I'm interested in purchasing a 300 winchester mag. I have no experience in high powered rifles, but only in .22's and muzzle loaders. It is my understanding that this round is an extremely accurate at long ranges and is more or less suitable for any animal under the planet. Well, probably deer sized and up. I'm also wondering if there are any restrictions on this caliber in any states, or in any nations even. Also, as I said I have little experience in rifles, but I was wondering how the kick and recoil of this gun compare to a 3 inch 12 guage slug. One last thing, which make and model of rifle do you guys suggest? Also which scopes?
Any thoughts, comments, suggestions would be great.
The recoil should not be any more than the 3 inch 12 ga. They are known as a pretty accurate cartridge. Rifle would be a matter of oersonel preference. If I bought on it would be a 700 Remington. Second choice, Savage. Scope is also a matter of choice. The Nikon Monarch or Leupold would be good choices although I would probably go with a Simmons Aetec. I also like the swift Premier's. There are many good scopes out there but many are over priced IMO. I have had good performance from the VX-l scopes but thats the most bucks that I would consider for optics. Never needed anything more spendy than that. The 3200 Bushnell is another great choice for around 200.00.
If you are just deer hunting, the 300 Winnie is way more than you need. For bigger game, its a good choice although I might prefer the 300 WSM.
Accuracy dependency upon many things. The design, manufacturing tolerances, quality scope, solid rings to mount it, smooth trigger, etc. etc.
I don't know what your prices range your looking for. Yes, Remington BDL 700 is one of the quality rifles that would meet the description. Sako is higher priced and very fine quality.
I personally think that for the price, the Tikka T3 is one of the best, most accurate out of the box rifles you'll find. It has the same barrel and floating as the Sako, fine manufacturing, very nice design features. Each is test fire to be within 1 MOA at 100 yards at the factory. With a fine quality scope like a Nikon Monarch or similiar mounted on the solid rings that come with the rifle and premium ammo, this is a very accurate rifle.
I do disagree with one thing previously said. When you sit down to sight in your .300 Win Mag it'll kick more than some 12 guage with 3" mag. However, once you have it sighted and are out hunting and are fortunate enough to shoot at a deer, Elk, bear, whatever, you're not going to notice the kick. With a well placed kill shot (e.g. heart/lungs) it'll do a fine job to take any big game I know of in N. America down.
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MinnFinn
"Now there you go again..." "I'm not going to hold your youth and inexperience against you." -- Ronald Reagan
I have never fired a 12 ga three inch from the bench but according to Hawks recoil tables, the 12 Ga has 54 lb of recoil while the 300 Win Mag has 25.9 lbs of recoil. When my shoulder was healthy, i didn't have any trouble with the 300 Mags from the bench. I will agree that its not pleasant however.
I guess it depends upon what type and design of 12 gauge shotgun we're comparing to, also. My Benelli M1 Super 90, 12 guage hasn't a lot of kick with the inertia bolt system they use. Some non-autoloaders I've shot years back like old Winchester model 12 and Ithaca pumps would set me back a bit as a kid I know. I don't have any stats on force. I just know from the .300 WM rifle I have vs. current autoloader I mentioned, the former on a bench rest definitely will let you know what you're shooting. I think your right. On a bench rest, with 3" slugs sighting in for deer, even my Benelli will give a wallop. Maybe it has more to do with the position you're shooting from as well how it feels to the shooter.
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MinnFinn
"Now there you go again..." "I'm not going to hold your youth and inexperience against you." -- Ronald Reagan
I was a little skeptical about the recoil tables for shotguns but I have checked them out several times. An autoloader will sure slow down the felt recoil in a shotgun. We don't use slugs in our state to I never had occassion to fire a scattergun from a rest.
I like my .300 Win Mag, however for the hunting I do in Northern NY switching the barrel out to a .30-06. Anyway, my .300 Win is one of the most accurate rifle I have ever shot. I think the thing on recoil is I do not even notice it, would almost have to say my 3" turkey, 12ga loads kick a heck of a lot more. Part of it I think is the stock. IMHO if the stock is light you will feel more of it. However, I have a Sig Sauer Model 202, and the stock is heavier and seems to absorb some of the recoil. As I said to be honest felt heavier recoil in 12 ga and even some .30-06 rifles!
In most cases not. Being from Ohio, we could only use slugs for deer, many times with scopes or sights I have sighted the same as I do rifles. And also when hunting turkeys, everything is like rifle shooting. So yes I would say it is pretty similar to shootiing a rifle.
Now would I recommend it to start, the .300 WIn Mag, maybe not. But it is my experience, and with my gun that it has very much recoil then most smaller calibers I have fired!
300 winchester mag
