Why is the 300wm so popular

Ego

moving 300 fps faster

Yep, 200 gr bullet still supersonic quite a ways further than 308 can push it.
Only reason I'm playing with 308 is for my Sil. Since I have 30-06 and 300wm, I really have no need for 308, but it is a versatile round.

300WM was the military long range round for many years. Does a lot more than a .308 will or even the 30-06. I have all 3 and like them, sort of a small, medium, and large situation.

That said, if I wasn't already into the 300WM I would likely go with the 300WSM today (and suggest others look hard at that one).

On paper the difference doesn't sound like much, but at 500yds 308 drops about 64 " , 300wm drop is about 38", that's 2 feet of difference , which is enough to miss just about any animal in the U.S.

Faster means less drop and less wind drift. For any given distance, the 300wm requires less correction than .308win. That's certainly appealing to some people. And there's also the idea that a more powerful cartridge covers a wider range of big game animals. So whilst some might say .308 is marginal or inadequate for Moose or Alaskan Brown Bears, I don't think many people doubt the capabilities of the 300wm for the same.

The flip side is cost and recoil. But some people are willing (or initially believe they are willing) to accept those things.

AJC1 said:

Either will miss if you dont correct the drop really that big of deal if both miss with no correction.

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The 300 Winchester throws a much heavier bullet at much higher velocities.
Energy/velocity and mass on impact matters, and matters more of the worse your hit happens to be. The fast 30s do offer some insurance over the slower smaller options.

The real question becomes does one want/need that extra oomph, and should it be desired, can the shooter actually put it to use?

I find 300s under about 9 lb uncomfortable to shoot too many rounds out of in a sitting. I also don't personally feel a real want for a bullet bigger, and heavier, than my 7mm's can toss at the velocities I want them to.
Add to the fact that if for some reason I did need a much larger heavier round, I have those at my disposal.
This leaves me with only a nostalgia/"I want" interest in any of the .30 cals...... The one I do happen to still own though is a 300 Winchester.......

I was a little shocked at the diffences in platforms for 300wm. My 700lr and my X-bolt long range pro do not have as much felt recoil as my 30-06's. However, one of my employees brought over his Mossberg 300wm one day and we compared them. After shooting it, he tried his best to buy my 700. My teeth are still rattling from his Mossberg.

Anyone who has shot enough game with the .300WM will be aware that it is without doubt "more" than the non magnum .30's. Whether it is needed or not is a good discussion, but there is no doubt it is a potent round for North American game. Whenever people discuss whether or not a particular cartridge is suitable for particular game, when the .300WM gets discussed it's usually, "Well, yeah that will work." And experience with what a .300 WM can do with a good 200 grain bullet will make that clear. The level of recoil it produces is more than I enjoy, so it gets less "fun shooting" than other cartridges, but if I'm thinking I want to drop a moose or elk (never shot it at a grizzly, likely won't ever, but wouldn't hesitate) and do it decisively and with no complications, or perhaps there is no snow yet and I want a good blood trail, that is the one I like to carry. If you just want something dead, it works well in many different situations.

So, although I do not carry it as often as others I use, I have total confidence in it. I think it's popular for just that reason: anyone who uses one very much starts to have total confidence that it will work.

Aletheia said:

Anyone who has shot enough game with the .300WM will be aware that it is without doubt "more" than the non magnum .30's. Whether it is needed or not is a good discussion, but there is no doubt it is a potent round for North American game. Whenever people discuss whether or not a particular cartridge is suitable for particular game, when the .300WM gets discussed it's usually, "Well, yeah that will work." And experience with what a .300 WM can do with a good 200 grain bullet will make that clear. The level of recoil it produces is more than I enjoy, so it gets less "fun shooting" than other cartridges, but if I'm thinking I want to drop a moose or elk (never shot it at a grizzly, likely won't ever, but wouldn't hesitate) and do it decisively and with no complications, or perhaps there is no snow yet and I want a good blood trail, that is the one I like to carry. If you just want something dead, it works well in many different situations.

So, although I do not carry it as often as others I use, I have total confidence in it. I think it's popular for just that reason: anyone who uses one very much starts to have total confidence that it will work.

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Agreed. I kill most of my deer with 30-30 and 30-06 just fine and for 3 decades I said I had no need for 300wm. But I finally gave in a few years ago when a good deal came up on a 700 lr. When you've killed as many deer as I have with different calibers and you see the difference in damage, you can't help but respect the 300wm.

Pushing a 200-220 class bullet fast enough to actually get somewhere and get something done.

When I cross state lines after game, I don’t want to be handcuffed to a limited range, or limited impact energy and risk watching an elk or black bear disappear into unfamiliar territory. The 300wm lets me reach as far as I know I can in the field and deliver plenty of payload upon arrival.

Not my choice for deer hunting on my own property where I can plan my shots and thoroughly pattern my target bucks, but it’s good insurance when traveling.

AJC1 said:

My curiosity is in part that the 7x57 has killed the largest dangerous game on the planet. Some people bow hunt polar bears and that's just a game of who dies first. A specialty round like 25-06 for elr flat prairie hunting. The 300 just seems way more common than the circumstances would dictate. I can buy 300 at my local Walmart but no 30-06 or 30-30. I just find that strange. There is definitely a time and place, hell shoot it if you like it.

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The availability is probably due to it being a lower volume of shooting round compared to those others. When i find 300wm at my local walmarts it sticks on the shelf for a couple days longer than the rest. As for why people like it i think varminterror describes the sentiment perfectly.

For when a 180 gr bullet at 2800 isn’t enough.

I have also always been puzzled why 300 win mag is as popular as it is in my part of the country. Our only huntable large game in northern Minnesota these days are whitetail and black bear, so there is no practical need for anything larger than a 270 or 30-06 and the terrain makes it very impractical to try to do any sort of long range hunting. Despite that the shelves are very well populated with 300 win mag and it sells well. I have always chocked it up to people reading to many magazines or internet and wanting to one up others.

It's possible that the price difference is in play. A box of Rem Core Lok 30-06 is still $23 at wal mart if they have it. A box of Fed Fusion 150's in 300wm is $32 . So if you have both guns and can only afford one box, which do you get?

The one that puzzles me is 350 legend. That has been consistently the only thing on shelves every day around here.

I find the 300wm with 125gr hollow point bullets at just over 3000fps decisive medicine for woodchucks.

AJC1 said:

In a hunting scenario do most hunters take enough shots for the price per round to matter? Now those tss Turkey rounds holly crap those are expensive.

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Well, it all depends on your way of thinking. For you and I , likely not, but many folks don't think the same way as me,, or maybe are now on a low fixed income and $5 a box can be a big difference to them.

@AJC1 - the point that smaller cartridges take game effectively is fair, and frankly, I often state in this forum and others, I’ve grown to believe that if I find myself needing more than 100-130grn of bullet over more than 30-40grn of powder to kill deer, I’ve made some bad decisions in my day. But most years, one of those “bad decisions” is to cross state lines into unfamiliar terrain after game, such I can’t pattern the game and trust in an approach and range, nor be intimately familiar with the terrain and cover where they might run in cover. A friend hit a cow elk when we were just out of HS and it ran ~50yrds and fell ~40ft down a ravine into a stream, absolutely, no way we could recover it... I’ve had a deer find its way into marshes shin deep in water and chest deep in grass which I had no idea was waiting on the other side of the tree line. I’m certain it died there, but in 10 acres of swamp, it was a needle and a haystack. I’ve also been hunting with a short action cartridge and almost bit my tongue in half wanting to shoot so badly at an elk 700yrds out, being uncertain of my ability to cleanly and quickly anchor the bull with the 7-08AI in my hands.

So the 300 lays a little more hate than the others.

I'll leave the 300 win mag for the younger folks. Im in to bad a shape to enjoy it. I had my Mosin out today. Ran 5 full power rounds through it, The rest were 13 grains of red dot loads. I wish i took better care of myself when i was younger. I was always a bull. Carried transmissions on my shoulders when i worked in garage. Same with logs cutting wood. Now im paying for it.