pintoshot

I had a 300 win mag about 10 years ago and shot a whitetail at about 70 yards right behind the shoulder and the exit wound was about the size of a softball.
Also, did quite a bit of damage to meat with a 180 grain bullet.

Would the 300 WSM do the same thing? If not, what would be the best bullet to use in the 300 WSM? The last two years I have been hunting with the 270WSM and have killed 2 deer: 1 mule,1 whitetail and one cow elk. They all dropped where they stood...and I mean RIGHT NOW! One deer was shot in the chest as it was angling towards me, the other was shot in the chest as well as that was all I could see of it cuz it thought it was hidden from me in a hollow. The elk surprised me when I came around a corner and I had about 2 seconds to get off a shot. I hit it in the neck and it went down like lightning. The deer were shot with 130grain silver tips and the elk with a 140grain failsafe

skeeter 7MM

Given the same bullet construction, angle and shot distance the 300wsm probably wouldyield the same damage as it's cousin the 300wm. Is it too much .... nah, is it required....nah. Pick the right bullet for your situation and you'll be hard pressed to see much difference between a standard and magnum in terms of damageor meat loss.By picking the right bullet I mean match to the hunting conditions by taking into count the species, distance of shot you expect to shoot and point of aim.

Sounds like the 270wsm is working well for you, so why the change?

Doo Dah

Ditto what Skeeter said. I've been handloading for 48 years and bullet selection is the key. No such thing as TOO MUCH gun but there is too little a gun. The animal deserves more than to be chased all around hell's half acre before it bites the dust and proper bullet placement isn't always an option.

timbercruiser

A friend of mine bought a 300WSM a few years ago and has used it to kill a number of deer. In my opinion it is overkill on a deer size animal. Hit a deer in the shoulder and it blows up the whole front end.

SHoNUFF

i will be hunting this year with my 300wsm at a max range of 100yards have had them come in at 30 before tho. 30-30 at 40yards demolished a nice 6ptr.

T-bird

I've had a .300WSM for 4 years now --- and yes, at short range with a shot square in the shoulder, it does create some significant damage. But if you slide it just behind the shoulder into the ribs, you won't cause nearly as much meat loss, and that goes for most calibers, magnum or otherwise.

I've really enjoyed the short mag --- it flies flat, hits hard, and doesn't really kick that much worse than my .30-06. I shoot the 150gr Ballistic Silvertips, sighted about 2 1/2 inches high at 100yds, and feel comfortable shooting out to around 375yds with it.

NVMIKE

It's more than you need for deer, but Its always good to have a little reserve in the tank. try useing barnes X bullets or nosler partitions. The reason I say this is that these two bullets stay together even after hitting bone, no explodeing bullet, no meat damage. W/ a 180 out of a 300win mag my brother put a bullet from the rear end hit the hip/femur joint , took out some ribs, then broke his sternum. All the way though the body andthrough his sternum,breaking several bonesand the only meat damage was about 2-2 1/2inches around the wound chanell. The 300WSM will definately do you better than the 270 for Elk, you wont be able to get neck shot every time, and when you dont that 300WSM is going to shine for you.

retrieverman

I have been shooting an Encore in 300 WSM for 3 years and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I have killed deer from 25-300 yards using Winchester Supreme 150 gr ballistic silvertips and not one has taken a step. I had shot a 270 for about 15 years and killed MANY deer with it,and I don't see any more carcus damagewith the 300 WSM than with the 270. InMY gun, the recoil is less with the 300 WSM than the 270. I have had a 300 win magand like the 300 WSM alot better.

My opinion only!

Sniper151

The reason many hunters? use magnum firearms for hunting medium and small game is because they can't hit the side of the barn with their ass against it. So they shoot a deer in the butt with a 375 H&H then brag about it. An animal with 80 lbs. of useable meat and you just shot 15 lbs. away. Learn to shoot and you won't need a canon to harvest a white tail.[:@]

buckstalker1187

I think its plenty gun...(IF NOT TOO MUCH). But yeah, it would be just fine to use it. do some research on slower bullets and the way they penetrate the target. With proper shot placement and a bit of research, you should do fine. Even a 30-30 is plenty of gun for whitetails inside the 180- 190 yd range. and for longer shots, a nice .243, .257, .260, .270, .308....you get the gist. find what application you will need as far as distance, you already know what species of animal you are hunting. And there are plenty of cartriges out there that are sufficient or more than sufficient for whitetails.