300 or 338 win mag

300 win mag or 338 win mag?

  • 300

    Votes: 24 41.4%

  • 338

    Votes: 19 32.8%

  • neither

    Votes: 15 25.9%
  • Total voters
    58
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ursus americanas

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So I'm planning to get a new hunting rifle, and I'm torn between these two. I generally shoot 30-06 in the field, and would like to add something with a little more punch to the collection. I'll mostly be hunting deer and black bear with it. What do you all think?
 
If you add elk, moose or brown bear to the list, then the .338 would be great. For deer and blackies tough, the '06 is a great round.
 
Unless your shots are over 300 yards, a 300 mag doesn't really offer much over the 30-06. If you haven't shot a 338 yet, try to find someone that will let you shoot theirs.

I don't think you should get either for deer and black bear, but if you want something with more punch get the 300. Less damage to the meat, and far less recoil than the 338.
 
Load the .338 Winnie with 250 Nosler Partitions and you can use it on anything in North America.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
The 30.06 will take care of anything you hunt in North America. That said, I've shot Elk, Moose, and Bison with my .300 winnie using 180 gr Barnes X bullets with all being one shot kills (Buffalo was at 350 yards), so why abuse your shoulder with anything bigger. You can only kill game so dead, so again the 30.06 will do it all.
 
get a 7mm rem mag if you want a belt and longer range/more energy. 7mm sacrifices a little bit of energy over the 300 win, but recoil is something like half and it shoots a little bit flatter.
 
Ursus,

First of all get what you want. Thats the fun of guns, they don't cost all that much and we can move them on if they don't work out.

For just deer and BB I voted neither. I just don't like the recoil of either round in a rifle of decent weight.

If the ranges might be longish I might use a 7mm WSM or some similar cartridge.

If you hand load either the 300 WM or 338 WM could be loaded down a little for woods ranges and still be plenty.
 
The 7mm remy has been there and done that, ALL THAT.:neener:
A 7mm WSM is an excellent choice for 140-150gr bullets, it maximizes velocity and with the slight reduction in powder- it lessens recoil.
Stock design is as much a recoil input as anything, a 300 win on a win syn stock is ok - but the 300 win on a ruger stock is terrible. For me............
 
I have a semi auto 300 Win Mag and don't find the recoil to be bad at all. I would rather shoot my 300WM than my buddies 7mm anyday. Now, if I was comparing a bolt action to a bolt action, that may be different.

Plus, you can always shoot Remington's reduced recoil rounds. For dear, shoot the 150 grain reduce recoil and you'll be just fine. For bear, shoot a Winchester or Barnes X bullet in 180 grains and you will do well.
 
I have to agree with two of the thoughts here before I give you my opinion:

First and foremost, get what you decide you want, or need.

Second, both the 300 mag and the 338 mag are overkill for deer or black bear. WAY overkill. Of course there's nothing wrong with that if you just like to shoot big calibers.

As for my own $0.02 worth, there's almost nothing the 300 mag will do that a 30-06 won't do. The benefit in speed and range is the next thing to nothing. The jump up to a 338 makes bigger holes and so is a better choice in my opinion. Of course that's coming from someone who has hunted elk for many years and who still lives in big bear country. I'd still say that a 300 is too similar to the grand old cartridge, the '06.

For what it's worth, I had a 30-06 Ruger 77 MkII All Weather with the black factory stock. It actually had more felt recoil than its replacement, a 77 MkII stainless with a laminate stock, Decelerator pad, and Barnes muzzle brake. I know that it's comparing apples to pears, but that 338 is a wonderful shooting rifle that I have no problem shooting a lot with.
 
For you intended use a .300 Win Mag would be a good choice without being overkill. That said, I'm getting more recoil sensitive as the years go by. .300 doesn't feel much different than an .06
 
I'm gonna get weird here...

.375 H&H...

Your buds come over... "Oh, that's my elephant gun."

And at the same time, buy a small handloading setup. You can ALWAYS load the thing lighter, and use smaller bullets, for smaller game.
 
Bullet weight in the .338 will have greater effect that a .30 magnum . Get Craig Boddingtons book, Safari Rifles and you will see how your not getting that much performance out of a .30 mag than a 30.06, the greater bullet weight of the .338 will have more effect.

I searched this very topic for months.
 
If you need more than a 30-06 don't even bother with a .300, not nearly enough extra to make it worthwhile. Go straight to a .338, a real mans rifle, and you can even use it on big bears.

By the way, I have them all, and it's a serious answer, unless you just like to collect at least one in each caliber the .338 is the only one that is really a step up. .300 winnies are fine, but not enough different to the -06, it's the rifle I hunt the least with.
 
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