.308 or .300Win-mag?

[GC51]

I am looking to purchase a model 700 next fall after the construction season and would like something with a 26" heavy barrel for long range shooting, bench as well as field, but can't decide whether to go .308 or .300 Win-mag. I have a short-barreled .308 and a 7.62x54R already and have always wanted a belted mag before I die, so I am leaning towards the .300, but I would like some input on it as I have never shot one...any thoughts?

 

[eastbank]

the 300 mag will beat the 308 at any and all ranges, use the right twist and bullets and you will be good to go. you will however pick up more recoil and cost of ammo as there is no free lunch for better preformance. i lean toward the 7mm mag for long range, but not much savings in less recoil and costs over the 300 mag. eastbank.

 

[deputy bruce]

300 or 308

I like my 308 but my 300 win mag shoots well but I really really like my 338 win mag it shoot super and does not kick like my 300 win mag does it is your decision you will make the right one Bruce

 

[strambo]

If you have an accurate .308 already then the .300WM will take you from beyond the 800yds or so range of the short barell .308 out to a mile with the heavier bullets (210-240g).

My 26" .300WM spits 190g pills at ~3000fps.

 

[CaliCoastie]

300wsm?

 

[Sav .250]

Asking for opinions is fine and some have merit. Slow your roll and do some
homework. Better question why buy another 308?

If you can`t make up your mind how is another persons opinion going to help? You`ll figure it out.

Get a 7 mm mag.

 

[MCMXI]

Some things to consider when comparing the .300 Win Mag to the .308 Win (I own both, have built and sold custom rifles for both cartridges, shot both in F-Class competition, have hunted with both, currently hunt with both, reload for both, like both)

.300 Win Mag

More recoil (push rather than a punch)
Heavier rifle
Shorter barrel life (who cares?!)
Slower to cycle (long action)
More expensive to shoot factory ammunition (generally)
More expensive to shoot handloads
Better potential long range accuracy
More long range energy
If you plan to suppress you'll need a longer/heavier and typically more expensive suppressor

Since you have a .308 Win I would certainly suggest that you choose the .300 Win Mag. Don't let anyone tell you that the belted magnums are hard to load for or less accurate.

 

[FL-NC]

Former sniper instructor here. What are you considering "long range"? A good 308 set up with the right ammo can easily do business out to 1,000 yards. I had a 300 WM, and I got rid of it when my discount ammo supply was exhausted. I've pushed them out to a mile, but that's more of a "trick". LOTS of options and data for 308 ammo too, from surplus MG ammo up to high end match grade. No such thing as "bargain basement" 300 win mag ammo. IMO, a well-placed 308 will drop anything in the lower 48.

 

[dirtykid]

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=218386&thumb=1&d=1454619557

Well the picture didn't work exactly,, But why not 30-06 ??

 

[Llama Bob]

I've never really like the magnums between 7mm mag and .375 mag. They seem to me to be a lot of recoil for not a lot of additional capability. Probably my least favorite rifle calibers.

For long range, a 1:10 twist .308 is a fine starting point. If you want more reach than that, I'd suggest something in the 6-7mm range that won't beat you up so bad rather than a .300 WM. I actually bought a 700 in .300 WM as my first long range gun and it never gets shot now. I shoot my 6.5 Creedmoor instead, which has similar long range capability and is actually pleasant to shoot.

 

[GC51]

FL-NC, the amount of data and ammo available for the .308 is what made me consider another one. I grew up shooting a Savage mod 99 in that caliber and have always been sort of partial to them. Haven't shot my short barrel .308 beyond 100 yards, just got it last fall and can't get to my 1000yard spot until the mud dries out this spring, so I'm don't know yet how it will do.It's got an 18.5" barrel and I have wondered how it will perform past 500. I bought it because it handles nicely and carries well and will be my hiking companion this summer in the mountains behind me...after reading some of the other comments, I am thinking the .308 is winning. The extra cost for the magnum could be put towards the glass on the new rifle and I already have a decent supply of factory loads for it...some interesting alternative suggestions,7mag,30-06,.338, may put the magnum on the back burner for later, I can usually get away with one gun purchase per year without making the wife mad...how well do you think the shorty will do beyond the 500yard range? It's a Remington 600 and drives tacks at 100...

 

[jmr40]

The 6.5 Creedmoor is the hottest round going right now for long range shooting. It is proving more accurate than 308 with slightly less recoil. Much less than 300 WM. It is still acceptable for hunting deer and elk size game, but starts running out of enough energy for reliable bullet expansion after 400ish yards.

If you want enough power for elk out to 800-1000 yards the 300 and 338 magnums are the best options.

 

[Orcon]

It all depends on what you want...

Do you want to push a bullet 2500-2800 FPS out to 600-800 yards at $1-®1.5

Or...

Push a bullet 2800-3200 FPS out to 1000+ yards at for $1.75- 2.25 a shot

I personally have one of each and a wsm to boot. I enjoy them equally but for different reasons.

 

[MCMXI]

The 6.5 Creedmoor is the hottest round going right now for long range shooting. It is proving more accurate than 308 with slightly less recoil. Much less than 300 WM. It is still acceptable for hunting deer and elk size game, but starts running out of enough energy for reliable bullet expansion after 400ish yards.

If you want enough power for elk out to 800-1000 yards the 300 and 338 magnums are the best options.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is no more accurate than the .308 Win, it's just more forgiving of human error. I've been doing a lot of shooting with my 6.5 Creedmoor and hit an 8" plate at 710 yards yesterday in 20mph wind gusts on my third shot with very poor dope. The first two round were mere inches off the plate. It would have taken me twice as many shots to hit the plate with the .308 Win barrel on my AI under those conditions.

I also don't agree about the 6.5 Creedmoor being a 400 yard elk cartridge. Sure there are folks who'll tell all kinds of stories but I regularly shoot .338 LM, .375 H&H, .300 Win Mag. 308 Win, .223 Rem and now 6.5 Creedmoor and won't be taking the 6.5 CM hunting any time soon. It's a great coyote round and a decent whitetail round out to 300 yards but it's not a bone breaking, dead-right-there round so I have no interest using it on mule deer or elk. I'll leave that to the .308 Win or .375 H&H out to 500 yards and the .300 Win Mag or .338 LM from 500 yards +. Up here in MT if an animal moves 15 yards before it drops it could mean the difference between 30 minutes or 12 hours in recovery time. The 6.5 Creedmoor doesn't buy enough margin even though all three of my shots at the 710 yard plate yesterday were inside 10".

On a side note, after shooting and hitting the plate yesterday I thought about my .338 LM. I shoot a 250gr bullet at 2,800 fps compared to the 6.5 CM load that uses a 140gr bullet at around the same velocity. The energy difference at 700 yards is staggering. About 1,000 ft-lb for the 6.5 CM and over 3,100 ft-lb for the .338 LM!

 

[MCMXI]

It all depends on what you want...

Do you want to push a bullet 2500-2800 FPS out to 600-800 yards at $1-®1.5

Or...

Push a bullet 2800-3200 FPS out to 1000+ yards at for $1.75- 2.25 a shot

Orcon, you need to reload. I shoot a .338 LM for under $1.50 per round and much closer to $1.20. Match grade .308 Win runs about $0.75 and only a little more for .300 Win Mag.

 

[Orcon]

I recently started reloading and have yet to figure out how to load my 308 for less than a buck a round. But my comment was based in the assumption that OP was not reloading.

 

[MCMXI]

For a match load I use Reloder 15 or Varget (about 45.0gr) along with Lapua brass, 178gr Hornady A-MAX or 155gr Lapua Scenar bullets and Federal GM210M or CCI 200 primers for about $0.75 per round. For hunting loads I use a Barnes 165gr TTSX bullet which ups the cost a little but not by much. I've found that it's about the same for 6.5 Creedmoor. I'm using a Hornady 140gr A-MAX ELD, Reloder 17 powder (about 44.0gr), a Federal GM210M primer and Hornady brass so not much difference. I'm using a Barnes 120gr TTSX for hunting (coyotes) with the same components.

 

[Orcon]

Hornady match brass @ $0.70
Hornady 165 gr SST @ $0.35
Varget 45 gr @ $0.21
WLR primer @ $0.035
.
Roughly $1.30 per load. Lapua brass is unavailable to me for less than a buck per case.

Sorry for hijacking

 

[MCMXI]

I guess if you only use the brass once ... . Run the numbers again using the brass five times and you'll see that it's about $0.74 per round for 500 rounds.

 

[Orcon]

Fair enough

 

[Reloadron]

.308 or .300Win-mag?

Between those two cartridges and only those two cartridges without any regard to cost my choice would be the .300 Winchester Magnum. It will push a heavier bullet father with accuracy than the .308 Winchester. If you need to worry about the cost of ammunition or loading ammunition then you don't need that ammunition.

Ron

 

[GC51]

I'll probably end up with both eventually, which doesn't bother me much, but now I am going to have to research the .338 as well. A friend once told me that his .338 beat him up a bit more than his .300WM,but I think it was one of those Rugers with the thin composite stocks, might have been some of the problem...I'm not too concerned about taking elk, though it's good elk hunting here, I'm more into deer, antelope, coyotes, etc. The reason for this rifle, though, is to get out to the 800-1000 yd world and if a varmint is at the other end, so much the better...

 

[FL-NC]

GC5- I don't know anything about the Rem 600, what you plan to scope it with, or how good you shoot. I can tell you this, though- in my day, we shot the M24 (a very nice Rem 700, 24" 1:11.25 twist) and qualified out to 800 meters with it using a decent factory match 173 grain round. The scope was a 10x scope with mil-dot. We pushed this out to 1,000 meters too- beyond qual distances. This was the "standard setup" for snipers in both regular army and special operations for 20 years or more. Later we went to better scopes (up to 21 power) with better reticles and a 175 grain factory round, and better applied data technology (amazing what kind of technology gets kick-started in a war- especially a war with lots of sniper opportunities). This is the period when we started hitting man-sized targets at a mile with the 308. Similar results were achieved with gas guns like the KAC SR-25 and Larue OBR (18" barrels) using the same technology. During this time frame, the 300 win mag (MK13) rifle also became standardized, and student scores went up- only because it was a bit more "user-friendly" as it applied to errors in judging distances and wind speeds.

 

[lefteyedom]

Get the 300 win mag for no lesser reason than you want one.
The 300 win mag is everything you think an 06 is and a bit more

 

[bang_bang]

I own a 300 Win Mag and a 7mm Rem Mag, use both for deer and anything else in Southwest Virginia. Have loaded 110 gr HP for smaller critters at nuclear speed in the 300, same round also dropped a deer at over 200 yards. Whatever a .308 or 30-06 will do a 300 will do Magnum style but beat your teeth out doing so. Planning on a 400 yard zero this year with an upgrade from 165 to 180 gr pills for some long range culling on damage stamps for pumpkins this year.