Best 300 Win Mag for $1200

[Jeremy_2]

I’m about to purchase my first rifle for Elk/Mule Deer. Looking to spend around $1000-$1500 on the rifle so I can afford to spend more on a good scope. I realize carrying a heavy rifle in the mountains is more difficult but I’m guessing a super light rifle will have much more recoil so I’m hoping to stay away from light guns. This is my first post so please tell me what other info I can provide. I’ve read many threads on this site and this is a great community. I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

 

[mt100gr.]

Do you currently own any other rifles?

 

[Desk Jockey]

Welcome.

I am not to most experienced voice here but will offer a thought.

first, did you need a 300 win mag? Lots of recoil. Long action makes the gun heavier and more expensive. Rounds are more expensive and barrel life is shortish. If you need one or even want one, go for it, but just know there are drawbacks. Plenty of people here knock down a lot of elk and deer with smaller rounds.

my 300 win mag (which I definitely don’t need BTW) is a Remington 700 model called the American wilderness rifle. I dropped in a timeny trigger and probably have $1200 in the gun now. Remmy quality is sketchy, so I wouldn’t go that route today.

I would give a hard look at begarra and tikka. The tikka in the older t3x lite is a great option and the new roughtech version might suit as well. Both are under or right at $1000. Lots of tikka fans here and many, like me think they are one of the bette values in a hunting rifle.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Sounds like the Browning X-bolt Hell's Canyon 300 Win could be right up your alley. My son has one and it has been fantastic. .5 moa or less with handloaded 205 Berger Elite Hunters and awful hard on big game


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[MT_Wyatt]

Welcome.

Sounds like you’ve got the cartridge all decided - if you’ve got trigger time on a magnum then by all means. If not, I would recommend getting something with a brake, or something you can easily put one on. Gets you more reps with an otherwise more punishing cartridge, which is hard to argue with. For what it’s worth, if you’re really wanting .30 cal, I’ve got two friends who both got their first big game rifles in the past few years, both with new tikkas in .30-06.

Generally with rifles - figure out if you want push or control round feed, 2 or 3 position safety, and bottom metal or a drop mag. You’ll get guys chiming in on here who know tons, so hopefully they give you some more considerations than i’m able to.

Onto rifles - Tikka of course, and you’ll get that answer quite a bit, for good reason. Others to consider below (only listing what I’ve dealt with) - I’d try to handle each and see if you even care about the mag type, action and safety.
- Kimber hunter (no 300 for good reason, it is light, maybe .280 AI or .30-06 is a possible for you?)
- Christensen Arms Mesa
- x-bolt hells canyon speed
- weatherby vanguard (meat eater edition has some nice upgrades)

 

[Howiemoth]

I’m about to purchase my first rifle for Elk/Mule Deer. Looking to spend around $1000-$1500 on the rifle so I can afford to spend more on a good scope. I realize carrying a heavy rifle in the mountains is more difficult but I’m guessing a super light rifle will have much more recoil so I’m hoping to stay away from light guns. This is my first post so please tell me what other info I can provide. I’ve read many threads on this site and this is a great community. I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

I listed 3 Tikka Huinters in the gun classifieds a few days ago in .270 / 30.06 / .300wm. All NIB/unfired. Good platforms out of the box or to build off of and have plenty of $ left over for a great scope.

 

[SDHNTR]

Winchester M70 Extreme Weather. I’d not even consider anything else in this price class. It wins hands down.

 

[davsco]

look at tikka, great guns esp for the money, got two elk this past season with my t3x lite in 300wsm. they have new models which come with threaded barrels. if you then attach a brake recoil is greatly diminished though you'll want to wear hearing protection. i either keep a pair of electronic muffs on or within my reach. you never feel the recoil in the field but it's no fun at the bench or practicing.

 

[FLAK]

Love my Rem700 SPS stainless in .300WM.

 

[catorres1]

I have been shooting a 300 win mag for some years, my son just moved up to a 300 PRC this year. I have had a few other rifles....Vanguard, Bergara, Winchesters, Tikka, etc. in various calibers. When it comes to the 300 win mag, I found out the expensive way that it is important think about where you want to go with it before you buy, specifically what bullets you want to be able to shoot....if you are a handloader etc. Sammi spec magazines for win mags for cartridge OAL is pretty short, and does not work very well for the newer heavy, high BC bullets if you want to load them to mag length, especially if you consider how most are throated. Twist is another issue. Very long story short, if you want to shoot 212's, 215's etc....make sure your mag box is long enough and you have enough twist to stabilize those bullets. I had to have my 300 modified to shoot the 212's, as the box was too short to load rounds that would get close enough to the lands to shoot well. Works fine now, but when we bought my son his 300, he went with a PRC....big box and faster twist from the getgo. There are win mags with long enough boxes from the factory, just figure out if that matters to you and then limit your list accordingly. Most win mags are also 10 twists, which works okay for 210-220 class bullets, but is not ideal. And if you want to shoot heavier, you'll need a faster twist. Brownings, IIRC, are 9 twists, like many PRC's.

On the other hand, if you want to stay with lighter bullets and/or only buy factory ammo, you are probably fine with any box that meets Saami length requirements. Not sure on the twist on the Tikka's (1 in 11 IIRC)...not sure how that will do with say 200 grainers at sea level where I live. My Tikka is a CTR in 260 rem, and it shoots wonderfully, great trigger.....keep thinking of selling it as I don't use it much, but it's such a joy to shoot, so I still have it. But in 300 win, the box is too short to hit the 3.7 OAL I need and the twist is too slow for what I want to shoot.

One other point, barrels/stocks/triggers...I eventually came to want to change all of these things. For that reason, I personally like Remington pattern actions. My 300 is NOT, and the chassis I want and the trigger I want is not an option. So when this barrel is done, I'll likely just sell the action cheap and start over. If I had taken the advice given to me when I bought my rifle, I would not have to do that. You don't have to buy Remington to make that happen, my son's new rifle is Bergara, so he gets the upgrades there, plus can use any Remington stock, barrel, trigger etc.

So again, maybe think about where you want to go with this long term (bullets, handloading, stock/trigger changes), and that will narrow your choices and you can go from there.

HTH!

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

The OP is aware of the recoil being much worse with a lightweight 300 WM. It makes no sense to recommend a T3X to him especially when most folks, including many on this forum, cannot accurately shoot a lightweight magnum. I have a T3X in 300 WM, and at 8 pounds "all in", recoil is noticeable. While brakes are great for reducing recoil, the blast is not necessarily tolerable for all shooters.

For the OP, why are you wanting a 300 WM? There are a lot of options of available that are more than capable of taking elk while still being relatively easy to shoot. The 7mm-08, 280 AI, 30-06, etc are all effective.

As far as guns, there are a lot of options in your price point. You also do not need to spend a ton of money to get a "shooter". With that said, additional money can get you a better stock, a better trigger, a "prettier" rifle, etc. Do shoulder as many rifles as you can and narrow the list down to those that fit you. What fits for Person X may not work for you. Savage 110 Storms are great. The Browning X-Bolt series is great. A potential contender, but very new, is the Sako S20. Take a look at Bergara and Sauer as well.

 

[Jeremy_2]

This is exactly why I joined this group. Thank you all for the advice. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

I’m from Louisiana and will be moving to CO in the next few months. I shot my father’s 270 when I was a teenager but haven’t shot many rifles since. I’m now in my mid 30s and mostly bow hunt.

I want to practice a lot with this rifle which makes me think I should consider 30-06. I have no experience with the 300 mag and as much as I plan on shooting...this may be the best route.

I don’t plan on hand loading in the near future but I have an addictive personality so I bet I will be part of that world in the next couple years.

 

[Jeremy_2]

The OP is aware of the recoil being much worse with a lightweight 300 WM. It makes no sense to recommend a T3X to him especially when most folks, including many on this forum, cannot accurately shoot a lightweight magnum. I have a T3X in 300 WM, and at 8 pounds "all in", recoil is noticeable. While brakes are great for reducing recoil, the blast is not necessarily tolerable for all shooters.

For the OP, why are you wanting a 300 WM? There are a lot of options of available that are more than capable of taking elk while still being relatively easy to shoot. The 7mm-08, 280 AI, 30-06, etc are all effective.

As far as guns, there are a lot of options in your price point. You also do not need to spend a ton of money to get a "shooter". With that said, additional money can get you a better stock, a better trigger, a "prettier" rifle, etc. Do shoulder as many rifles as you can and narrow the list down to those that fit you. What fits for Person X may not work for you. Savage 110 Storms are great. The Browning X-Bolt series is great. A potential contender, but very new, is the Sako S20. Take a look at Bergara and Sauer as well.

I chose the 300 win mag only from research I’ve done online. But because of how little I know about magnums...I wanted to ask you guys what you thought of this. Just from this thread...I’ve learned so much that I can’t get anywhere else in such a short amount of time. I think 30-06 or maybe 280 AI would be better suited for my first rifle.

 

[Deplorable77]

Another vote for the Winchester extreme weather. No mods required out of the box, 3 position safety, and accurate.
If you're not a fan of plastic rifles , stay away from Tikkas and Ruger American.

 

[catorres1]

This is exactly why I joined this group. Thank you all for the advice. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

I’m from Louisiana and will be moving to CO in the next few months. I shot my father’s 270 when I was a teenager but haven’t shot many rifles since. I’m now in my mid 30s and mostly bow hunt.

I want to practice a lot with this rifle which makes me think I should consider 30-06. I have no experience with the 300 mag and as much as I plan on shooting...this may be the best route.

I don’t plan on hand loading in the near future but I have an addictive personality so I bet I will be part of that world in the next couple years.

No offense, but I really would not recommend a 30 cal magnum as your jump off point. That is usually a recipe for a huge flinch. With a brake, your recoil will diminish significantly, but noise and blast go up massively as well, and often, these are what promote a flinch just as much. Having helped two sons grow up to shooting, doing a lot of LRP classes with them...I'm not sure this is where you want to go. I know it's cliche, but it's true that you'll do better with a gun you shoot well than a more powerful one that you can't shoot.

Magnums are also more expensive to shoot, so there is that too.

My son used his 270 in Colorado to take elk, and may people do. People have a huge variety of opinions on what they suggest...6.5 PRC is very popular at the moment, others are fine with creedmore...others would suggest a 7mm of some sort, IIRC a 7 mag has about the same recoil as a 3006, though not sure on that, not sure either would be advisable. But no matter what, I'd steer you away from a 300 mag as your first personal rifle....it's not a good gun to learn on or practice with a bunch...and as you are at the beginning of your journey with rifles, I'd definitely get an action that you can grow with, so for me, Remington pattern (though not remington with their recent troubles).

 

[SDHNTR]

If you want a magnum, why not get an action built to accommodate going after game that require magnums. M70 CRF! Big ass extractor and fixed ejector. No cheesy push feeds to double stroke, jam, and/or wimpy extractors that barely grab the cartridge rim when something might have your ass for dinner. Also as mentioned, no plastic, best safety on a firearm period, built to cartridge length specific actions rather than generic cost cutting one size fits all receivers (Tikka), bolt release in the right place unlike a 700, no bolt timing issues, tried and true, trusted for generations by people who make their living and trust lives to their rifles. If this stuff sounds foreign to you, you don’t know what you are missing! Again, to me there is no other choice unless you go full custom. They don’t call the M70 the Rifleman’s Rifle for nothing.

 

[simpsonhntr]

I’m about to purchase my first rifle for Elk/Mule Deer. Looking to spend around $1000-$1500 on the rifle so I can afford to spend more on a good scope. I realize carrying a heavy rifle in the mountains is more difficult but I’m guessing a super light rifle will have much more recoil so I’m hoping to stay away from light guns. This is my first post so please tell me what other info I can provide. I’ve read many threads on this site and this is a great community. I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

Both Bergara and Tikka offer rifles in that caliber, for under 1k, that have a 1 moa guarantee. I would start there. Also, I agree with most of the comments on avoiding such a large caliber. It is a great caliber but is it necessary? Finally, if you are going to use this for mountain hunting out west you are better off going with a light weight short action rifle in my opinion.

 

[simpsonhntr]

This is exactly why I joined this group. Thank you all for the advice. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

I’m from Louisiana and will be moving to CO in the next few months. I shot my father’s 270 when I was a teenager but haven’t shot many rifles since. I’m now in my mid 30s and mostly bow hunt.

I want to practice a lot with this rifle which makes me think I should consider 30-06. I have no experience with the 300 mag and as much as I plan on shooting...this may be the best route.

I don’t plan on hand loading in the near future but I have an addictive personality so I bet I will be part of that world in the next couple years.

Go with a .308. I kill elk and deer with a .308 every year with no problem. It is also cheap to buy ammo and is typically abundant.

 

[WRO]

300 win is fine, just brake it..

Loaded with 165s it's a flat shooting hammer that won't kill your shoulder.

Rifle wise, lf you can find one, I'd look hard at a barrett fieldcraft, little above your budget even used, but great all around light weight stick..

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[thinhorn_AK]

Winchester M70 Extreme Weather. I’d not even consider anything else in this price class. It wins hands down.

That was going to be my choice, I have 2 of them, a 30-06 and a 338wm, they really are nice rifles.

I have a friend who is a doctor, he travels all over the place for high dollar hunts (Marco polo sheep and stuff like that), he uses an extreme weather 300wm for all of that and he could buy whatever he wants.