300 WSM Loads Question

[David Ford]

I am new to the forum. I just got a new 300 WSM Tikka. I wanted to load some 165 Grain Nosler Partition bullets. I have always used IMR 4350 or H 4831. Does any one have any suggestions on accurate loads?
Thanks.

 

[carnaby]

I just use the Lee reloading tables, start with the minimum, and work up, always staying below maximum, about a grain at a time, until I find something that works. It's going to depend on your exact rifle, so there's really no other way to approach it.

If you're looking for extreme accuracy, it seems that you'll have to get into bullet seating depth and all that. The amount of space between the bullet and where the rifling first engages the bullet affects accuracy too, and how it affects accuracy is rifle dependent again. Only way to find out is to try it.

Hopefully others with more experience than me will weigh in here. Good luck, and welcome to reloading.

For what it's worth, I seem to get good results with my .300 Win Mag (not WSM) with 66 ir 67 grains of H4350 under a 165 or 168 grain sierra game king or speer gold match, respectfully.

 

[SRMohawk]

Dave,
I adore the .300 WSM and have experimented widely with it, using projectiles weighing from 155 to 210 grains. It can be quite tempermental, however, and is therefore better suited to long range competition than to hunting. That said, I urge you not to try the really slow burning propellants that work so well in the longer case .30s (e.g. .300 Win.Mag). H414, H4350, H4831SC, W760, VV N550, and VV N160 have all yielded exceptional results for me, depending on the weight of the projectile I was using. Since you want to shoot such light projectiles, try any of the forementioned Hodgdon propellants. If you decide to try projectiles in the 180-200 grain class, however, use either of the forementioned Vihta Vouri propellants.

Best of luck to you with your new .300! The cartridge is a real pit bull (i.e. smaller than any of the other .300 Mags out there, but certainly just as capable in 98% of the situations where extraordinary velocity and energy are required! I can easily get Sierra's 190-gr MKs to do 3000 fps in my own .300 WSM rifle with Vitha Vouri N160.

 

[hoghunting]

David,

I also have the 300 WSM Tikka T3 and I am amazed by the accuracy of this rifle. I was not happy with the performance of the Partition in my 270 WSM, so I don't use them anymore. I started using Hornady's Interbond and will never look back. Great bullet and fantastic performance.

I get the best accuracy in the 270 and 300 WSMs with Reloder 19 using Win brass, and Win WLRM primers - in my rifles. I also found that accuracy increased as pressure increases, so I don't use light loads. I found very accurate loads without exceeding the max loadings from Alliant's listings.

 

[Shoney]

David Ford: First of all welcome to the forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a lot of factors that affect accuracy. Since you apparently have loaded a good deal, you will have already discovered that individual rifles have individual characteristics. Each rifle has it’s own set of harmonics, that will need to be discovered thru systematic trial and error. The only factor that is constant is the twist rate of your barrel. You can change the harmonics by various forms of bedding. (Search this site for threads.) You can change the load configurations.

Factors affecting accuracy in loading the cartridge are:
Powder (brand and charge wt), bullet (brand and grain wt), primer (brand and strength), seating depth of bullet. (Search this site for threads.)

NEVER try others loads, use them for reference! ALWAYS get your load data from published data in reputable manuals.

 

[robctwo]

I love the 300 WSM. I'm shooting the BAR Stalker with BOSS. I've had good results with the 165 gr Hornady Interbond, 150 gr Hornady Interlock and 165 gr Barnes TSX. Varget seems best for me. I've tried a bunch of powders. I've tuned a few loads to work real well for accuracy. It rivals my Savage 10FP 223, but seems a bit much for varmints.

 

[iamkris]

This load works great in my T3 Tikka with Burris 3-10x44 BallistiPlex

165 gr Hornady SST
67.6 gr IMR 4350
CCI LR
Win brass
2.835" OAL

Group size 0.7 - 1.0"

 

[snuffy]

Mid to slow burning rate

In my Browning a-bolt synthetic stalker, I've had the best results with R-19, H-4831SC, and AA XMR-4350. With 165 interbonds, and SST, 180 grain interbonds, 190 SMK and 220 SMK. I never tried many 150 grainers, seemed like they would be too destructive. My hunting load is the 165 interbond, excellent bullet for whitetails.

I saw no need for magnum primers, settled on WLR for most loads. The mid to slow powders in the wide based short powder column, don't seem to need a mag primer, at least not in my rifle.