300 win mag

[squirrelduster]

Hi everyone,
I am trying to develop a load for my 300 win mag. I shoot pigs and deer. Some of the shots are rather long. I shot a pig this weekend at 353 yards and a nice buck this year at 374 yards.

I don't shoot very many targets because the local range is a horrible place to shoot with a constant right to left wind and the farthest target is 300 yards.

What is you best load for your 300?

Thanks for the help.

 

[BarryL]

Thats a pretty broad spectrum on loads your asking for. What bullet do you want to use? I tend to favor the heavier with a 1-9" twist. 200gr. SPBT and recently the 208gr. A-max is showing very nice results. Also remember that any load stated you are responsible to work up to it and assume all responsibility for that.

 

[squirrelduster]

I have been looking at the Berger 185 or 190 vld. I am currently shooting the accubond in 165 gr. The bullet performance has been great as far as impact goes but does not seem to be the top in accuracy.
Seems with the 300 if you shoot something under 200 yards you will make a mess if you hit any major bone. I shot a hog at 125 and a whitetail at 75 yards both had fairly large exit holes.
My thought is if I can shoot the VLD's and have the accuracy for a head or lung shot I will be better off.
What do you think?

 

[BarryL]

Your right on the damage. My son spined a bull moose and there was blood shot meat in the hind quarters. Up close I go for a face shot and further out I like the middle of the lungs keeping in mind the exit. Lighter bullets are to finnicky in the 300 and tend to blow apart on the hide at the speeds they are coming out at. Whats your barrel length. I have a 26" and my rifle likes H1000. Get some Speer 200gr. spbt and work up a load ladder testing. Fed215M primers and win brass. If your barrel is shorter than 26" you might want to try H4831sc or H4350.

 

[30378]

Try 165 Accubonds with 82.gr of RL-25, Fed 215M primers, neck sized Winchester brass and seated to 3.36". Works great in my Sendero. The 165 Accubond is lighter in weight but being bonded core will hold together well at range.

 

[BarryL]

The bonded cores are a good bullet fer sure. I like the long shots myself and find that the heavier spbt's with the higher BC hold the energy and have a flatter trajectory.

 

[SooStan]

My 300 shoots the 150 gr. bullets so so. The 165 gr. good but when I tried 180 gr. bullets it shoots great with IMR 4350 or H4350. I also full length resize my hunting ammo and find no loss of accuracy with that rifle.

 

[BarryL]

So as you increased the weight the accuracy got better. Dont stop there. I just worked up a nice load with the 208
A-max and have some tweaking to do but its looking very promising. Run the 180's against 200 and the 208gr. through JBM ballistics and check the comparison.

 

[squirrelduster]

I purchased some 200 accubonds today and am headed to the range to do a ladder test witht the IMR 4831 starting at 69 and going to 72 grains.
everything I have read say here and on another forum most people have the same opinion - use 180 or higher. Seems the long range guys like the 200 to 210 grain the best.
I'll report what happens tomorrow.

 

[squirrelduster]

Well back from the range today and it was very interesting and a huge learning experience.
I met Lynn from this board at the range and he explained how to do the ladder test. Pretty interesting.
I shot a group using the load I have been shooting for the last year or so and they measured right at 1" outside to outside.
I did the ladder test and found the node starting at 70.3 grains of IMR 4831 and grouped up to 71.9 grains. This group of varying powder charges was less than 3/4".
The next trip to the range I will check bullet seating depth and should be able to get this rifle to shoot in the 1/2" range.
Thanks fro everyones help.
Steve