Good evening, all--just finished pontificating, and it's "my" time now...

My question is this: would the 200 gr. Accubond work well in the 300 wsm, or is 180 the better choice.

I was given the gun as a present; and, on a whim, I ponied up on a bunch of reloading stuff for it.

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep the gun (Tikka hunter), as I need to scratch together some cash for a moose hunt.

On that note, if anyone's interested in a NIB Tikka 300 wsm, let me know.

Many thanks for your help!

friar

A) Where are you going for moose?
B) When do you plan on going for moose?
C) If you sell the WSM, what will you take for moose?

The 200 grain bullet will certainly work. However, there are better "fitting" weights, namely, the 180, and even better, a 150/168. This is due to the short case and short neck. If you subscribe to bigger is always better, but still want a decent fit, go with the 180s.

I load the 168s for 2 SAUMs and that combo killed 2 caribou, and one of those was at 396 yards.

(I ask about the moose hunt b/c we plan on going back to BC next fall and need one or 2 more hunters).

I used a 300WSM in Africa with a 200gr Nosler Partition at a MV=2800fps. We had a number of 1 shot kills, took a Oryx at 350 yards, took a going away follow up shot on a going away eland and got total penetration w/ the bullet exiting below it's chin, took a leopard, 2 zebra..........I could go on, but I really like the 200 grain bullet out of the 300WSM

Good morning fellas,

The moose hunt is this October in Ontario--somewhere northeast of Nestor Falls (which is the east side of Lake of the Woods).

My first rifle is a featherweight .270 WCF. Right now I'm pushing 150 gr. A-Frames at 3000, and it's quite accurate. Every deer I've killed has been with that gun, and I feel very confident with it to the 300 yard neighborhood.

My daughter's godfather manages a Gander Mountain, and "won" a guided trip for 4 through performance incentives. I say "won", because it's still a very significant chunk of change that each of us has to cough up!

My wife has agreed to let me go...under pain of "yet to be named reprisals." It'd been easier to cut a bargan with el diabolo himself!

If there's a chance to hunt with you in the future, Doc, I'd be honored to be invited. Might take 2 or 3 seasons though to build up enough good-husband points before I can cash-in, though.

MHC--it's interesting to hear the 200 gr. partition did well for you. I looked at Nosler's site last night, and noted that it's 15/100th of an inch shorter than the 180 gr. accubond.

Ahh, decisions, decisions!

I think my long term goal at this time, even if I sell the Tikka, is to stick with the 300 short. It seems to be good middle-ground between the 06 an the 300 WM.

Again, thanks for the help fellas,

God bless,

friar

quote:

Originally posted by friarmeier:
Good morning fellas,


MHC--it's interesting to hear the 200 gr. partition did well for you. I looked at Nosler's site last night, and noted that it's 15/100th of an inch shorter than the 180 gr. accubond.


friar

Not only did we have a number of one-shot kills....but most of the animals dropped in their tracks.......the PH even was impressed.

That bullet shoots flat and penetrates and for a all around hunting bullet it is hard to beat.....just my 2 cents.


I have a bunch of 300WSM load data (all chronographed) for two different 300WSM, if you like I will email it to you.

Just curious, how much do you want for the rifle?

I'd sell the Tikka and get going on that moose hunt.

Doc, doing a quick search on Gunbroker, it looks like the gun is worth about $600. It has the factory rings & a new 3 x 9 Bushnell Trophy on it.

Here's the crazy part--my wife asked today whether I had told my friend that I'd go. I said that, yes, I did.

When I offered up a peace offering, saying "I thought I'd sell the Tikka to help defray the cost", she went into this spiel about how that didn't make any sense and was stupid, that I was always saying we'd need another couple of rifles anyway when the kids got old enough to hunt, etc., etc.

Hell, part of me thinks I should just take her up on her insistence not to sell it, and let well enough alone.

Any advice??? Martial, that is?

Thanks,

friar

When the wife says something is "stupid" and "doesn't make sense," .....AGREE with her, especially when you get to keep a nice rifle like that.

End of discussion! Oh, and BTW, be sure and tell her THANKYOU for bringing you back to the logical thinking world.

Keep the rifle, you'll be very glad you did.

God bless you Doc!

friar

quote:

Originally posted by friarmeier:
If there's a chance to hunt with you in the future, Doc, I'd be honored to be invited. Might take 2 or 3 seasons though to build up enough good-husband points before I can cash-in, though.
friar

I suspect good husband points are a bit like "brownie" points, don't ask me where that comes from, all I know is that brownie points are about the most volatile substance know to mankind, with a half life of about 3 nanoseconds. Don't hang onto your good husband points for too long or you'll find they've mysteriously disappeared. For what its worth, I reckon sell the rifle & use it to cash in those GH points, when the kids are old enough, by what I read, a decent second hand rifle won't be too hard to come by.
Steve.

FWIW: I don't hunt, but I do target shoot with a 300WSM. I use the Sierra 180-gr HPBT MatchKing to great success. I get 2900+ fps out of 65 grains of RL-22...

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
The 200 grain bullet will certainly work. However, there are better "fitting" weights, namely, the 180, and even better, a 150/168. This is due to the short case and short neck. If you subscribe to bigger is always better, but still want a decent fit, go with the 180s.

I guess I don't "get" this... I've run the 200 AB in the 300 WSM (2,800). It has plenty of case capacity to handle the bullet with a full charge of H4350 and has nearly a caliber neck... what's the issue?

I mostly run 180's in the 300 WSM and never anything lighter... to me, heavy bullets are what a magnum is all about.

Brad, what OAL do you get with the 200 gr. accubonds?

Homebrewer, I've got a bundle of rl-22. I use it a lot in my .270, and it looks like it will do well in this case also...

Again, thanks for all the help, guys!

friar

If you have a long throat you can run some real heavyweights.

quote:

Originally posted by Brad:

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
The 200 grain bullet will certainly work. However, there are better "fitting" weights, namely, the 180, and even better, a 150/168. This is due to the short case and short neck. If you subscribe to bigger is always better, but still want a decent fit, go with the 180s.

I guess I don't "get" this... I've run the 200 AB in the 300 WSM (2,800). It has plenty of case capacity to handle the bullet with a full charge of H4350 and has nearly a caliber neck... what's the issue?

I mostly run 180's in the 300 WSM and never anything lighter... to me, heavy bullets are what a magnum is all about.

I suppose it boils down to the multitude of opinions out there regarding a well balanced loaded round. Not everyone subscribes to "heavy bullets are what a magnum is all about." There are those that like fast and flat and want a fully loaded hull without having a lot of bullet shank invading the case. Magnums can be multipurpose.

quote:

and want a fully loaded hull without having a lot of bullet shank invading the case.

What sort of evil is there in "a lot of bullet shank invading the case?"

I'm at a loss with this thinking.

quote:

Originally posted by friarmeier:
Brad, what OAL do you get with the 200 gr. accubonds?

Again, thanks for all the help, guys!

friar

Friar, would have to go check my records as I've used that bullet in both an M70 and Kimber MT. I usually seat bullets .030 off the lands. I would guess each of these were around 2.950 OAL.

Both handle the bullet beautifully and the case still has room for more powder with a max book charge of H4350.

Here's an antelope I shot while bedded with one 180 Partition at 2,950... shot was 547 yards. Guess I should have used a lighter bullet

quote:

Originally posted by Brad:

quote:

and want a fully loaded hull without having a lot of bullet shank invading the case.

What sort of evil is there in "a lot of bullet shank invading the case?"

I'm at a loss with this thinking.

Me too, but I've read about it so many times and for whatever reason, many who stuff their own do not like a lot of bullet taking up case space. Personally, I could care less, so long as the bullet shoots well in my rifle. You definitely used the wrong combo on that antelope too. That 180 partition is overkill for antelope and taking a shot at over 200 yards is completely unethical.

IMO the short fat magnums do better with short bullets, IE 150-180 in the 300WSM.

From my loading and chrono testing the 300WSM really shines with the 165-168 class bullets, once moving to the longer 180s, case capacity is robbed and velocity suffers. I was able to match the 300 Win Mag with 165s, but couldn't match it with 180s.

The mag length of most SA rifles just kills the capacity even more. The tipped variety of 180s have to be seated quite deep in the case to still function in the mag which results in less capacity/lower velocities.

your mileage may vary....

Reloader

If I were to build a WSM of any variety, it would be on a LA with a long throat, but then that just goes against what a short case is all about. Might as well go with a real magnum

Have a Good One,

Reloader

One person who comes to mind is Jim Borden. I spoke with him some years ago about his custom 300. I think he said it is a 300 Weatherby that is simply made shorter. 300 Caribou maybe?

Anyway, he is one of the guys I spoke with that spoke about efficiency and balance with the short mags, and using the 165/168 class bullet for a short 300 mag.

My favorite load is 165 gr Nosler Partition in front of 70 gr. H4831. Fairly well compressed load and very accurate for me.

quote:

once moving to the longer 180s, case capacity is robbed and velocity suffers. I was able to match the 300 Win Mag with 165s, but couldn't match it with 180s.

Well, once again, ignorance is bliss... how do you think you can ever SAFELY match 300 WM velocities with a 300 WSM? IT'S A SOLID 100 - 150 FPS SLOWER ROUND THAN A 300 WM. IT HAS LESS CASE CAPACITY! If you want 300 WM velocities get a damn 300 WM.

Funny, in the now five 300 WSM's I've owned and loaded for I've never had an issue with too little powder capacity with a 180.

I have a M700 CDL short action in 300WSM, and with the 180's I have to seat the 180gr Accubond about 5mm down below the shoulder to work through the magazine. However, I can still get 68gr's of W760 into the case, which is 4 grains over Nosler maximum.

Not that I'm going to try that load first!!, but am going to work up to it from 10% below maximum (64grs), in 0.5 grain increments.

My rifle has a 26inch fluted barrel, going to be interesting to see what velocities I can achieve. Goal is 3100 fps if I can safely get this with accuracy being equally important as well.