Is a 300 WSM worth buying?

[chizelhead]

I see some 300 wsm ammo trickle out here and there locally, but it’s usually federal fusion of powershok. Both of those are pretty standard cup and core fare with not great BCs. Hornady discontinued their 200 grain ELDx load. If you are not a handloader, prepare to horde the Federal stuff when you see it or plan on paying someone like Unknown Munitions to load better stuff for you. I own a 300 WSM. If you’re not going to load for it and you really need a big mag, you are better off with the longer 300 win mag.

That's interesting. The 200 grain ELDx load is listed on their website, and I just bought some a week ago.

 

[ElPollo]

That's interesting. The 200 grain ELDx load is listed on their website, and I just bought some a week ago.

I heard last year that they were dropping that load and it was my favorite for that rifle. It could be I read BS and you got old ammo out of a warehouse or that they backpedaled and made some more. I don’t know, but I have not seen any 300 WSM ammo other than the federal stuff for over two years and darned little of that. If you don’t load, it’s not likely to be a rifle you shoot a lot.

 

[Reburn]

I heard last year that they were dropping that load and it was my favorite for that rifle. It could be I read BS and you got old ammo out of a warehouse or that they backpedaled and made some more. I don’t know, but I have not seen any 300 WSM ammo other than the federal stuff for over two years and darned little of that. If you don’t load, it’s not likely to be a rifle you shoot a lot.

I sure hope your wrong though.
My 300 wsm barrel loves the 200 gr eldx.
I have a hard time believing they would discontinue it.

 

[ElPollo]

I looked at ammo seek and they do have a federal load with the 200 gr ELDX available now, but I’m not seeing any Hornady precision hunter stuff The federal terminal ascent stuff is also available which has pretty decent BCs. I’ve used that but would keep impacts above 2k fps. There is also quite a bit of Barnes mono stuff available which I don’t use. There is a lot more available online than I’ve seen in a long time.

 

[tdhanses]

Maybe if you're hot rodding the piss out of a WSM and comparing it to a mild 300wm but otherwise that doesn't make any sense.

Barrels only last me around 900rds, a 300wm will last much longer. I do hot rod mine as I’m slinging 215’s at 2963ft/s, to get the same performance out of a 300wm is not hot rodding it.

 

[Sled]

300 WSM is coming back online again.

You think that until some asshat comes up with a 7.62 Western and fills the shelves with it during an ammo shortage.

 

[wind gypsy]

Barrels only last me around 900rds, a 300wm will last much longer. I do hot rod mine as I’m slinging 215’s at 2963ft/s, to get the same performance out of a 300wm is not hot rodding it.

How could you burn 10 grains more powder in the same bore, at the same pressure, and get more barrel life? It defies physics.

I would be interested in entering your load in quick load and seeing what a WM would do at the same pressures with RL26 or N570. I bet it’s in the neighborhood of 3100 fps.

 

[Thinkingman]

How could you burn 10 grains more powder in the same bore, at the same pressure, and get more barrel life? It defies physics.

I would be interested in entering your load in quick load and seeing what a WM would do at the same pressures with RL26 or N570. I bet it’s in the neighborhood of 3100 fps.

I'm very interested to hear the response.

 

[tdhanses]

How could you burn 10 grains more powder in the same bore, at the same pressure, and get more barrel life? It defies physics.

I would be interested in entering your load in quick load and seeing what a WM would do at the same pressures with RL26 or N570. I bet it’s in the neighborhood of 3100 fps.

I’ll pm you the details

 

[wind gypsy]

I’ll pm you the details

Got it. Only thing is I dont have quickload to do the actual calcs so if someone who does wants to run a 300 wsm load and see what a 300 WM would do with same barrel length and pressure, that would be interesting.

I'm still of the belief that running a 300 wsm really hot with hot burning powder is the cause of your short 300 WSM barrel life and that if a 300 WM was run similarly i'd expect them to die just as fast on avg.

 

[B23]

Got it. Only thing is I dont have quickload to do the actual calcs so if someone who does wants to run a 300 wsm load and see what a 300 WM would do with same barrel length and pressure, that would be interesting.

I'm still of the belief that running a 300 wsm really hot with hot burning powder is the cause of your short 300 WSM barrel life and that if a 300 WM was run similarly i'd expect them to die just as fast on avg.

Using default OAL and case capacity settings and 65K PSI in both and I plugged in a 26in barrel QL projections show there's only around 40fps difference between the 300 WSM and 300 Win and I ran the numbers using both a 200gr and 212gr bullet. RL26 was listed as the top performer with regard to velocity for both and the 300 Win uses 6gr more powder.

Both shot at the same rate of fire, loaded with the same or similar burning powder/s bullet combo, and taken care of the same, I don't see how one would have any significantly longer barrel life than the other. Maybe if you were running something like N570, which tends to be a bit harder on throats, in one and H1000 in the other, maybe, you'd see a greater difference but everything being equal I'd be hard to sell me on one having less barrel life than the other.

 

[tdhanses]

Got it. Only thing is I dont have quickload to do the actual calcs so if someone who does wants to run a 300 wsm load and see what a 300 WM would do with same barrel length and pressure, that would be interesting.

I'm still of the belief that running a 300 wsm really hot with hot burning powder is the cause of your short 300 WSM barrel life and that if a 300 WM was run similarly i'd expect them to die just as fast on avg.

Oh that could easily be true, for a hunting rifle it really doesn’t matter to most though since they probably won’t shoot 1000rds in 10 years.

 

[tdhanses]

Using default OAL and case capacity settings and 65K PSI in both and I plugged in a 26in barrel QL projections show there's only around 40fps difference between the 300 WSM and 300 Win and I ran the numbers using both a 200gr and 212gr bullet. RL26 was listed as the top performer with regard to velocity for both and the 300 Win uses 6gr more powder.

Both shot at the same rate of fire, loaded with the same or similar burning powder/s bullet combo, and taken care of the same, I don't see how one would have any significantly longer barrel life than the other. Maybe if you were running something like N570, which tends to be a bit harder on throats, in one and H1000 in the other, maybe, you'd see a greater difference but everything being equal I'd be hard to sell me on one having less barrel life than the other.

Use 68.2gr of RL26, ADG brass, CCI BR2 primers and 215 Bergers. Now load it for both to have a MV of 2950ft/s and see what the pressures are, that’s where the difference will be. My guess is a hot load in the 300wsm will not be a hot load in the 300wm to obtain the same velocity. Could be wrong. I also believe the sharp neck design of the wsm further adds to quicker erosion of the throat compared to a 300wm.

In reality yes you could shoot 2000rds through a 300wsm using factory ammo and not see a large enough accuracy fall off for most individuals hunting accuracy out to 300 yards. I could also use Bergers book max on the 215 and drop my velocity to 2700ft/s if I wanted to not hot rod it.

 

[WCB]

Op, I would choose the 300win out of those 3 because of ammunition availability...also cost is normally slightly higher. But....If you get the gun and can find a load that shoots really well out of it...just by a crap load of it and not worry about immediate availability.

Also, Short Mag offerings are only going to decrease and at a higher rate than win mag.

I looked at ammo seek and they do have a federal load with the 200 gr ELDX available now, but I’m not seeing any Hornady precision hunter stuff The federal terminal ascent stuff is also available which has pretty decent BCs. I’ve used that but would keep impacts above 2k fps. There is also quite a bit of Barnes mono stuff available which I don’t use. There is a lot more available online than I’ve seen in a long time.

You would keep the velocity above 2000fps for the Terminal Ascent? Its operation velocity is 1400fps which is one of the lowest on the market. ELDX is 1600ish I believe.

 

[B23]

QL projection using default OAL and both loaded to 65K PSI with 215 Berger and a 26in barrel shows the 300WSM at 2911fps using 68.1gr RL26 and the 300 Win at 2928fps using 71.9gr RL26

 

[wind gypsy]

QL projection using default OAL and both loaded to 65K PSI with 215 Berger and a 26in barrel shows the 300WSM at 2911fps using 68.1gr RL26 and the 300 Win at 2928fps using 71.9gr RL26

Thanks for running that. Way off from what i would have guessed! Is there a standard case capacity that it is based on?

SAAMI throat geometry must play a pretty big part? 18%ish increase in case capacity and it only takes a 5.5% increase in powder to hit the same pressure?

 

[ElPollo]

Op, I would choose the 300win out of those 3 because of ammunition availability...also cost is normally slightly higher. But....If you get the gun and can find a load that shoots really well out of it...just by a crap load of it and not worry about immediate availability.

Also, Short Mag offerings are only going to decrease and at a higher rate than win mag.

You would keep the velocity above 2000fps for the Terminal Ascent? Its operation velocity is 1400fps which is one of the lowest on the market. ELDX is 1600ish I believe.

This is the info out there about Terminal Ascent bullets expanding down to 1400 fps. Would you want to count on that bullet performance bringing down an animal quickly? I sure wouldn’t. The bullet at 1900 fps is probably only opening up like that in the last 1/3 of its penetration. And frankly, this traditional mushroom stuff is not the kind of bullet performance I’m looking for. I’ve been down that road and hunted with monos for a long time. My preference now is for bullets that fragment and provide bigger wound channels. My bullet of choice for a WSM is 200 gr ELDx in factory loads and the 208 gr ELDm in handloads. I think the G1 BC on the latter is like 0.690. That’s a bullet you can toss over your shoulder and have it land in the next state. And it will murder anything you hit with it. The Terminal Ascent would be like poking something with a sharp stick by comparison.

 

[OlPappyB]

I've had my 300 WSM for 3 years and a couple things for it. If you only use factory ammo, DO NOT buy a 300 wsm. You will either never find the ammo, anywhere in store or online AND if and when you do, it's outrageously priced. I reload and I prefer short action with some thump. If I liked long actions I would've went with a 30-06 and never looked back. I've shot all the 30 calibers and the 308 and 300 wsm are my favorites for hunting. Now I will say, after shooting deer, elk and bear with my 300 wsm I will use the 300 wsm over the 308 as long as I can with reloading. If you're not reloading, get a 300 WM or a 30-06 and you'll always have ammo and cheaper prices.

 

[wirehead]

I think availability of ammo for the 300 wsm is a little bit overstated… Find some, buy all you’ll ever need, and be done. Or have Unknown Munitions or some other boutique load up 300 rounds and move on. It’s a great round. You’ll pay a little more than with 300 WM or 7 RM but what you’re buying for the 300 wsm is probably premium so as for price, you have to compare premium to premium ammo…

All that said, if I did not reload and were presented with equally good deals on rifles, I’d go with a 6.5 PRC. Next would be 7 RM / 7 PRC.

 

[KenLee]

I think availability of ammo for the 300 wsm is a little bit overstated… Find some, buy all you’ll ever need, and be done. Or have Unknown Munitions or some other boutique load up 300 rounds and move on. It’s a great round. You’ll pay a little more than with 300 WM or 7 RM but what you’re buying for the 300 wsm is probably premium so as for price, you have to compare premium to premium ammo…

All that said, if I did not reload and were presented with equally good deals on rifles, I’d go with a 6.5 PRC. Next would be 7 RM / 7 PRC.

All the hoopla for fast twist barrels to sling heavy bullets has hurt availability of the factory loaded 150 gr NBT that I love to send down the pipe of my 300 wsms. Bang, splat!