.308 verses 300wsm on recoil

[xdshooter]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

 

[Steve Blair]

The .308 Win has a lot less recoil than a full power .300 WSM. But, I am unaware of any BR discipline where the .308 would be a competitive choice.

 

[Yagingaboy]

There really is no comparison. The WSM can be a bit brutal on an uncompensated hot load. The 308, not so much.

 

[bozo699]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

I wouldn't prefer either one of them for br work, but there is no comparison to which one has more recoil,...........300wsm hands down.
Wayne.

 

[Shynloco]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

I have to ask...are you asking this for casual fun shooting or actually trying to compete? I've never seen a .308 or 300WSM used in Benchrest Competition. The 6mmbr's, 6PPC or even the 260's or 6.5's would outshoot either the .308 or a 300 WSM (even if the 300 had a suppressor or it which is the only way to reduce the kick below what a .308 puts out) by a large margin.

 

[xdshooter]

300 wsm is used all the time in benchrest competition

 

[JohnMill]

It certainly is and it does real well if you consider handing off the 1K HG record off from one 300WSM shooter to another 300WSM shooter and on and on. but a LG even at 17lbs you'll have ample recoil I think even the 7WSM is more than I'd want day after day.
A 308 won't shoot the best bullets up to speed so you have to use less than the best bullets and tell yourself that they're good. Too much trouble and no forseeable results.
Here is the best go. Go to some matches. Go to the schools. See what people are shooting (and maybe selling). If you don't see someone competeing with it, you do not (DO NOT) want it.
I recommend the Williamsport BR school. I like the people and the territory.

 

[TonyR]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

For benchrest, you definitely want the WSM despite the additional recoil. Look at the match results for the Williamsport club and you will see how well the 300WSM can shoot:

http://www.pa1000yard.com/results/chooseresults.php

 

[bozo699]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

For benchrest, you definitely want the WSM despite the additional recoil. Look at the match results for the Williamsport club and you will see how well the 300WSM can shoot:

http://www.pa1000yard.com/results/chooseresults.php

Tony,
It is interesting to see back east the guy's are shooting the big boomers, out here in the west little boomers,...6 dashers, 6X47's, 6brx and just plain 6br's. I have heard Laurie from England talk about the 7mm's being preferred, it must be the heavier winds. I shot my first 1k BR match with a .300wm,..WOW I was shooting on bench 5, by the time the rifle settled down I was lined up on target 9, after two relay's 30+ shots 190 bullets being pushed by 76 grains of powder, again I say WOW, that will separate the men from the boy's, and I guess I am a boy because I love the little sixes
Wayne.

 

[TonyR]

Whats your preference .308 or 300wsm for recoil and quick recover when bench rest shooting

For benchrest, you definitely want the WSM despite the additional recoil. Look at the match results for the Williamsport club and you will see how well the 300WSM can shoot:

http://www.pa1000yard.com/results/chooseresults.php

Tony,
It is interesting to see back east the guy's are shooting the big boomers, out here in the west little boomers,...6 dashers, 6X47's, 6brx and just plain 6br's. I have heard Laurie from England talk about the 7mm's being preferred, it must be the heavier winds. I shot my first 1k BR match with a .300wm,..WOW I was shooting on bench 5, by the time the rifle settled down I was lined up on target 9, after two relay's 30+ shots 190 bullets being pushed by 76 grains of powder, again I say WOW, that will separate the men from the boy's, and I guess I am a boy because I love the little sixes
Wayne.

Wayne.
I didn't mean to say that the 300WSM is "the" cartrudge for 1000 yard BR. The OP was asking about a 308 vs a 300WSM. You could also go to the Williamsport website and look at how some of the Dasher shooters do in both light and heavy gun. I wouldn't heasitate to shoot a 6mm Dasher in BR.

I shoot a 7mm in F-Class because we have to make a wind call on every shot. In the UK and Ireland, the individual matches are shot 2 or 3 to a firing point so there, every shot is more like a sighter because there might be a couple of minutes between shots for each shooter. Under those conditions, velocity and BC can be very helpful. In BR, it seems that being able to get the shots down range before conditions change can off set the gains of velocity and BC with the bigger calibers.

 

[bozo699]

Wayne.
I didn't mean to say that the 300WSM is "the" cartrudge for 1000 yard BR.
Tony,
I never took it in a bad way, I checked out the link you posted and though I have been on the site several times before I wasn't looking to see what was being used, I was surprised to see mostly big rifles being shot, even in light gun. Thanks again
Wayne.

 

[Cameron SS]

Recoil and quick recovery are a factor. In order to make the 300 manageable, you need the gun to be as heavy as possible. That said, my F Open Class gun is currently only 18 pounds and shoots great...until around the end of the day when I'm getting tired and my shoulder is crying for no more.

As for performance, I'm shooting 210 gr SMKs at 2900 FPS. Some people with more experience than me might even suggest that 2900 fps is a bit slow. I've heard of some getting over 3000, but I haven't seen that with my own eyes yet. When you run the numbers on BC, the .308 Win can't hold a candle to the 300 WSM.

Whether the 300 WSM can outshoot the other popular BR Guns, we'll let the record book settle that one...

 

[boltman13]

A tight necked 308 is a popular round in Hunter Benchrest. Shooting mine with 125 gr bullets for 50 rounds for record plus sighters, usually about 65 rounds total is not too hard on me. As for 300 WSM the recoil is much stouter off the bench. Mine is a lightweight hunting rifle using 180 gr bullets and 10-12 rounds is about my limit without a pause. A heavier rifle would certainly be better. Everyone tolerence to recoil is different, however. I once watched a guy shoot a Weatherby 460 Mag 10 times off the bench and live to tell about it. He had a cut on his forehead and probably some brain damage but he is still alive.

 

[bozo699]

A tight necked 308 is a popular round in Hunter Benchrest. Shooting mine with 125 gr bullets for 50 rounds for record plus sighters, usually about 65 rounds total is not too hard on me. As for 300 WSM the recoil is much stouter off the bench. Mine is a lightweight hunting rifle using 180 gr bullets and 10-12 rounds is about my limit without a pause. A heavier rifle would certainly be better. Everyone tolerence to recoil is different, however. I once watched a guy shoot a Weatherby 460 Mag 10 times off the bench and live to tell about it. He had a cut on his forehead and probably some brain damage but he is still alive.

I welcome anybody to shoot my 460 WBY Mag 10 times off a bench, 99 ft. lbs of felt recoil, compared to about 19 lbs out of a 30-06, I will gladly supply the 500 grain shoulder busters
Wayne.

 

[TonyR]

Wayne.
What do you shoot with the 460 WbyMag???

 

[Minesweeper3433]

Damn I went into bozo's profileto see where he lived. :'( Other side of the freakin continent! I would never pass up the chance to shoot a big bore and have someone else pay the bill. If your ever in FL shooting that cannon let me know and bring extra ammo. Coolest gun I ever shot was a 50bmg for a field day (ammo burn for fiscal year) that was fun but I walked in a curve for a week after for some reason whenever I didn't pay atention.

 

[bozo699]

Wayne.
What do you shoot with the 460 WbyMag???

Tony,
Absolutely nothing!! I bought it 25+ years ago because I was into bigger badder faster is better,...Kids,..yes I was a kid once and I thought it was neat to load my 44 mag so hot I had to remove the cylinder and hammer the cases out, and show up at mule deer hunting camp with a 460 WBY because all the other whimps were using little .308's, I know, I know. Well I grew up and I HATE RECOIL!! I see kids doing dumb things and shake my head,...then remember back 30 years ago and go Oh yea I remember them dumb days, I invented some of them
Wayne.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

I am still young and enjoy dumb. As long as dumb dont kill me or my friends and family I do it. I am teaching my brother the same right now as he might not have much time to do dumb things.

 

[TonyR]

Wayne.
What do you shoot with the 460 WbyMag???

Tony,
Absolutely nothing!! I bought it 25+ years ago because I was into bigger badder faster is better,...Kids,..yes I was a kid once and I thought it was neat to load my 44 mag so hot I had to remove the cylinder and hammer the cases out, and show up at mule deer hunting camp with a 460 WBY because all the other whimps were using little .308's, I know, I know. Well I grew up and I HATE RECOIL!! I see kids doing dumb things and shake my head,...then remember back 30 years ago and go Oh yea I remember them dumb days, I invented some of them
Wayne.

A couple of rounds with that thing would be the end of the few brain cells I still have. A friend and I were discussing guns the other day and he actually said that he didn't "need" a particular gun as if that matters!

 

[JohnMill]

He shoots 500 grain shoulder busters.