mainehunt

All good advice, I really appreciate it. Let me try to answer the qestions.

I believe the scope and rings/mounts are proven because the Hornaday factory rounds shot at MOA.

The bullet I' m currently messing around with is the Sierra Game King 200 grain BTSP.

I have a .308, so the only reason I tell myself to even own this rifle is to use it on moose, if I ever draw a permit here in Maine. The shot distance here in Maine on a moose is relatively short. Most people that I know have shot them under 50 yards.
Yeah, yeah, I know......the .308 would work, hell, so would my 12 gauge slug gun, 50 cal muzzle loader, even the .243. (the record was once held by a 12 year old girl who killed one that easily topped 1000 pounds, something like 1250 if I remember, used a 22-250.) I don' t know about the moose elsewhere, but here they generally stand and stare at you. Could easily put a small bullet behind the ear.

So, back to the 300mag. If it won' t shoot the 200-220 grain bullets well, then I' ll use the .308 with 150 or 180' s. I' d sell the 300 if not accurate with the " big bullets"

My reasoning is this. If I' m going to own this Magnum, I might as well shoot big bullets in it. Other than that, I' ll sell it and play with something else.

James B

Your choice of powders may be limited when using the 200 grain bullet in the short mag. The 200 takes up a lot of room that the short mag does not have to spare. One of my manuals says the 180 is a better choice for the Short mag. The short mags can brag about efficiency and accuracy but you pay a price and that price is case capacity. Try the 180 grain Nosler Partition.

Big Guy01

Try a different bullet. My buddy has a tikka in .300 Wm and it just loves Nosler partitions. I have a Win Mod 70 same calibur and it won't group the partitions worth a hoot[&:]. But it just loves the rem 180 gr coreloks. We both use the same brass,powder, and primers. Each gun is different you gotta try until you find something that works. Thats the fun of reloading.lol

LARRY338

Here's what I do most of the time. Get yourself some nosler ballistic tips and pick out the best four or five powders listed. Go out and shoot groups with the noslers and each powder. Take the two best powders based on your group size and then load about four or five different bullets with these two powders. Out of that you should find one load better than the rest.

bigcountry

You know when I can't match the accuracy of factory bullets, I then will try to match the specs of the factory bullet. Usually its me tryign to load the bullet out too far to my rifling. I will measure with a stoney point comparitor and match that length. I then match the primer. You might want to try to measure runout. Also another smoking gun. This is due to the dies you use might be causing severe runout.

mainehunt

James B,

This isn't a SHORT magnum. It's a .300 Winchester Magnum. (300WM)

Just the normal 300 mag.