>300wsm or .300win mag?

[swwildlife]

I will be getting a new rifle soon and I'm mixed on what caliber to get. My hunting is for deer,elk,black bear,antelope, the usual north american speices. and plains game.(sounds like an all around rifle) I would like something in the 30 caliber as I have others already in the sub 30 caliber. The older I get the more recoil sensitive I get. and I hate a muzzle brake. My sons tell me to man up. The distanses I plan on shooting are out to 500 yards. What are some of your opinions on these 2 calibers?

[jeffro]

Both are great rounds. Out to 500yrds it will not matter what round you choose. I shoot heavies with the highest BC I can find. Out to 500yrds BC doesnt matter that much either. You could shoot a light bullet and be just fine, and the recoil will be much less. If you dont like recoil you could also make the gun heavy, but then they are harder to carry. Out of the 2 cal, I would get the WM. The WM will out run the WSM as long as you have at least a 24in barrel or longer.

[firstcoueswas80]

6 of one half a dozen of the other.

 

I run a 300wsm and the 168 ttsx and love it. Although its not my main rifle, I used it in Africa and it performed flawlessly.

[pwrguy]

Both are similar in performance, with lots and lots of choices of bullets and powders. You really can't go wrong!! Depending on the weight of the rifle, you are going to feel plenty of recoil, I would still consider a good break if you don't like getting thumped. Just my 2 cents worth.

[billrquimby]

I'm a wimp when it comes to recoil also. That's why I shoot a 7 mm Remington Magnum with 175-grain Nosler Partition handloads for everything except African dangerous game.

 

Bill Quimby

[swwildlife]

I had a feeling it was going to be somewhat like the ford chevy dodge argument, thanks for your opinions I guess the bottom line is, have fun with a new toy.

[sjvcon]

I guess I'm a traditionalist ... of the two I'd go with the .300WM. However, if you're looking just to 500 yards, you could go with something non-magnum and be just fine on most North American game. The venerable old .30-06 will make 500 pretty easy, especially with a bit longer barrel. Again ... maybe just being a traditionalist, but if you're in search of the "All Around Rifle Cartridge" I can't think of a better cartridge ... its earned that title many times over.

[roninflag]

for me the gun is more important than the caliber. i like a brake on any magnum.

[plumber]

Jim, out to 500 yds. both caliber's will do more than what you need.

I want to let eveyone know that Jim Hartsock who owns Southwest Wildlife Taxidermy did a lifesize mount on my Bighorn Sheep and turned out perfect. I have and do recommend him far all your Taxidermy work. he is a Good guy to work with.

 

Kendall

[AxisWorks LLC]

Well here goes my 2 cents again... .300WM VS .300 WSM. Same caliber, almost identical balistics. So what is the advantage of one over the other? Why would Winchester even create a WSM if both these are the same?

Here was there method behind the madness. Winchester was trying to achieve two things with the WSM. One, get it into a short action and benefit from the rigidity the short action offers over the long action and two they claim powder stacked in a short fat case burns more efficiently than stacked in a long narrow case. I have the WSM but I am not going to tell you one is better over the other. I will tell you the .300 WSM I have does shoot great though.

 

Speedy,

[SunDevil]

the 300 wsm I have shoots 2.5 inch groups at 400 yards. took down an oryx in one shot in its tracks at 390 yards.

[GreeneMachine]

Own a 300wsm weatherby (factory trigger sucks!) and reload using 180grain accubonds. I've shot javelina, pig, antelope, deer and elk with that 180gr round and not a single animal has taken a step after being hit...and not all shots were exactly well placed. Many would say that round is too much for anything less than an elk but I do not agree. Aside from one javelina that I sawed in half (using a partition rather than an accubond for whatever difference that would make) every animal that I have taken with it has had minimal damage to the meat. My goal is to put em in the dirt and the 300wsm does a good job of it. Can't comment on the win mag...don't own one.

[azslim]

look at a couple of reloading manuals, the WSM is equal to the WM out to about 300 yds, then the WSM starts dropping more

 

the WSM runs on about 10 grs less powder than the WM

[lionhunter]

I have both and love both! I load 150 accubonds in the wsm and 180 in the wm. The only thing I can say from my first hand knowledge is that the short mag gets the same fps with a shorter barrel. This I like a lot. My 300 win mag has a 26 inch barrel plus a muzzle break; it is sometimes a pain in the @$ to carry in the thick stuff. The WSM has a 23 inch barrel and feels like you are carrying around a much smaller rifle. With that being said, I think if your main objective is game smaller than elk (150 or 165) bullet I would go with the short mag. If you want to shoot a heavier bullet like 180 or 200 gr. I know that the win mag will handle them better.... Hope that helps, or confuses you more?????

You can't go wrong either way. I would grab either one for anything in AZ including elk, and feel 100 % confident with it.

Whitey

[Red Rabbit]

Either one as they are pretty equal. Both have a good assortment of available factory ammo to choose from. If you reload, the WM may have an advantage of 100fps, but that means nothing in reality out to 500 yards. I have not noticed the shorter action of the WSM to be a major advantage, unless you want a light mountain rifle and ounces count.

You can reduce felt recoil without a brake by choosing a heavier gun with a good straight stock design, wide butt, put on good recoil pad, and shoot lighter weight premium bullets rather than 180-200 grain cup and core bullets.

Seems that I would choose what rifle I wanted, and then see what chamberings (WSM and/or WM) it comes in.

 

If recoil is the major factor, the 30-06 will work fine to your 500 yards and may be a better choice than the mags.