I'm looking to get a little input as to my new gun purchase. My two top choices for caliber right now are the 300 win mag and 300 wsm. im trying to get varying opinions before i buy to help me in my purchase. ive noticed that the 300 win mag has factory loads generally topping out w/ a 200 grain bullet while the 300 wsm is around 180 grain. from what i understand seating a deeper bullet in the short magnum takes excessive powder space and affects performance. that being said, id like to know what people think as far as the lethality and use of the 180 on the larger north american game animals...thanks

Under no circumstances is a .308"bullet heavier than 180gr required.Use a bullet of the proper construction and the 180gr bullet will work well for any north american game.

I would load either of those two choices with a 180 partition and use that load on everything you hunt.

Given your two choices I'd opt for the 300Win.Mag. Though you may not need anything heavier than 180gr. bullets, at least it gives you the option.
A good 180gr. bullet such as Nosler Part. or Trophy Bondeds should handle about anything in NA, though I'd want bigger stuff for LARGE bears (Alaskan browns).

For big bears, I like the 200 grain bullets from the 30-08. I agree with Stubble though, the 180 grainers will do the job. I would prefer the 300 WSM but I handload and am not concerned about availability of factory stuff. My Sierra Manual shows 2900 fps for the 300 WSM with the 200 grain bullet. Thats plenty of velocity for the 200 grain.

For the big bears I would carry a minimum of .338/250gr NP,
but prefer .358.