My 300 WM has been born again

[11boo]

I have never been a big fan of muzzle brakes, but that all changed yesterday. It was my first time out with my old Ruger M77 300wm that I had threaded and braked. Recoil reduction was just about unbelievable. Very effective brake design for sure.

This gun has laid down a few elk, and bloodied me up once from a prone shot, scope vs eyebrow . I liked the gun and caliber, but never really shot it enough to have full confidence in its capabilities. Used to be about a dozen shots was enough at the range. Recoil was.....harsh.

Yesterday’s range trip, 45 rounds. I would have shot more, but ran out of time. Took about 6 or 8 shots on paper to re-zero, since they pretty much disassembled the gun for threading.
we have steel at the club out at 300, and I beat it hard. Blasted dirt clods way out there too. Pretty sure I could put 100 rounds thru it without feeling it, just takes a while since I don’t let it get too hot.

A local shop did the work, and did a fine job. One complaint, I’ll definitely wear this bbl out and need a new one since it is so user friendly Now. A new one won’t cost that much, and the same shop can easily replace it with a better one.

muzzle blast/noise? I did not notice either, but I always double up ear pro with the loud stuff.
I would imagine you would not want to be right next to me, all that pressure is going somewhere.

Heritage Arms in Loma, Colorado did the work. I can highly recommend them, they are primarily a rifle shop.

Pics-

 

[kid44]

Nice to hear what the brake did for the recoil. I have been considering a .300 WM, but must admit the recoil has scared me off somewhat.

 

[11boo]

Yeah, that thing used to be rough, even with the PAST Recoil pad. I purposely left the strap on recoil pad at home yesterday. Not needed at all.

It had a very sharp recoil impulse before braked, now it is more like a decent shove. I just hate hunting with a gun I dont shoot a lot, and I have a late season cow hunt coming up. I’ll be ready with this Ruger.

I am not recoil shy, but that gun was rough.

This 45/70 got a lot more trigger time even with my elk loads, which are a stout charge under a 405 gr bullet, but it seems to have a different kind of recoil than the 300. It’s actually a favorite elk gun, but forget a shot beyond 150.

 

[SirChooCH]

Good to know. I am looking to trade in and trade up my Rem 700 ADL in 300 WM and will try to get one that is threaded and/or already braked. What brake are you using? Victory something?

 

[11boo]

I got my brake from these guys.

https://heritage-arms.com/product-category/gun-parts/muzzle-brakes/

As I know zilch about brakes, I went to their shop and spoke with the owner.
I told him I wanted Maximum recoil reduction, and the Victory turbine brake delivered.

 

[TAGPUNCHER]

KID44 I wouldn't let the 300wm recoil stop you. It has more to do with the gun and stock than the cartridge. It is no worse than a 30-06 bolt gun to me. A brake puts it in the category of a 270 or less. A Ruger m77 is NOT one to base it off of for sure. It will feel like a 416rigby. Felt recoil vs Recoil velocity is 2 Different animals.

 

[Cheaha]

@11boo is that a tang safety model? If so, I have one too. Curious what kind of groups you get and if you have made other mods to improve accuracy. I don't shoot mine much because of the recoil, so load development has been difficult, but so far my groups have not been impressive. Your post has me thinking I could actually dial it in if I installed a brake.

 

[elkguide]

I've shot a tang safety Ruger 77 in .300 Win Mag for years. I put a Brown Precision stock on it and have beat the heck out of it. Even though I have many other rifles in lots of calibers, even several others in .300 WM, I always seemed to grab that old Ruger when I went hunting because whatever I pointed it at, fell over. After it finally started to open up it's groups from 1/2" to 3/4" with what I recorded as 1400 + rounds through it (and since I bought it used I don't know what it had when I bought it) I switched to another 1/2" grouping .300 Win Mag as my go to rifle but my son decided that he wanted to use it. This fall he took a nice whitetail at 300+ yards with it. I never found the recoil to be that harsh from that Ruger and am thinking that I need to get it back from my son. It is not braked either. Love the old tang safety Rugers.

 

[Cheaha]

@elkguide what are you shooting out of yours? Factory or handloads?

 

[tater]

I snuck my Dad's M70 .338wm out to a smith for a cut/brake/cerakote and threw a new Leupy on it as a thank you for hunting moose with me for all these years. He quit using it a few years back as he just wasn't up to the recoil (At 73 he isn't as froggy as he once was).

He's been reloading and slinging bullets downrange with it like a man possessed and with the huge reduction in recoil he is back to enjoying his moose thumper.

 

[elkguide]

Haven't shot a factory load in years. (might even run a little bit hotter than I should too!) The great thing about the old Ruger was that it isn't fussy about what I feed it. I run the bullets out to magazine length and she just seems to like whatever grain bullet from 165 to 215.

 

[FLAK]

A Ruger M77 in .300WM with one of those boat paddle black stocks was the only gun I ever sold because I couldnt handle the recoil. Brutal!!

 

[11boo]

@11boo is that a tang safety model? If so, I have one too. Curious what kind of groups you get and if you have made other mods to improve accuracy. I don't shoot mine much because of the recoil, so load development has been difficult, but so far my groups have not been impressive. Your post has me thinking I could actually dial it in if I installed a brake.

I’m getting 1.5” off the bench with the cheap Speer hot core 180 gr stuff.