Winchester 300 WSM opinions

Z

zeke mccune

Member
Hi:

A friend of mine has a Weatherby chambered in this caliber and he does not care for it. It has a black plastic stock and his wife paid $300.00 for it.

He brought it to me to help him sight it in and after 6 shots he decided that it was good enough! The reason for only 6 shots was due to its severe recoil! He as ked me if I wanted to shoot it and after seeing the beating that he had taken, I declined! Lol

Has anybody shot one a 300 WSM and if so, what are your thoughts concerning this caliber?

I have an urge to "play" with this caliber for some masochistic reason.

Any thoughts?

Stay well,

Zeke
 
Zeke, You should consider something with far less recoil and grow your skills into a magnum. Any of popular magnums will shoot good if fed the proper load,and handled right. Consider a .308 with lighter bullets and work up to heavier bullets getting use to the recoil,before jumping into a magnum.
 
A 300WSM is the rough equivalent of the 30-06 and as such is truly the bottom end of the 30cal "magnums" as far as recoil is concerned. Factory loads are hotter than factory 30-06 loads, about midway between 30-06 and 300 Win Mag and in a light rifle will recoil severely. That said, recoil is a function of weight VS energy as described by Isaac Newton's "Laws" from back in school :) One of he most hateful guns I've ever fired is the 30-30 Win Model 94, which recoils harder than a lot of magnums.

Trick is to find a carry weight you can live with, then ramp the recoil level up to what you can comfortably tolerate and accept that as YOUR maximum energy level for you rifle.

I would find the little 6lb Weatherby to be abusive in 300MSM.

al
 
If you want to "fool" with it, does it mean handload? If so, a well placed 130 grain Barnes TSX should take about any cloven-hoofed ungulate in this hemisphere. My plastic stocked Winchester Model 70 Shadow .300 WSM weighs about 7 lbs less scope, or 8 lbs with scope and full magazine. I would expect your Weatherby, made by Howa, weighs about the same. I find that 150 grain factory loads in my 24 inch barrel are not objectionable so 130's should feel pretty civilized as long as you don't load them hot. Stay away from the 180's. My gun yields 3300 fps with 150's and 2980 with 180's. This is 300 Winchester Magnum territory. If your buddy will let it go for what his wife paid for it, and it is in decent shape, then it's probably a good deal. Vanguards are nice rifles, and they generally have OK stock design and adequate recoil pads. Use a strap-on shoulder pad or a folded towel under your shirt until you get your bench technique down to the point you can manage the recoil. However, if you're only after deer, antelope or caribou, you can get by fine with a less powerful caliber.
 
Too true, I agree with Magoon except I'll endorse the 130 TTSX and state that it'll hold together for clean, ethical kills on deer-sized game. Barnes TSX and TTSX have completely changed the paradigm re effective bullets IMO.
 
Hi All:

Yes, the 300 WSM does piqued my attention but the thought of shooting one from the bench does not! It looks like an interesting idea but the recoil issue is something to consider.

I would indeed hand load for it as I get a kick out of hand loading. I have been using a Psst recoil shield for shooting heavy shotgun loads. This pad also works well for taming the recoil from guns shot from a bench.

I have noticed that the recoil from a hard kicking rifle fired from a bench not only recoils back but the muzzle jumps out of the front rest to return to a position that is sometimes detrimental to the forend. I have banged up several forends by having them jump out of the front rest.

The 300WSM reninds me of a .308 Norma Magnum that I once owned. It was a very accurate rifle but the recoil was a bit much. It was an inexpensive rifle made on a military Mauser 98 and cost $99.95 in Canada. It was very light and trim to carry but I did not need that much abuse so I sold it. I now wish that I would have kept it!

Stay well my friends,

Franchi
 
The 300wsm can have alot of recoil if using heavy bullets, but a good Muzzle brake wil help immensely. Another way to sit at the bench and shoot all day is use a 25lb. bag of shot over your shoulder it will make it feel like your shooting a 222. I use one when sighting in shot guns with slugs!

Joe Salt
 
zeke mccune said:
Hi:

A friend of mine has a Weatherby chambered in this caliber and he does not care for it. It has a black plastic stock and his wife paid $300.00 for it.
Click to expand...

I suggest you find or build a substantially heavier rifle if you intend to shoot this chambering. I had a .300 Win mag that weighed, equipped with a scope, just under 17 lbs. It was not unpleasant to shoot, nor did it have a muzzle brake. I hate those damned things, and would discourage you from resorting to that option. Hearing damage for you, and those around you, almost for sure permanent. I also believe that laminated wooden stocks transmit less of a shockwave (for lack of a better term) into your face, than lightweight plastic stocks. If your friend's Weatherby has their signature hump in the buttstock, it is probably all the more reason to avoid it. :)
 
I have one in a Browning A-Bolt. It is a great hunting gun. Weighs about 7lb. and very accurate. While hunting I don't notice the recoil. During load development I wore a pass recoil pad.
 
alinwa ......... +1 on the recoil of the 30-30 Model 94
Stock design makes a huge difference in felt recoil.
 
300 wsm

I lurk in the shadows of this site often and rarley have advise to offer as, I am not a benchrest shooter, but a hunter with the desire to optimise the performance of each rifle I own. I have had very good results with the Winchester 300 WSM I own. I purchased it new is is the (Coyote ) model. I replaced the laminate stock with a HS precision and skim bedded it. I bought a box of the cheapest priced 150 G bullets to load to just break in the barell and after that I expected to use 180G . The gun will not shoot the 180 s but will actually cut holes for the first 2 and maybe 3 shots at 100 yards after that the barrell heats up and things start going different directions. I am very impressed by the factory gun and have made several 1 hot kills on Cariboo at 500 yards. Granted the Boo are pretty big but still I was impressed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top