I currently have a .300 Weatherby that I enjoy shooting very much. It is flat shooting and has tremendous knockdown power. My question is, for shooting game in North America will going with a .30-378 buy me anything over the .300 or should I possibly consider going to a .338/.340 or larger caliber if I want something for hunting larger game instead?
Posts: 487 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: 07 December 2001
A 338/378 Wby will give you bigger bullets than your 300 Wby and also retain the same velocity for bullets of equal sectional density. The comparison would be similar to comparing your 300 Wby to the 270 Wby.
Mike
Posts: 7206 | Location: Sydney, Australia | Registered: 22 May 2002
With current technology in powders and bullets the line of .30 caliber cartridge efficiency is passed at a capacity just about where the .300 Win Mag is now.
Most feel that increasing caliber is the way to go for more effect on game at normal ranges.
While I have a lot of .30 caliber rifles I really don't think it's a special size at all. It's just common that's all.
I love my 30-378 it has a range of fast velocities that do in about every other cartridge. Remember this load was orginally developed for the 1000 yard shot so range is not a problem. A lot of people say to go with the 300 RUM, this is also a great caliber and I own one myself, but if you do go with the Remington take it down and immediately get a quality muzzle brake put on or the recoil will punish you. The ammo is a more expensive to buy and reload for the 30-378 so you should take that into consideration. I would not go with the 338-378, some people say that you need a bigger caliber to take down big game quickly, this is not true, my father-in-law has shot a 257 Weatherby his whole life and killed everything from squirrels to elk with one shot. The 30 caliber will give you more speed and less drop, besides the whole point of a large caliber like this is to get speed. The 338 seems pointless to me in that respect. Of course the decision is yours but I have loved my 30-378 and look forward everyday to shooting and reloading for it. It is fun. Let me know what you decide
I contemplated many moons on buying a 30-378. I finally made my decision and went with the 300 RUM in a Win 70 Classic Stainless. Ballistically, there is not much difference between the two cartridges. The main point of consideration for me was the cost of reloading, much cheaper to reload for the 300 RUM. The recoil is stout but not more than a 12 gauge shotgun with 3" turkey loads. I am going to try one of the new SIMS lab recoil pads on it. The one that came standard is not too forgiving.
I have a sako TRGS in 30-378. It is a nice handling gun but has been very finicky. I took it to my local gunsmith and told him to take it apart and reassemble everything to the "torque and feel" that he would when building a rifle. He said that 30-378 is one caliber that alot of people bring him in hopes he has a "magic wand of accuracy". His opinion is that if you back them off towards 300 wby velocity they seem to all shoot better. I've seen lots of good accuracy reports on the RUM. If it had been out when I bought my 30-378 that's what I would own--probably a laminiated stock with stainless barrel.
