Why is the 300wm so popular

I'll add......IF you reload, it can easily duplicate any of the non-magnum .30s.

A .300WM can mimic a .308win or 30-06, but not the other way around. It actually is a very versatile cartridge and has proven to be very accurate.

I've had 2 different 300 WM rifles and one 300 WSM as well as 30-06 and 308. Sold all of the magnums. In today's world the 30-06 is the one losing out. For most people the 308 is more than enough, I know it is for me. All shoot basically the same bullets, but you reach the point of diminishing returns with bullets heavier than 180 gr with 308 and over 200 gr with 30-06. You CAN shoot heavier bullets in the smaller cartridges, just not fast enough to gain much from them. The 300WM will easily handle 200-230 gr bullets.

As long as the bullets impact game animals fast enough to get bullet expansion no animal will ever know the difference. A 308 will do that at 400-500 yards, the 30-06 about 100 yards farther down range and the 300 WM will add about 200 yards of useful range to 308. I'm not good enough to make shots at game at ranges farther than my 308 will work. Yea, a 300 WM shoots flatter, but that is easily compensated for with modern optics and range finders. Not a factor at all.

At ranges inside of 400 yards the extra speed of the 300 WM offers no advantage, and could be a disadvantage. Bullets are designed to expand within a range of impact speeds. Too slow and they don't expand at all, too fast and they over expand and don't penetrate enough.

Of the 300 magnums I've owned the 300 WSM is the one I'd choose if going back to a magnum cartridge. It shoots the same bullets as 300 WM about 50 fps slower, but with recoil that splits the difference between 30-06 and 300 WM. And does it in more compact rifles that have proven more accurate.

I thought the 6.5 Creed! made all the magnums obsolete

AJC1 said:

I'll wager it's no more accurate than any other cartridge and due to the recoil impulse is less accurate for most shooters. Pick any 10 shooters and I'll hand them a 6br and a 300wn for a string of 50 shots.

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Well sure, for a fifty shot string give me a 6.5. Unless I'm doing a seat or ladder test, my 300wm rarely gets shot more than 12 times if zeroing, usually 6 or less. It usually only gets shot once when hunting.

Mine is Model 77 MKII Ruger and is my designated Elk gun. I purchased it very lightly used (the owner was a young man who drew an Elk tag, got excited and went out and bought a new rifle, scope, etc, and never saw an animal on his hunt. His wife demanded he turn the rifle into a side of beef so his loss was my gain!). Over the last 20 years or so it has served me quite well. I've taken Elk and Oryx with it, and as an example in the last six years I have only fired 5 rounds through it and brought home 4 Elk. I have a bunch of new boxes of ammo missing one round as I generally buy a new box each season. I have a 30-06 and a .270 for deer and such. And my trusty 25-06 and a .243 for Antelope. I never use the 300 for smaller game than Elk.

AJC1 said:

I'll wager it's no more accurate than any other cartridge and due to the recoil impulse is less accurate for most shooters. Pick any 10 shooters and I'll hand them a 6br and a 300wn for a string of 50 shots.

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Are you suggesting the 300wm is inherently more accurate than a br just tougher to shoot ?

AJC1 said:

I'll wager it's no more accurate than any other cartridge and due to the recoil impulse is less accurate for most shooters. Pick any 10 shooters and I'll hand them a 6br and a 300wn for a string of 50 shots.

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And the average elk hunter is shooting 50 shot strings.....why exactly?

It's not generally used as a TGT cartridge (at least not for mid-range), it has however been used as a sniper round and long distance match cartridge however. Usually the cartridges picked for those purposes successfully have some inherent accuracy capabilities.

Your initial post asked why .300WM VS a .308 and I think it's been answered. Whether ort not you can accept other's rationale is sort of a personal thing.

As an aside, that EGO thing seems to work both ways; from "I can handle the largest magnum, to all I need to hunt deer is a .22 Hornet". Like most things the truth is somewhere in between.

I think 300wm is great and i want one for no other reason than knowing i can reach way out there without breaking the bank , however i love my 308 and the 6.5 that can also reach very very close to the 300wm with less recoil of the 308…But….carries less mass. Marketing and military adoption as a sniper round had to do with it too. If tomorrow the army start using the 7mm Rem Mag as a sniper round then every tacticool kid will try to get one even if their grandpa had the Remington Or Winchester in the safe since the 70s

AJC1 said:

I seem to run across 300wm often an think who really shoots that. Is there something that 300wm is doing that 308 isnt????

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If you were into long range target shooting the popularity and success for the .300 Win Mag would be no surprise. Like the .300 H&H Mag before it, the .300 WM has a long career if success in 1000 yd events like the Wimbledon Cup match at US Nats. Here are a couple .300's I've had considerable success with, including qualifying for the Wimbledon shoot off more than once. At top is built on Shilen DGA action with Shilen barrel and Dunlap style stock by Jim Cloward. At bottom is Prre-64 M-70 action Douglas barrels, and Fajen stock, which has won or placed well n several 1000 yd tournaments. The .300 WM also remains the caliber to beat in long range benchrest competitions.

It definitely earns the magnum name versus the 308 and 30-06. A 300 Win Mag will put a 150gr bullet out there 400 fps faster than the smaller 30s will, or launch a 200 gr pill as fast as they throw 150s.

What's it used for? That's basically asking what would you need more gun than a 308 for. But unlike all the 7mm'ish deer rounds out with overlapping performance, the 300WM really is more gun.

A .300 WM wouldn't make sense for me. For what I do, it wouldn't add much.
However, I learned a long time ago that just because I'm not capable of squeezing all the benefit out of something, doesn't mean others aren't.

AJC1 said:

Is there something that 300wm is doing that 308 isnt????

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Not if the "308" you're talking about is a 308 Norma Magnum.
And vice-versa for that matter.

Archie said:

.300 Winchester is actually used and useful for those few hunters who honestly take critters at extended ranges; 500 yards and further.
.300 Winchester is actually used and useful for those hunters who hunt large, dangerous game in North America. Large bear, Moose, Caribou, and that category of critter that will eat one or just stomp on one.
.300 Winchester is actually coveted by those who prove their manhood by having one, spurred on by clever marketing.

I don't even pretend to shoot anything that far off. Even paper. I own a .375 Ruger, far superior in my thinking to any .308 caliber rifle for large game, dangerous or not. However, with every day it grows less likely I will hunt in Alaska and surely not Africa. So it may be just as smart to peddle it off in a year or two.

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Hey everyone needs a couple "what if guns". I have a 444 marlin for the purpose of hunting black bear. I have shot exactly one black bear in my life and don't really have any intention of ever going hunting for one again, but at least I'm prepared. I have another rifle and scope combo all set to go on a western elk hunt even though I have no particular intention of going on one. I have always wanted to get a CRF 338 win mag or 375 ruger to be my "Alaska gun", however family responsibilities and other hobbies have made the chance of me ever going increasingly remote. That won't stop me from getting the rifle and day dreaming however.

AJC1 said:

No, I am disputing any claim that the 300 is inherently accurate. I am also claiming that due to its recoil the average shooter is less accurate. It could be 5 shots.

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I would agree with this. The anecdotal Mossberg I mentioned earlier was producing no where close to the groups I shot.
And, we were both using factory ammo that day, though mine was Precision Hunter and his was Winchester . A combination of cheap ammo, cheap gun, and/or lack of skill can render any cartridge inferior to others as far as accuraccy.

But there is still no denying the bullet drop and stability at long distances with 300wm will not be equalled by any 308win or 30-06.

If you look a the pawn shops, they seem to have a good supply of lightweight 300wm rifles.
Wonder why?

Nature Boy said:

I thought the 6.5 Creed! made all the magnums obsolete

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that was last year.......

South Prairie Jim said:

If you look a the pawn shops, they seem to have a good supply of lightweight 300wm rifles.

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The first Kimber Mountain Ascent I handled (used, in my LGS) was in .300WM. I distinctly recall the skeletonized extractor. I've held nerf guns that weighed more.

I like recoil as much as the next knucklehead, but that was a terror to contemplate.

I asked my daughter why she loves her 300 weatherby so much , she says the deer don't get up a run off that's why.
Plus it will blow right through plate steel at 200 yards.

AJC1 said:

I'll wager it's no more accurate than any other cartridge and due to the recoil impulse is less accurate for most shooters. Pick any 10 shooters and I'll hand them a 6br and a 300wn for a string of 50 shots.

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That’s kinda like mentioning a Honda Civic has a tighter turning radius and gets getter gas mileage than a top fuel dragster...

I’m absolutely unwilling to send a 105grn bullet out of 6BR 700 yards after an elk, or frankly, even a whitetail. Doesn’t really matter how soft it shoots for high round count groups, sometimes we need more horsepower.