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Post by kbrezlin on Feb 13, 2016 8:05:30 GMT -5
For this years project I am looking at building a 300 cal rifle, but I have not settled on the cartridge yet. I am looking at 300 Win Mag, 300 Win Short Mag, or 300 Weatherby Improved to an angled shoulder if I go the wildcat route. I am kind of leaning towards staying with these 3 so Im not to far into the wildcat realm. Does anybody have experience, pro, cons, limitations, with any of these for a good comparison?
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Post by jbm77 on Feb 13, 2016 9:11:02 GMT -5
All the calibers you mention are good rounds. One of the major pros I can think of is 300 win mag ammo can be found almost any store, anywhere in the U.S. Other calibers especially wildcats not so much. That maybe not a factor I guess if you load your own?
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Post by jims on Feb 13, 2016 9:14:45 GMT -5
Although not one you listed the new hot .30 is the .30 Nosler.
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Post by jbm77 on Feb 13, 2016 9:19:19 GMT -5
Yea! First the 26 Nosler, then the 28 Nosler, next comes the 30 Nosler. I have read up on them all. Pretty impressive new designs and ballistics.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2016 10:40:04 GMT -5
I am getting close to finishing my 300wm so that's the route I would take. Keep it simple and you will use it more, I've lived and learned enough with wildcats. Anymore if I have to touch a single piece of brass 7 times before it is ready to load I never get much shooting done. My 300WM is built to shoot the 200gr+ for shooting long but you don't have to shoot that heavy for the 300WM to be an excellent choice.
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Post by jaymiller5 on Feb 13, 2016 13:27:52 GMT -5
300WM is my vote
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Post by kbrezlin on Feb 13, 2016 14:32:36 GMT -5
I guess another thing I should have asked about is barrel life. There is something to be said for keeping it simple. I have a preference for heavier bullets And from what I have read the WSM starts to loose out when you go above 190's. I can get factory weatherby ammo and fire form the case. I guess the question I have to answer is would the little extra case capacity be worth it.
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Post by jaymiller5 on Feb 13, 2016 15:02:20 GMT -5
If you are concerned about barrel life go with a .308Win or 30-06. Otherwise, most of the magnum cartridges will be in the 1-2k range before you need to redo the throat and bump the barrel back an inch. Mileage obviously varies
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Post by kbrezlin on Feb 13, 2016 15:18:26 GMT -5
I was thinking a 28 inch barrel and a longer shank, probably 5 inch for that reason. If I had to cut it I would loose that much
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Post by jims on Feb 13, 2016 17:25:04 GMT -5
You will lose out IMO with the short mag route if you use heavier bullets as you will lose powder capacity in the case because of the heavier, longer bullets. My .300 Win Mag does all I can ask of it but I do not need a 1000 yard gun either.
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Post by rossman40 on Feb 13, 2016 18:25:50 GMT -5
300 Rem Ultra if you want to go max, I've seen several less the .5 moa factory rifles. I helped build a 300 Dakota a few years ago, tad less case capacity but longer neck then the 300RUM. I do not think that rifle has ever shot much more then a .5 moa group in it's life.
With the 300 Weatherby Mag as soon as you say the word "Weatherby", the price of off-the-shelf ammo and brass doubles. Changing the shoulder on a Weatherby case,, sacrilegious! The double radius shoulder is one of the finer points of the case design. However the 300 Ackley mag which is based on a 300 Wthby has had pretty good luck with some of the longrange bench guys.
The .30 Nosler is just Nosler's way of making money, sucker in all the guys that has to have the latest and greatest and then they are the only source for brass and ammo. You get tad better then 300 WinMag performance in a non-belted case. If you look at the Nosler reload data it is easy to see how they get the performance, long barrels, big case filled up with some of the slowest burning powders made.
With the 300 WinMag your not the hottest round out there but pretty much found on the shelf everywhere. Carlos Hathcock won Camp Perry with a 300 WinMag. The Army is switching over all the M24s to 300 WinMag and the Navy's MK 13 is also chambered for it so if the MK 248 Mod 1 ammo ever becomes surplus there might be some cheap match grade ammo. The DoD signed the contract for only 38 million rounds. And it is pushing the upper limit, a 220gr SMK at 2850fps. There is a AI version 300 WinMag but that means fire forming and custom dies. I was tempted to recut the chamber on my 30-06 to an AI version.
Still when you want hot rod performance you got to pay the price. I've heard of 300 RUM barrels toast after less then 1000rds, of course how much of that could have been due to poor maintenance who knows. Still with the 300 WinMag you should be able to maintain performance for up to 2000rds. The Navy is using Lija barrels on the MK 13 and I've been told some last only 500rds and some go well over 2000.
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Post by 7mmfreak on Feb 14, 2016 19:34:07 GMT -5
.300 Win Mag is the answer. You want to be able to get ammo if you need it. I don't like being limited to the few Weatherby or WSM options.
Don't get to wrapped around the military angle. The M24 is gone. The M2010 is on the way out. The PSR/MSR is on the way and .300 Win Mag may not last. That said, don't be counting on finding the military ammo. It is hard to get stateside for training because it all goes forward where it is really needed and it cannot come back so it gets destroyed (saw it happen to brand new ammo). Also, if you find Mod1 do not shoot it. We continually had pressure issues with it. The only safe version I have used was made by AWC. You may find others in white boxes and marked as Harris Custom rifles for Talon .300 Win Mag rifles: don't shoot it either.
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Post by mooseman100 on Feb 23, 2016 1:46:44 GMT -5
300 wsm can have feed issues due to short case and steep angle oit of mag box I also wa i to wildcats and sexy cartridges. Some of the barrels lasted only 500-600 rounds. I love speed in my rifles. But really your maximum point blank range only improves by 20-25 yards so i decided to go with old tried and true 300WM. I travel with rifles by air. So if get somewhere with rifle and no ammo and have a wildcat, well oooppps!
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Post by esshup on Feb 28, 2016 15:51:52 GMT -5
My first question before saying what cartridge case to use is what will the rifle be used for? Packing around on a mountain hunt? Shooting past 1K? long strings of target shooting?
I'm kicking around the idea of a .30 cal. this year too, but my use would be very lightweight for packing and shooting up to and including moose sized critters under 1/2 mile away. Since I would only be possibly getting the barrel hot for load development (That can be controlled though), light weight is the primary focus, while keeping acceptable accuracy. Airlines would be involved too, so I'm leaning towards a factory chamber although I wouldn't be using factory ammo if I could help it.
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Post by 7mmfreak on Feb 28, 2016 18:06:30 GMT -5
That still sounds like a .300 Win Mag to me. The only time a faster .300 is the answer over a .300 Win Mag is when you are talking about something like a .300 Norma Mag and 230gn Bergers for ELR work. Even then my answer moves to something bigger like a .338 Edge, RUM, or Lapua (in that order of preference for me) pushing 300gn Bergers or SMK.
You can build a long action bantam weight, it doesn't have to be a WSM or RSAUM. I've had a NULA .257 Wby Mag and a Custom KS .300 Wby Mag. I loved the .257 Bee, hate the .300, but were practical and if I had it to do over again I would have done 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Win Mag. You can find ammo for either in nearly any spot you land.
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Post by kbrezlin on Mar 7, 2016 8:35:46 GMT -5
I'm likely going the 300 win mag route. The availability of ammo if you get in a jam away from home is really the deciding factor, besides it is tried and true.
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Post by deertroy1 on Mar 20, 2016 19:04:29 GMT -5
I had my 300 Win Mag built several years ago when we could still easily ship rifles across the border to the US. It was rebarreled by Dan Dowelling and bedded by Tom Meridth. It's strickly a hunting rifle but is very accurate. It's on a Sako AV action with a laminated stock and a 25" Hart barrel. Before that it wore a 7mm Rem Mag barrel. At only 145 lbs, I noticed quickly that the 7mm sure did recoil a whole lot less than the 300!
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Post by 7mmfreak on Mar 20, 2016 19:26:32 GMT -5
Usually about 20% less
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Post by kash913 on Mar 20, 2016 20:31:27 GMT -5
At Pierce's they are now building a all 100% titanium action and bolt they really specialize in the lightweight hunting rigs. I've seen short actions as light is 5-6.5 pounds and long actions something like 7-8 pounds range. They had a stock in there that a customer ordered and I can't remember the company's name out of California I think the name was Brown it was Kevlar wrapped. It was so light it felt fake 15-17oz
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