300 WSM

[roband]

Ok big caliber gurus,My son was gifted a 300WSM from a family friend who built it.700 rem action,mcmillian,krieger,jewel,vais brake
and last but not least topped with a night force. He built it for him as he drew a limited entry elk tag.I know the luckiest teen in the world.
For the last twenty years ive not shot anything bigger then a .20 cal mostly seventeens.We want want to develop a couple of loads one lighter for dinking around and one heavier deer and elk,or one all arounder.The magic question could you guys post up some of your favorite loads?thanks in advance.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I think the 210 Berger and H4350 are one of the most popular loads for a WSM... Somewhere around 2850 FPS @ 28"...


Ray

 

[mikegaiz]

What is the twist rate? you need 1-10 for 210 to shoot well. H4350 58 - 61 grains is the target area. Start around 56 grains. Good luck.

 

[Geno C]

I'm at 63.5gr of H4350 and only getting 2830. 210vlds with a .230 freebore in Winchester brass

155vlds come out screamin too!

 

[roband]

Forgot to mention it is a 1-10 twist at 23" with break kind of set up for quick handling.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Ok big caliber gurus,My son was gifted a 300WSM from a family friend who built it.700 rem action,mcmillian,krieger,jewel,vais brake
and last but not least topped with a night force. He built it for him as he drew a limited entry elk tag.I know the luckiest teen in the world.
For the last twenty years ive not shot anything bigger then a .20 cal mostly seventeens.We want want to develop a couple of loads one lighter for dinking around and one heavier deer and elk,or one all arounder.The magic question could you guys post up some of your favorite loads?thanks in advance.

I like 61.5 gr. of H4350 and the 210 gr. Berger hybrid, also 62.5 gr. H4350 and the Berger 200.20X (200 gr) hybrid. - Both of these loads shot very well in a Savage Model 12 (Repeater) with a 29' Benchmark heavy barrel. - Not a ton of work went into the rifle, Scott at SS&S trued & timed the action & chambered the barrel to my provided dummy-round. I did a bedding job on the stock, Rifle-Basix SAV-2 trigger & a 8-32 Sightron SIII. - IMO I would work with 1 or 2 bullets (not more) and find a good load for it rather than use up barrel life with a lot of experimenting. - I have 3 rifles chambered in 300 WSM and the research that I did prior to loading any ammo was taken from guys who posted on here. - There is a 300 WSM "Load Guide" under "Bigger Stuff" Sub-Forum. - A lot of information pointed me to H4350 and I took that advice and have zero regret in doing so. - I spent the time on my brass to do very meticulous preparation including neck-turning. - not that you necessarily need to pursue to the same degree. - The 300 WSM is easy to tune, and I believe it to be a very inherently accurate 30 caliber cartridge. - (Shot by many 1000 yd. BR shooters & I believe it has broken recent records in that discipline).
You'll need to see what exactly is going to work best in your individual rifle, but I believe H4350 to be an excellent starting point as far as powder goes along with Norma brass.

Good Luck & Good Shooting !!

 

[L.Sherm]

Do you have the mag box length to handle the heavy bullets?

 

[dkhunt14]

Do you have the mag box length to handle the heavy bullets?

If its a long action, he should. I would never build one on a short action. It is too hard to get loaded rounds out, especially with the bigger bullets. If it is a 10 twist, the 215 Berger is supposed to be a good killing bullet. Matt

 

[L.Sherm]

Yeah that's why I'm asking the o.p never stated what length he had a med. works the best

 

[L.Sherm]

Unless of course he wants to shoot single shot then it doesn't matter

 

[Wooten]

210 Berger vld & H4350
I'm shooting 61 gr with no pressure, but still advise working up to that, just to be safe.

Congrats to the kid !!

 

[bobinpa]

I have a couple of 300 WSM's. My go to, carry around deer gun is built on a model 7 action with a 22 inch barrel. The load for that gun is 66 grs of H4350, Fed 215 primer and 180 grain Nosler ballistic tips or Accubonds. Both bullets go into the same neat little group. I have to keep the loaded rounds to 2.810 to get them into the mag but it shoots really good and I'm getting 2934 FPS. The load is at the top end for pressure so start low and work up. . . . and yes, this thing kicks like a mule, but I never notice when I am killing something.

 

[roband]

Thanks for all the replies looks like 4350 is the place to start.It is built on a short action so i will be limited, im sure we will make it work.Apreciate all the replies!

 

[painter]

Dont overlook reloader 16 in the 300wsm

 

[lawrence97]

Dont overlook reloader 16 in the 300wsm

Where can you find RL16?
It seems just as hard or harder to find than H4350!

 

[painter]

R-16 in 0ne pounders at powder valley

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

There is IMR-4451 to consider as well.

 

[fyrewall]

4350 type powders might not be available in your area.

I like 4350 type powders especially h4350 but that is almost impossible to buy and AA4350 and IMR4350 are supply challenged and because of that I have found R-S Hunter to be entirely acceptable R-S Hunter is a very dense powder slightly slower than any of the 4350's resulting in more powder being able to be packed into the fat stubby 300 WSM case that additionally is challenged by some weapons that have limited free bore and/or short magazine boxes limiting coal. Possibly your rifle is exempt from these limitations and is able to accept long heavy bullets that do not limit powder capacity but when the situation limits powder capacity a slightly slower powder having a higher density may prove to be more satisfactory.

When I had a 300 wsm I shot deers with 150 grain bullets and Varget or Re15 powder but for heavy bullets a slower burning powder would be better. Where it is necessary to deal with restrictions of heavy long bullets intruding into and limiting case capacity or having a short action rifle with a short magazine that would enable rapid multiple shots at animals I would go for a more dense powder such as R-S Hunter for better performance.

A casual observation of the data in the Hodgdon loading manual indicates for coal of approximately 2.8 inches using 208 amax bullets many powders that are slower than H4350 are compressed and because of the unavailability of H4350 and possibly having a slightly slower burning and more dense R-S Hunter may prove to be a good alternative.

150 grain bullets using Varget can be driven just about as fast as H4350 and varget is more available and I have found it to be more accurate than H4350. A 150 at just under 3200 will shoot incredibly flat up to 400 yards and I hear that solid copper and copper/alloy bullets will shoot through elks and other big animals.

end of edit

I know that the above stuff is contrary to popular believe and current trending thought in a forum aimed at achieving high scores at 1000 yards and use of bullets marketed as having extremely high B.C. values. There is also the undisputable fact that heavy bullets have more momentum than lighter ones.

However, some other aspects must be considered like: will it fit in my magazine if it is a short action magazine, has the form factor or drag coefficient of the bullet been considered, when shooting at targets at unknown but practical hunting ranges when time is of the essence (like shoot! shoot! shoot!) will a 3175 mv shoot flatter than a 2750 mv?, how much bullet is needed to kill a 200 pound deer or even a 550 pound elk?

My personal opinion is that the short action magnums like the .300 WSM were designed for use with 180 grain lead core bullets at COAL's of about 2.8 inches with the intent of duplicating .300 Winchester Mag ballistics with 180 grain bullets.

In theory the .300 WSM having a shorter powder column will be more consistent than a .300 Win mag but to achieve optimum results with long 200 plus grain bullets would entail more free bore to optimize powder capacity.

In closing, the .300 WSM offers about 250 fps more velocity than a .30-06 and 100 fps less velocity than a .300 Win mag but is about .5 inches shorter. Who wants to lug around a 28 inch long barreled rifle when hunting , climbing, or thick vegetation. The 700 is a short action and 200 grain bullets would not offer much advantage unless use was single load and the rifle had much free bore. The Vais brake screwed onto the end of a 23 inch barrel would make it like a 25 but would give up 30-40 fps velocity.

With your short action I would go for 180 lead core with H4350, or R-S Hunter. Other bullets that would work just fine would be 150-155's using the above powders. 150 grain solid copper bullets are almost as long as 180 lead core bullets and at over 3100 fps would offer a good combination of flat trajectory and penetration. Shooting these in 1000 yard competition would be fruitless.

I apologize for the length of my response but I believe there are many factors to consider that would make a 1 or 2 liner inadequate.

 

[tuttlefarm]

I have basically the same built rifle for hunting. Krieger 25 inch barrel. Reamer was .255 free bore. I shoot the 210 hunt VLD. A few thousands jump off the lands. Using 62 grains of H4350 at a speed of 2700.

 

[roband]

Once again thanks for the replies saw a post 7mm-300wsm loads i think we have a a great starting place thanks again.