AJC1
Member
I shoot a lot of calibers and am always on the hunt for ammunition. I seem to run across 300wm often an think who really shoots that. Is there something that 300wm is doing that 308 isnt????
Either will miss if you dont correct the drop really that big of deal if both miss with no correction.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.
The 300 Winchester throws a much heavier bullet at much higher velocities.Either will miss if you dont correct the drop really that big of deal if both miss with no correction.
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.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.
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.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.
I dont own one but my bias may be large in part to the capability of the 270. If the 270 is not enough gun the 300wm it is but that's not very often imo.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.
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.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?
Now there is task and purpose. Goal make the very best red cloud.... goal complete. I definitely respect your commitment.I find the 300wm with 125gr hollow point bullets at just over 3000fps decisive medicine for woodchucks.
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.