300 WSM vs 30-06 (more than a speed question)

Status
Not open for further replies.
I am planning on getting my one and only 30 caliber rifle soon. I’ve narrowed it down to the new Model 70 (probably the Featherweight version). I was all set on buying one in 30-06 but keep on thinking about the 300 WSM as a really nice cartridge. This will be my longest range rifle as I tend to gravitate towards short-range rifles (.44 Mag and .357 Mag in lever and bolt guns) for my deer hunting.

The Model 70 Featherweight in 30-06 weighs 7 pounds and the same rifle in 300 WSM with a 2” longer barrel also weighs 7 pounds. The 300 WSM is only 1.5” longer in OAL. I normally am not concerned about losing a round in the magazine from one cartridge to another, however the 30-06 holds five to the three in the 300 WSM (This is a very minor concern).

Here is my question: I reload 100% of my rifle rounds and have been thinking this will make the 300 WSM a better cartridge for me as a reloader. I would get 250 FPS more out of a 180gr bullet and potentially a “better” cartridge (more inherently accurate, shorter, etc.)

On the other hand 30-06 brass is cheap and finding store-bought ammo easy (just in case), should I just go with the 30-06? I don’t plan to try to load high-pressure magnum levels here, so will I really miss that 250 FPS and the short cartridge the 300 WSM would give me? Is there something special about the 300 WSM? This would be the only gun I’d grab for open country hunting (up to Elk) in Northern or Western USA. I would still hunt deer in the Midwest with my lighter rifles.
Stick with the .30-'06 !
You cannot go wrong.
IMHO the humpty- dumpty Magnum stuff is a joke!
250 fps MORE ? The game animal WILL NOT notice the difference!
Shooting AND shot placement is far more important.
I'll match, shot for shot, with my '06 any one shooting a "magnum"!
Are you a reloader by chance?
Lots of stuff available for an '06!
Long range shots that made a difference with a Super Duper Magnum?
Balony!
 
Last edited:
Hey Zeke/PA,

Normally, I don't get into pissing contests with guys because I'm old and all of us old guys get enlarged prostates that slows us down.

That said, here's a 5-shot 100-yard group of the bench that I shot about a month ago with my .375 H&H Magnum that I kinda like for elk. The ammo was Nosler factory Trophy Grade using 260 gr AccuBond bullets. As you can see, I missed, but not by much (LOL...actually, I just put in 3 clicks "left" windage adjustment after my group).

375HampH260grNoslerPartitions_zpsfcd35043.jpg

Now, my .30-06 Win M70 does almost as well and, indeed, if I can't do 1-1/2 MOA or better with any of my hunting rifles with useful handloads, it's history in a hurry. Now I don't take hunting shots longer than 350 -400 yards because field positions typically add another 1 MOA to what the rifle does, and if you're off the range by a little, you'll wound the animal at which you're shooting.

I like my 7mm RM for CO speed goats and my .375 for elk though I trust my non-magnum rifles as well as the big guys. Indeed, two of my favorite rifles are my Ruger 77RSIs in .270 Win and .308 Win and I genuinely enjoy both my Ruger No. 1 in 6.5x55 and my Win M70 in 7x57. Of course, I know the ballistics of all my loads out to my self-imposed limits. Since I eat what I shoot, heroic shots are not required.

If you can't shoot a Magnum as well as a non-Magnum, for gosh sakes, don't take it hunting. You owe that to the game you hunt. Also, if you're in dangerous game territory (AK, Africa, much of Asia), either master a rifle suitable for the challenges you'll face, or spare your guide the risk and the trouble of tracking your misses.

FH
 
Zeke, the 30 cal magnums are no less accurate, and they are not about adding velocity so that the game falls harder. They're about adding velocity so that you can extend your effective and MPB range to suit an environment where that is ideal. Also, being able to get functional velocities out of heavier bullets is useful for certain applications.

A 30 cal bullet at x fps is a 30 cal bullet at x fps whether it started 100 yards away or 200.
 
Casefull, I see no disagreement on my part. I guess that if I have any real opinion in all this, it's that for deer hunting out to, say, 500 yards, most any 150-grain bullet somewhere in the range of 2,800 to 3,000 ft/sec is plenty good.
I am on the same page as you Art. My magnums all stay in the safe and I now do all my hunting with a lightwt 308 Kimber. I get 2900 plus with 150g ttsx and the deer and elk do not know the difference.
 
Harry,
I'm just an anti-magnum kind of guy.
I own two Model 70's in .30-'06 that shoot MOA.
I see guys her in Penn's Woods who really believe that Magnum calibers give them a real edge.
A buddy of mine by the way owns a M70 in .300 H&H that is without a doubt the most accurate rifle that I ever shot.
Didn't mean to start a pissing contest as it's truly a "to each his own" kind of thing.
 
Some of you guys remind me of my dad. Dad thinks anyone that uses anything bigger than a 30-06 is a blood thirsty nut that has way more gun than they need, and anyone using anything smaller than a 30-06 is out there with a pea shooter, just wounding deer with their puny gun when they could be killing the deer with a 30-06 :)
 
Zeke,

I have no problem with being an anti-magnum guy. I'm first and foremost, a good marksmanship guy, and a magnum can't make up for bad marksmanship.

I believe magnums have their appropriate uses. The great bears, for example, can be taken with a .30-06, though I'd rather have at least a .325 WSM, a .338 WM ora .375 H&H. Indeed, I originally got mine as an Alaskan rifle, though I've only fished in AK, never hunted there. As an aside, while fishing for King Salmon in Talkeetna a dozen years ago, a big Brownie walked out of the woods right along the river not 100 feet from me, stopped and gave me a stare...as if to ask whether I thought what I was doing was fishing...and walked down to the river, stuck his muzzle in the water, swiped at the water with a paw, came out with a three footer and walked back to the woods while looking at me as if to say, "that's how you fish up here!". He must have gone at least 700-800 pounds and he made me wonder whether a .375 H&H was enough rifle.

There's nothing in the lower 48 that requires anything bigger than a non-magnum .30 and good marksmanship. Nevertheless, magnums can be useful. I just bought a Sako 85 Bavarian in .300 WSM. I bought it partially because I got the rifle $500 off MSRP and that was what was available NIB from Sako, partially because the .300 WSM matches the ballistics of the .300 H&H and partially because the Sako is guaranteed to be a 5-shot 1 MOA shooter. It is the finest looking rifle I own and, scoped with a Leupy VX3 4.5-14x40 it'll be a workhorse for open country hunting. I'll be practicing with it out to 500 yards and, if I prove to myself I can get there with it, may move my self-imposed limits out past 400 yards. There are plenty of good hunting bullets that can get the job done with anything I'll find.

Cheers,

Harry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top