7mm vs 300 win vs 28 nosler
 

If you had to pick one of these 3 cartridges which would you choose? The situation is mule deer and elk hunting in the northwest and shooting within 400 yards. I am under the impression that the 7mm generally shoots flatter within 500 yards. I could be wrong though. I know a lot of people like the 300 win mag. I don't know very much about the 28 nosler. So which do you choose and why?

7mm rem mag
300 win mag
28 nosler.

Personally even though I love 7mm diameter bullets regardless of what cartridge it's fired from, the 300 win mag has served me VERY well on elk so out of those 3, I'd grab the 300 without hesitation. I'd rather have a 338 mag but the 300 with a 180 gr accubond drops mature bull elk just fine. If mostly for deer I'd grab the 28 Nosler, and if mostly for elk, and within 300-350 yards I'd grab the 35 Whelen or 9.3x74.

I never heard of the 28 Nosler cartridge.
I own a 300 WSM and I regret not buying the 7mag instead. With it, you can use 120gr in the morning on deer and 180gr in the evening hunt on elk.

I own .270 and 300WSM. I now wish it were 7mag and 308, another rifle caliber that allows so much versatility.

300 Win Mag simply because of Bullet selection. I'd take a WSM over it though because of inherent accuracy and it isn't a belted mag. I have a few 300WSM's and won't be without one.

Of the three cartridges listed, my choice would be the .300 win mag. It has the range of bullet weights, velocity and power for just about any North American animal. It is also popular enough that should you need it, just about any Podunk store carries ammo for it.

I killed most of my elk with a .30 Gibbs, which is an improved .30-06 that is close to .300 Win ballistics.

The 7 mm Rem mag is a fine deer and elk cartridge, and I've easily killed elk with mine, but mine has been reduced to my back up foul weather rifle. My favorite rifle now for elk and for international hunts is my .300 Weatherby (a .300 Win on steroids).

I hunt with a 300mag my son a 7mm-wsm,we both reload I like a 30cal bullet, he believes a 7mm bullet is better, nether one of us have had a deer run off, bang flop he is up on me by two !! :deer::deer:

All 3 will do the job just fine, an elk won't know the difference.

Pick the one that you can get ammo for easiest where you live...I'm betting that won't be the 28 Nosler...

Jeep kid beat me to the punch.The 26&28 Noslers could be gone before they even get started.

26 yes but the 28 is looking like it's going to be a winner, especially with the new 195gr Berger...

+1

One last thing - the one you shoot the BEST ! :fighting0007:

If the WSM has any accuracy advantage over the win mag I sure cannot see it. I've built a BUNCH of rifles including precision, match, and tactical, and simply can't tell any difference other than the win mag has advantage of more room when loading long high BC bullet loads. Just about anybody that loads belted mags neck sizes so that after the 1st firing the case is fireformed to chamber and thus headspaces on shoulder after that. In fact full length resizing causes excessive case stretching & over working.

the WSM is much more efficient than the 300 Win Mag, 61 grains of H4350 will push a 210 VLD Berger 2860fps, the win mag will take almost 10 more grains of powder to get the same velocity. Speaking competitively the WSM now dominates over the win mag in long range, in fact it has over taken all the big 300's. You'll see a few 300 improved cases but very few. The WSM holds the 1000 yard 10 shot record in Heavy gun (2.815") and did in light gun (3.505") until it was recently beat by a 6 Dasher (2.687").

I'm not saying a Win Mag isn't a great cartridge, it is for sure. But if you are going to shoot for accuracy the WSM is by far the best choice for long range in a 30 caliber. Decent Barrel Life and easy to tune.

I bet those WSM's are built on single shot LONG actions too...I wouldn't want that on a hunting rifle... :fighting0007:

They are on long actions, why wouldn't you want a WSM in a hunting rifle on a long action? You can't buy a Win Mag, 7MM Rem Mag or a Nosler in a short action.

Because the point of a WSM is to be on a lighter weight short action. And a WSM on a long action can run into feeding issues for a repeater.

Also there isn't a factory WSM on a long action...

Huge difference between a hunting rifle and a competition rifle. Since the OP is asking about hunting rifles I do believe all this hoohaa about competition results from bench guns is a moot point. As far as the comparison on wsm vs. wm, the ONLY reason there would be any more accuracy from the wsm would be BECAUSE of the short action being stiffer. Less flex upon firing= a little more accuracy but in the hunting world, that .002" difference would be totally meaningless. If you have the barrel and twist to handle them, Bear nailed it as far as the WM having the edge because of more case room for longer and better BC bullets than the WSM.

the current 10 shot 1000 yard heavy gun record was set in 2010 2.6" and change, shot with a 6mm dasher.
besides that hodgdon data says with only 5 gr. more powder the winny outruns the wsm by 60 fps, at lower pressure. now why would that be? perhaps capacity? of course a smaller case is thought to be more efficient, because 1 gr. of powder will increase pressure more in a smaller case. load them both to the same pressure don't worry about less than 2 cents worth of powder it costs ya more and see which is on top.
RR

I simply stated in the beginning of the thread not to under sell the wsm, though questions and doubt I tried to explain why the wsm is second to none. I know you can't compare hunting rifles and match rifles but you can compare cartridge to cartridge.

Ridgerunner, soon the dasher will hold all the records, but right now heavy gun is owned by Matt Kline and I can assure you it's with a 300wsm at 2.8 inches, dasher holds light gun at 2.6

well look up and get back with me, took me less than a minute to find it.
RR

Nope, I'm not seeing it

Record holder Jim Richards shooting a 2.6872" group at 1000 yards (all in the 8 ring) with a 6mm Dasher and 105 grain Bergers. This was LIGHT GUN class. Matt Klines' record in HEAVY GUN was 2.815" with a 300 WSM. All of Matt's were in the 10 ring with 3 in the X ring and one cutting the line. Group size goes to Jim, scoring goes to Matt. (Jim missed closer) :D

Here are both links for your viewing pleasure

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...ory-be-amazed/

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/...-with-300-wsm/

I have many rifles chambered for those rounds including a 300 H&H in an old M70!

I have a 260 Rem, 264 WM, 270 Win., 270 WSM, 7 X 57, 7mm WSM, 7 RemMag, 300 Win Mag, 300 H&H and other chamberings.

I don't enjoy the kick from the 300 magnums and I take the 7's to hunt. We all vary. Get what you like.

You have a FEW 300 WSM's???

I don't prefer the belted magnums with shoulders either however!

One is set up as a Heavy long range hunting rig, it used to be my Heavy Williamsport gun, I just use it for hunting now and it's due to be barreled, Considering a 338 Edge for the next chamber

The other is a Light gun with an MTU Taper, it's set up as a switch Barrel, the other barrel is a 1.250" made to keep under 20lbs for a local match I like to shoot at. It's on it's 3rd MTU Barrel.

A 300WSM isn't the answer for everything but it is an awesome all around cartridge.

ever shoot a .04 moa group with that inherently accurate 300 wsm at long range?
RR

Not a 10 shot group a 1000, several under that at 500 under match match conditions. It's cleaned up at Ridgway's long range varmint match a few times. Truth be told I'm beginning to like the dasher a bit more for competition.

You say that like it should be an easy task?

so you have shot .2 at 500? with the 300 wsm? post pics of the target please, I have shot .04 moa at 750 yards with an even more obscure cartridge one developed back in the 60's.
RR

RR, are you forgetting a decimal somewhere? I well know the grade of rifles you shoot, and know you're extremely skilled, but .04 moa at 750 yards is .3. Now moa is a tad over inches but .3 at 750 yards? If you say you did it I'll believe you as you have no reason to exaggerate. Heck I was happy when my sporter weight (almost) deer rifle I built chambered in my wildcat got 2.5" 5 shot groups at 800!

3 shot group at a lazered 752 yards

RR

The 300 WSM beats the 7mm and the 300 Win Mag hands down. The best thing about the 300WSM is the gun itself. It has a short action with a 23" barrel. It is a pleasure to carry around and has better ballistics than the 7MM or the 300 Win mag.

Better ballistics? Care to explain how the same bullet put in a shortened case can attain higher ballistic profiles? While I do agree that a short action rifle can be easier to carry and have a bit stiffer frame due to that short action, the better "ballistics" statement is about as false as you can get. And as StalkingBear said, with the 300WM you can go to the longer profile higher BC bullets that aren't an option for the short action WSM. So your "better ballistics" is shot down in that form as well.

With factory ammo the 300 wsm is just better. Not a lot but a little. Go compare them on any ballistic chart.

The same BC bullet pushed at the same speed will have the same ballistics...

To be brutally honest, not what yall want to hear, just about any critter likely to be hunted/shot by any of those cartridges wouldn't be able to tell ANY difference which they was shot with! Also if the shooter is enough of a marksman & has trajectory either memorized or a cheat sheet taped to the stock will be able to shoot/hit with any of them anyway. So it's kind of a moot point. Gunwriters don't like to hear this because they make their living splitting hairs & writing about it. The whole 300 WM vs 300 WSM war is kind of silly as there's not enough difference ballistically to matter when handloaded. The longer 300 WM does have an advantage with very long bullets. It's a simple matter of physics and cannot be changed that when you take a smaller case (capacity) and reduce it's volume even more by seating an extremely long high BC bullet into what was powder space, there's no way it can have higher velocity with the same bullet & loading pressure. Having said that, it don't matter which you choose as long as you invest the time/cost of getting to intimately know your rifle/bullet/cartridge/scope combo. The 1,000 yard matches have very little to do with this discussion involving & OP asking about a hunting rifle/cartridge. It's like comparing a tennis racket roa golf club and saying 1 is better than the other/s!

Exactly! They are so close it doesn't matter. I just prefer the shorter action and barrel because when I'm hunting we are beating the side of the mountain.

Most people never cross the 400 yard mark on animals. For those that hand out in these forums might be a tad bit different on shooting longer ranges. For the average Joe there's not a tinkers darn bit a noticeable difference other than the price of ammunition.

Does the shorter WSM use a different powder than the WM?

I've been a 7mm Mag shooter since I've been 14. I'm 52 now. I have no idea how many heads of game have fallen to my rifle but I have taken 68 species total and at least 60 of those species fell to the 7mm. I've also used a 300 Win Mag a little, have shot some game with a 300 WSM, a 7x57 Mauser and a 270 Win. I have no experience with the .28 Nosler. I'm pretty confident there isn't enough difference in the 3 calibers the OP listed to make any arguments worthwhile. A bullet from any of the 3, placed properly will kill any deer or elk out to the stated range.

So why don’t we all just buy a 30/06 and be done with it?

RR, I’m not sure what I’ve done that causes you to discredit everything I mention, not once have I done anything to create doubt on any of your post, a few years ago you did the same thing you are doing now. Then I was quite and didn’t lower my standard to respond, that’s not the case today. You have no idea of my abilities, equipment or knowledge, maybe listen, maybe learn, maybe not, it seems you know it all already. I misread your post and thought you said.4MOA, not .04MOA, that’s quite a feat for sure. How many times have you posted a group size like that at that distance? I’m betting once! I’ve been fortunate enough to print a group like that once or twice too, sorry no pics, although mine were 5 shot groups not 3. Since I did misread your.04MOA as .4 I have to back out of my earlier statement, I have not shot several groups under that landmark, I have however shot several under .4 under match conditions, not nice calm mornings, that’s under all conditions and yes it was with a 300WSM, I can post plenty of target pics of those groups. That same WSM will agg a 1.75” group at 500, good days it prints 1” bad days 2.5” all 5 shot groups, what does your rifle agg? I’ve shot high score of the year at one of our local matches 4 consecutive years, 3 of them were with the WSM, it won the Worlds Championship 2 day ground hog match with the highest score ever until last year when it was beat by 1 point. That “Inherently” accurate 300 has shot extremely well over the years and that’s why I promote it the way I do, it flat out works as do most guys I know that use a WSM. I haven’t been able to find where Matt Kline’s Heavy Gun 10 shot world record was beat by a Dasher, you may need to post a link, he set it in 2010, I think you might be a little confused, Paul Martinez held light gun record with a WSM, that one in fact was beat by a Dasher in 2014. Both Matt’s and Paul’s records were shot at the 1000 Yard club in Williamsport.

To answer the question about powder in a WSM and WM, no they are not the same, I use H4350 in a WSM and RE22 in the WM. The load in the WSM is 61.xx grains shooting a 210 VLD bullet at 2860fps, the WM is 70.xx grains of RE22 pushing a 190 SMK just under 2900fps. These aren’t numbers read from a magazine these are factual numbers shot over a crony, the WSM is a 29” custom and the WM is a 24” factory gun that’s been worked over. The short fat case and shoulder angle produces an efficient burn rate hence added velocity with less powder, the large case of the Win Mag likes large doses of slower burning powder, it is also an awesome cartridge but when your able to seat the bullets out far enough in the WSM it’s a clear winner.

If you all want to say there isn’t a dimes worth of difference between them your probably right under hunting conditions, but I like accuracy and if you want to be as accurate as possible and shoot the case that’s going to provide you with the best results it’s hard to ignore what’s been proven by match shooters, there is just so much data and information available from guys that shoot a lot and are always striving to get the best results all the time.

Back to the OP, stick with the 300 period no matter if it’s a WM or WSM for the simple reason I mentioned before, Bullet selection, the variety in .308 is equaled by no other caliber, from 125grain to the big heavy 240’s

Well that was FUN !!!