300 WM does it all
 

I have shot a 30-06 for a long time but have a new favorite, the 300WM. This year I started my 10 and 12 year old in deer hunting. The both shot my 300WM with Remington Managed Recoil loads very well. If you are not aware, that is a reduced load that has similar ballistics to a 300 Savage. It is plenty for whitetails as my 10 year old proved by shooting a nice 8 pt last Saturday. I am also looking into reloading where I can push the 300WM to nearly 338WM territory. Now that is versatility. I am strongly considering buying my sons a Stevens 200 in 300 WM. They could shoot most anything on the continent with it and we could adjust the loads to whatever they feel confident shooting.

It'll sure do the trick. I wanted a 300 the day I got my 7mmRM. They were outta 300s, but I figgered I might as well take advantage of all the FREE brass from my buddies with 7s. Didn't know anybody with 300s.

That MR ammo is the berries for kids. Lets their folks buy them a rifle they can use a long long time and hunt lots of different game with.

As for reloading... you typically won't get ammo much hotter than factory loads... if you want a hot load.... check out Hornady Light Mag ammo.... thats about the tops in performance... but no matter what.... your gun has gotta shoot it well.... and it seems to be about a 50/50 in my experience.

My primary deer rifle is a 300 win mag savage rifle with accu-trigger.

I put on a limbsaver recoil pad and it's not bad at all. Have dropped all deer right where they stood. Plus, I've dropped a hog and a ram too. I have yet to have any animal run. I'm not saying it can't happen, but until it does it will remain my primary rifle.

Tbone - The 300 WSM no doubt is a great cartridge. But I think you may be kidding yourself if you think you can get it to run along side the 338 Win Mag. It will be more comparable to the 300 Win Mag.
But IMHO, there aint no deer in the world that would know the difference if it was hit with a bullet from your old '06 or the 300 WSM.
I'm sure your 300 WSM will serve you well and I wish you luck with it. But me, because I have a 30-06, I opted to go one notch higher and got the 325 WSM. And I love it.

There is no "S" in my 300WM. Full length shell for me. In regards to the 338WM comparison I was thinking factory 338WM versus a max powder reload with a 200 gr bullet. Those numbers are an even match and the sectional density of 200 gr 30 cal bullet is stout. I almost bought a 338WM but really think the 300WM fits my needs perfectly. The Savage I got is a .5 MOA gun from the factory so I couldn't be happier.

Even though this is a gun Forum and not the reloading forum I'm going ot chime in. A 338WM and a 300WM are almost identical in velocity. You can put a bigger hole in whatever your shooting with a 338. If you want a bigger hole then go with the 338 other wise the 300WM has a much better bullet selection, your on the right track by sticking to the 300.

Swampcollie; How can you say you can't reload anything hooter than what you can buy? Thats the beauty of reloading, you can choose any bullet find what powder shoots the fastest and most accurate. On the contrary, you cannot buy factory ammo that is better than what you can do yourself if you know what your doing.

I'm not going to comment on velocity but the .338's have the .300's beat on Sectional Density.

Tom

If you really want to compare apples to apples we'll keep things as close as possible. I'm concerned with Ballistic Coefficient more than anything. The higher the BC the better the downrange energy and less wind drift. I believe that’s what we’re all concerned with. A Sierra Game King bullet in a .308 200 grains has a BC of .560 and a .338 215 grain has a BC of .565. Big deal, virtually no difference.

Now let’s take a Sierra Match King. .308 240 grain Bullet has a .711 BC and a .338 250 grain bullet has a BC of .585. Now that is a big difference and the .308 comes out on top. One could argue a .338 has a 300 grain bullet, this takes equality out of the equation. Might as well throw a 50 cal in at that point.

Like I said a 30 caliber is hard to beat.

The 338wm beats the 300 wm in the bullet mass(frontal) which equals energy carried to the target. They are the same case necked differently with different pressures based on the diffrent neck sizes(this allwos more powder to poured into the 338wm). Marginal gains aside of course for each.

I push a 225gr out of 338wm at 3K...that's BA medicine for anything that walks NA soil, IMO. A 300wm with a 200gr may do similar but I'm getting a likin' to the extra frontal the .338 has! Both solid big game cartridges for NA.. no doubt.

Downside to both is recoil. Face it not everybody can handle the report of heavy for caliber reports from either of these out of full loads and a sporter rifle. What makes the 06's and 7mm rem mag so popular for those who are chasing everything short of the bear's who bite back!!!!

Everyone has had valid and interesting input. No doubt that a properly loaded 338 is stout and carries that energy well. I almost bought one but decided on the 300 at the last minute. What I was comparing energy-wise was a factory 338 load to a max load 300 pushing a 200 gr bullet. The gist of my original post was the fact that factory loads for the 300 range from 2400-3900 lb/ft and bullet weights come in a range of about 100 grains. That creates options that beat/compete with everything from 270 to 338. I simply don't know how excited I would be about varmints with a 338 or a moose with a 270. The moderate recoil (especially with a limbsaver pad and 9 lb total gun weight) and flat shooting make the 300WM effective in many situations. It appears we all have our favorite and have many reasons why it is such.

Well, if you get off your high 7mm-08 horse and pay attention you would have read that the idea is to have the kids shoot managed recoil loads now and have the option to step up to full loads as they get bigger and want to pursue larger game. My 15 year old is 6'3" 195 lbs so I believe my younger sons will grow into it as well.

Remington's managed recoil load in 300WM recoils the same or less than your blessed 7mm-08 so what exactly is so dumb? The 7mm-08 is a fine round but not the answer to every discussion on this site.

Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of his cave today. Seeing you haven't actually contributed a thing to this thread I am not sure why I am wasting my time on you. You don't know me or my knowledge base yet you say I have less than stellar ideas and a bout of stupidity. FYI, I have over thirty years of hunting experience (mature whitetails adorn many of the walls in my home) and can run numbers (i.e. ballistics) in circles around you. That I guarantee.

I can only imagine the monster I could have awakened had I actually volleyed insults back at you. Please find a suitable site for your ignorance as it is wasted on us here.