300 Win Mag

[AgPilot]

Just picked up a Browning XBolt 300 Win Mag to play with.
Gonna start with 200gr Nosler Spitzer and 70 gr of H4831sc
Any other ideas Y’all have used?
Have several other powders to play around with. IMR4831
RL22 etc
Anybody with any experience with the VV powder? Have that too. And just curious on how it performs. I Use it in several Pistol loads but haven’t tried it in a Rifle load yet.

 

[.308 Norma]

For mule deer with my 308 Norma Mag (same ballistics as a 300 Win Mag) and the 300 Win Mag I used to have, I like a charge of H4831 behind a Sierra 165gr HPBT. I might "step up" to a well constructed 180gr bullet of some flavor for elk hunting, but I don't think I'd ever go with a bullet heavier than that in a 30 caliber magnum for hunting anything in the lower 48. At least not in this part of the country where we're hunting in heavy timber and can't see 50 yards one day, sitting and glassing the other side of a saddle 300 yards away the next, and looking for a deer or elk 400 yards away, across a grain stubble field the day after that.

 

[AgPilot]

I see Your point. We do have some 4-500 yd shots here in the Mississippi Delta. I may back down to the 165 or maybe some 180 SST
Thanks

P.S. I was thinking of the 200gr for Nilgai in South Texas​

 

[Chuck R.]

My 'longish' range deer load for Mulie's in western KS is the 165 Sierra gamechanger. I'm also used 168 Nosler Combind Technology. The 165s and 168s at 3100+ FPS are very flat shooting to normal deer ranges. For elk I've used 180 and 200 partitions, I'm about to work up a new load using Nolser 180 grn ABs.

My "go to" powder was IMR 4831, but I've been switching all my IMR powders to Hodgdons due to availability and reduced temp sensitivity. I now use H4831SC. I've always used FED215s or Fed 215Ms for my magnum cartridges.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I'm using 200eldx and 76gr of H1000.
I think you're gonna like that X-bolt. I have the X-bolt pro burnt bronze, it's a tack driver.

 

[Hugger-4641]

If you have the pro burnt bronze also, it has a different twist rate than the other X-bolts. It has 1/8 twist, which means it likes the heavier bullets better.

 

[lightman]

I'm another that uses the Sierra 165 grain HPBT and 4831. It just works.

 

[Aletheia]

Has everyone had a close look at the charts. The trajectory differences between the 165 grain and the 200 grain bullets in the .300WM are very small, but the energy delivered at long ranges by the heavier bullet are significant. I can adjust any trajectory an inch or two by simply moving the cross hairs, but I can do nothing to add to the energy and penetration of a bullet at 400 yards. Heavy for caliber bullets are the best choices for long range shooting, and at short range, you can do anything that needs doing with a 165 grain bullet with a .30-06. The real advantages of a .30 cal magnum only appear once you start shooting heavy for caliber bullets. If you think you need a .300 magnum of any sort, you will be better off with heavier bullets especially at long range, and especially if the game is bigger.

 

[Chuck R.]

Has everyone had a close look at the charts. The trajectory differences between the 165 grain and the 200 grain bullets in the .300WM are very small, but the energy delivered at long ranges by the heavier bullet are significant. I can adjust any trajectory an inch or two by simply moving the cross hairs, but I can do nothing to add to the energy and penetration of a bullet at 400 yards. Heavy for caliber bullets are the best choices for long range shooting, and at short range, you can do anything that needs doing with a 165 grain bullet with a .30-06. The real advantages of a .30 cal magnum only appear once you start shooting heavy for caliber bullets. If you think you need a .300 magnum of any sort, you will be better off with heavier bullets especially at long range, and especially if the game is bigger.

I'm not 100% sure how big the whitetails are in MS, but I'm guessing maybe slightly smaller than our KS whitetails. I've never needed to put even a 180 grn into a whitetail out to 500 yds. So yea, I agree with the 180s and 200s for larger game, but deer??? Besides, 400-500 described in the OPs post isn't classic 'long range'.

The 165s & 168s are fine in the .300WM, chit guys are killing deer with them in .308s and 30-06's out to 500. They're also easier on the wallet and shoulder for practicing. IAW this at least, out to 500 yds (the OPs stated max MS range) the 165s actually retain more energy than the 190s:

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/lodge/300-win-mag-ballistics/

Even if it were reversed, no deer on this planet is going to noting a 200ft lb delta at 500 yds,

 

[AgPilot]

I'm not 100% sure how big the whitetails are in MS, but I'm guessing maybe slightly smaller than our KS whitetails. I've never needed to put even a 180 grn into a whitetail out to 500 yds. So yea, I agree with the 180s and 200s for larger game, but deer??? Besides, 400-500 described in the OPs post isn't classic 'long range'.

The 165s & 168s are fine in the .300WM, chit guys are killing deer with them in .308s and 30-06's out to 500. They're also easier on the wallet and shoulder for practicing. IAW this at least, out to 500 yds (the OPs stated max MS range) the 165s actually retain more energy than the 190s:

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/lodge/300-win-mag-ballistics/

Even if it were reversed, no deer on this planet is going to noting a 200ft lb delta at 500 yds,

This gun will mostly be used going back to the King Ranch after Nilgai. They are just a tad bigger than Our Whitetails

 

[Hugger-4641]

This gun will mostly be used going back to the King Ranch after Nilgai. They are just a tad bigger than Our Whitetails

I've been tempted to try the 212 and 220gr ELDx just to see how they do and they are on shelves around here.

 

[Chuck R.]

This gun will mostly be used going back to the King Ranch after Nilgai. They are just a tad bigger than Our Whitetails

Then yea, sure 190s to 200s and if you want to do the one 'do it all load' just stick with it for deer. There's only one degree of dead after all.