Which heavy 30 Cal would you buy?

[Bart B.]

I'd pick a standard length (long?) action for any 30 caliber cartridge burning more powder than a .30-06. They hold epoxy bedding better and won't twist as much from barrel torque than shorter actions. It doesn't matter if they're 10% less stiff than short ones; they bend the same amount for every round fired anyway; repeatability is the foundation of best accuracy.

And one of the modern rimless bottleneck cartridges is a lot easier to load for best accuracy than any belted case. Back when belted cases were winning long range matches setting records along the way, folks got best accuracy with new cases or full length resized fired ones body sized a second time with a special body die swaging down the tiny ridge about .005" in front of the belt left there from the chamber edge causing it at peak pressure. Ordinary full length sizing of fired cases never quite shot as consistantly accurate as these.

And use a Win. 70 action to build it on. They're near 3 times stiffer than Rem 700's.

 

[1-1 Banger]

300 Win Mag. Partly for sentimental reasons, the first rifle I fired as a brand new sniper was the M2010 and I loved it. After that, and after later firing the German Army's sniper rifle, the G22, also a 300 Mag, I'm sold on it's long range ballistics. Doesn't hurt that nobody in their right mind would doubt it's ability to make things dead.

 

[doc2rn]

There is a reason 30-06 has been made for over a hundred yrs, if it aint broke dont fix it. Been taking down everything in N.America for as long as I have been alive. Shot placement is still king!

 

[mdauben]

For your stated reasons, I'd probably go with the .300 Wby, but I've always had a certain facination with all the Weatherby magnum cartridges. Without that specific obsession, the .300H&H would be a good choice. Its got slightly more MV/ME potential than the Win Mag and also the H&H caché. If you are not worried about availability or cost of commercial ammo, there's no reason to chose the "inferior" Win Mag.

Of course in "practical" use I think you'd hardly notice the difference between any of them.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

There is a reason 30-06 has been made for over a hundred yrs, if it aint broke dont fix it. Been taking down everything in N.America for as long as I have been alive. Shot placement is still king!

I didn't ask if I should buy another 30-06, I have 5. As for shot placement I said I was probably not going to hunt with this rifle. It's obvious you didn't read my OP and just added what you want to say instead of answering the questions as asked.

Thanks anyway but like I said, I already own 5 rifles in 30-06 and I like them all for one job or another.

 

[joed]

ArchAngelCD, I wish you luck on your choice. If I were a millionaire I'd own every cartridge there is. Unfortunately life cheated me. But, I'm blessed with guns and cartridges I love. The .300 H&H was a nice choice for me though I don't shoot it often at all. I bought it with the intent of hunting larger animals but in 10 years I just haven't gone out with it yet.

I don't think you could get a bad rifle chambered for the H&H. All I know that have one praise it.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

For just s range toy...I don't think I would get a 30 caliber anything.

I'm pretty sure I'd get a model 70 in 264 Win Mag.

Less recoil means more fun...

 

[Ridgerunner665]

If it has to be a 30...

http://www.fnhusa.com/l/products/rifles/tsr-series/tsr-xp/

 

[bannockburn]

I have always had a certain fondness for the .300 Winchester Magnum; no current need for it, just a particular fascination for the cartridge.

 

[joed]

I have always had a certain fondness for the .300 Winchester Magnum; no current need for it, just a particular fascination for the cartridge.

I could probably say the same for my .300 H&H. I used it when I bought it but I do nothing but varmint hunting anymore. From time to time I think about selling it but never do.

 

[Bart B.]

ArchAngelCD, Fred Huntington (RCBS founder) was the first to neck down the .338 Win Mag case back in 1958. It quickly became "the" cartridge for 1000 yard matches fired slung up in prone. The .300 H&H Mag was the favorite but when the .30-.338 began shooting better scores the H&H was soon forgotten.

Used by both civilian and military teams winning matches and setting records, it was great. So was the .308 Norma Mag and performed equally as well. Some gunsmith, last name Keele, used his .30-.338 full lenth sizing die on .300 Win Mag cases; the .30-.338 Keele was born (or .30-.338 Long Neck, as it was often called), proved just as accurate but another 10 to 20 percent of barrel life for best accuracy due to the longer case neck.

I wore out two .30-.338 Win. Mag. barrels and now have a Keele version in my 1000-yard prone rifle. Here's the plot I made of two loads I tried for accuracy at 1000 yards with the Keele one. Alternately fired each load to see how each would perform for a 30 shot string. Red dots are for Sierra 200-gr. HPMK's in new, unprepped cases, black ones for 190's in once fired, neck turned and full length sized cases. The target crew radioed back each bullet's 15-shot group was just under 5 inches. That X ring's 10 inches in diameter.

 

[montanaoffroader]

On Dad's rifle, whoever did the conversion used a chamber reamer on the original barrel, and opened up the bolt face to accommodate the larger case head. I'm not sure how much work had to be done to the magazine area to ensure proper feeding, but it feeds without problems.

The barrel is actually stamped "30 Belted Newton", but the chamber dimensions are the same as the .30-338, and his reloading dies for it are marked .30-338.

 

[ExAgoradzo]

I only chose he win mag because ammo is readily available. There are some on your list I wouldn't choose, but that is why I chose what I did.

I'm hankerin' for a 375 H&H so why not the 300?

Greg

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

Ya know, the truth be told, the .300 H&H holds a certain amount of fascination for me also. But, it's an itch that's damn hard to scratch when you want the caliber to be in a left-handed gun. I know exactly what it costs to have a custom gun made, I did that with my lefty 6.5X55mm Swede and I'm doing it now to produce a CZ452 fullstock - left hand configuration. So, to that "special" someone out there's who's just dying to tell me to get an RH gun & shoot it anyway, put a cork in it .

I shot NRA competition with a right-handed gun in my youth, from the left shoulder. It was in an ROTC program, and they had no left handed Remington 40Xb's. Neither my parents nor I could no more afford to buy me a lefty Anschutz than they could fly to the moon on gossamer wings. Ergo, I made do with what was available at the time. But, I also swore to only get guns with the bolt on the 'proper' side of the action in the future. I've yet to hear of a right-handed person owning and shooting a left-handed gun regularly and reporting that they liked it that way.

I wish Sako weren't owned by Beretta, or maybe my pocketbook is glad that they do & will stay in the pocket.

900F

 

[Bart B.]

CB900F, I applaude your determination to master a northpawed action being a southpawed person. Gary Anderson, former NRA official, top Olympic free rifle shooter, medalist and international champion was also left handed shooting right hand bolt action match rifles. He shot his pre '64 right hand Win 70 based rifle reaching over the grip to reload in both slow and rapid fire matches winning the NRA high power Nationals in the early '70's.

I've seen lots of lefties out score the righties shooting their right hand M1's, M14's and bolt guns off their left shoulder. None of their rifles nor ammo knew what physical orientation their shooters had. I doubt they would give a hoot if they did.

I've seen a couple of rightpawed people with left dominant eye use front and rear sight bases offset near 3 inches to the left of the barrel on bolt guns win matches too. One them held a few records shot with such sight setups.

 

[jpwilly]

If you're just target shooting, IMO short actions are more comfortable to shoot. I vote 300 WSM with a long throat for 200+ gr pills.

THIS!

300WSM, because 220gr pills at 2800fps+ gets you out there! (Handloads IMR 4007 SSC).

 

[joed]

QUOTE:
If you're just target shooting, IMO short actions are more comfortable to shoot. I vote 300 WSM with a long throat for 200+ gr pills.


THIS!

300WSM, because 220gr pills at 2800fps+ gets you out there! (Handloads IMR 4007 SSC).

Do any of you have any idea what the length difference is between a short and long action? It's about 1/2".

 

[Bart B.]

Short versus long actions have a difference of about 1/2 inch.

Then there's the magnum length ones that are another 1/2 inch or more longer as well as larger overall so their box magazine can accomodate and feed reliably really big cartridges such as the .505 Gibbs.

 

[jpwilly]

Do any of you have any idea what the length difference is between a short and long action? It's about 1/2".

300WM or 300WSM either way same idea a very value oriented mag rifle when it comes to getting great bullets i.e. 190, 200 220 and can be loaded to reach out near 1500yrds with 220's if so inclined.

 

[justice06rr]

Just for kicks? Get the 338 Lapua Magnum

 

[waffentomas]

If I were to buy a superfluous rifle in .30 cal right now, I'd get the 7.82 Warbird...so I voted 'other'.

Sounds like fun no matter which one you get.

 

[peacemaker45]

Fella's;

Ya know, the truth be told, the .300 H&H holds a certain amount of fascination for me also. But, it's an itch that's damn hard to scratch when you want the caliber to be in a left-handed gun. I know exactly what it costs to have a custom gun made, I did that with my lefty 6.5X55mm Swede and I'm doing it now to produce a CZ452 fullstock - left hand configuration. So, to that "special" someone out there's who's just dying to tell me to get an RH gun & shoot it anyway, put a cork in it .



900F

CB: I hear you about left hand actions. It is possible to shoot a gun wrong sided, and it's even possible to get reasonable results that way. That doesn't make it pleasant, however. And I don't know about you, but if I'm paying the kind of money that a big, magnum action rifle costs, it had darn well better be pleasant, not an awkward kludge to use.

Anyway, getting a factory rifle in .300 H&H on a left hand action may be tricky indeed. I can count on the fingers of one thumb how many .300 Hollands I've seen for sale, after all. But I don't think getting one should take a full custom rifle, either.

All you'd really need do is find an existing .375 rifle that suits you, and have it rebarrelled. The CZ 550 may be the most available left hand magnum action, but Winchester built their Model 70 Classic for a few years, and Montana builds their lefty Model 70 clone as well.


Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Just for kicks? Get the 338 Lapua Magnum

everyone keeps saying this but like I already said, the components and the rifles are way too expensive. (but would be a blast)

PPV .338 Lapua brass, $169/100. That's way too much for my simple life!
(Winchester Win Mag, $67/100)

 

[fireside44]

everyone keeps saying this but like I already said, the components and the rifles are way too expensive. (but would be a blast)

I wouldn't call 30-378 components cheap either. Actually all your aforementioned calibers are rather pricey in terms of brass and powder consumption. I myself have always wanted a 30-378 just to have a cartridge that uses 110 grains of powder and has a sub 500 round barrel life haha.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've got a "range toy" .300RUM. I got it very, very cheap. I worked through a couple of "issues" related to the fact the either someone or at the factory the extractor on the Savage M110 had been installed/reinstalled backwards and wouldn't extract.

Long story short, I fixed it and have shot several hundred rounds through it and killed a couple of deer with it.

I recommend that you find a good used .300WinMag. They are plentiflul, brass is available (range pickups are free!), and the rest of the components are common.

Whatever you get, do get some of the surplus "pull down" powders. Either from Wideners Shooters Supply, or from Jeff Bartlett (gi-brass.com).

I bought a supply of Winchester WC-860 from Wideneners for $5lb !!! I still haven't gone through the first 8lb keg. That, and on a similar deal got a Weatherby Vanguard in .257wby.

The .300RUM like the .30/378wby is just too much of a good thing. Recoil is such that from field shooting positions, every time I've shot game, it's drawn blood on both ends (eye cuts....).

For a Range Toy, either the .300WinMag or the .300WSM is going to be a better choice. If you reload and use the surplus powders, it'll be as cheap to shoot the "magnum" as it is a .30/30...