300 win

[dragman]

I just picked up a new 300 win mag built by an awesome gunsmith. its built off of a Browning eclipse thumbhole and has a 26" krieger on it. it has a .336 chamber and looks to be really gone over right. with the shorter barrel than I'm used too what bullet weight should i go with hunting white tail the 210 vlds i shoot normally in my win mag and wsm??? Or something lighter?? Just looking for some opinions

 

[Glenn Powell]

Personally? I would go light, white tails are not too hard to put down.A couple years ago I took my 300 down to TX with 180 hornady interlocks, worked pretty good, as long as I kept my bullet off the shoulder and in the ribs. Hit the shoulder with just about anything with a 300 and you can really destroy meat. But a heavy, heavily constructed bullet will damage less meat. Just my experience.

 

[Zia Hunter]

I would take a look at the Berger 155 gr. VLD's. Load them in my 300 WSM and 300 Win Mag. Two Oryx this year with that bullet and both were clean one shot kills all 250 yd plus shots. The one shot with the 300 Win Mag dropped in its tracks which is highly unusual for an Oryx. More than enough bullet for white tails.

 

[bheadboy]

in my experience the 300wm is a great round, for white tail it is a bit much on the side of meat loss. so i used the 165 Sierra sbt and loaded them down to about 2950 vs the 3150 normal and they were very accurate and did not blow the deer apart on impact. just a smidge above a 30-06 velocity.

a few years ago hunting in Potter county PA a friend killed a wt at 500 with a wm full bore and noslers, hit the shoulder and on cleaning we had to cut away 40% of the right side meat.

Bob

 

[Chuckhunter]

Dragman, I used 165SPBT's for many years in my .300 Win Mag. at reasonable velocities with great success. I still use that bullet in my 300 SAUM also. Since I hunt in Pa. I have switched to a 6.5X47 Lapua with 130 Berger VLD's and must say that combo is pure poison. Because of that I mean to try the 155Gr' Berger VLD as Zia Hunter suggested. Since I see you also hunt in Pa., I would suggest something in the 150 to 165Gr. wt range. Unless you are shooting beyond 350yds. velocity is secondary to accuracy. With the .300 Win Mag, having enough velocity will never be a problem. Good luck with the new piece.

 

[civil82]

I've only shot one deer in northwestern PA with 300WM/VLDs. I used a 190, not sure of velocity, but it was probably in the 2800 range. I had a decent doe walking straight toward me, grazing some clover in a field that I chuck hunt in during the summer. When she put her head down, I centered the crosshairs on the neck about three inches from the base of her skull. The deer dropped insantly dead right there, 250 yards.
The only meat damage was a chunk about the size of my fist taken right out of the side of the neck. Not sure what would have resulted if I did the traditional broadside behind the shoulder.
I would personally stick with something lighter like the 155 recommended above. I also see no reason to push them full power depending on expected range, etc. If you can find an accurate load at a milder velocity, I'd try that as compared to blistering a frangible 155 into an animal that is only 12" wide throught the ribs.

 

[dragman]

I just checked and I don't know why I didn't ask but this is a 14 twist. It's on me I just assumed that it was a 10 oh well that just seals the deal I just loaded up the 155 hunting VLD's some with RL22 and some with H4350 I shall see what they do.

 

[bheadboy]

in br days of the 308, 150-165 were shot in 14 twist , velocity of the 165sbt in th 2800-2900 area should be stable. the oal length of the bullet being in th 1.195 area.

Bob

 

[Chuckhunter]

Dragman, actually the 14 twist is about optimum for bullet weights in the 155 to 168Gr. range.

 

[dragman]

Just got in from testing and honestly with 155 hunting VLD's this might be the most accurate gun I own. very pleased now to run it on the balistics chart and see how far I can stretch it out for white tail hunting.

 

[MrMajestic]

Funny how that happens when the twist and bullet length are optimized!

 

[dragman]

Funny how that happens when the twist and bullet length are optimized!

gotta say this is a great combo on barrel length contour twist with that bullet. I am pretty happy at the moment lol

 

[M14AMU]

this20thread20is20useless20without2 by Sharps45 2 7/8, on Flickr

 

[dragman]

both targets are 5 shot groups @100 yards the first group has one shot out of the group as I forgot to take the rear sling stud out and it must have set on the bag different. the second group has one out as I pulled the shot a pinch cuz guy beside me fired right as I was pulling trigger.

 

[Zia Hunter]

Dragman:

Glad you like the 155 VLD's and nice groups. What load are you shooting? Was at the range yesterday shooting 155 gr. VLD's behind 69.4 gr. of IMR 4350 with CCI 250 primers and Norma brass clocked at 3025 fps.. Shooting a McMillan with a Night Force 5.5x22x50. Cloverleaf with a 5 shot group with some rounds going through the same hole.

 

[dragman]

those two groups are with RL 22. 79.4 grains with a CCI 250 was the better group and 79 was a little bigger. I have three groups with H4350 so far and they are all triangles but none as tight as the RL powder.

 

[oldhoward]

I hunt whitetails in Texas. 300 Win mag is great cartridge. Most shots are between 100-350 yards. My load is a Rem 9 1/2 primer, 70 gr. Imr4350 and 165 Nosler Partition. 99% of my shots are through the shoulders and they never take a step. There is very little meat damage and this load in my rifle is very accurate. Hope this helps.

 

[Zia Hunter]

Dragman:

Still tuning the McMillan and will try some loads with R-22. Thanks.