Hi Folks,

I was wondering if you could share loads that are effective for whitetails in a 300 mag. I am interested in loads that minimize bood damage.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

XCaddis

I'm not sure what you mean by "blood damage", but the capacity of a bullet to kill an animal is in direct proportion to its capacity to destroy tissue (which is a function mostly of velocity and bullet upset). If you want to do very little damage to the deer's tissue, use a military style full metal jacket, and be prepared to follow your mortally wounded deer for quite a distance. If you want your deer to be killed quickly and humanely and be readily recovered, use any "non-premium" expanding bullet. (Hint: Avoid shooting the parts you want to eat.)

I'd think your best bet would be to use one of the premium hunting bullets like Nosler Partition and the new Accubond, CT Failsafe, Barnes X, etc. Any of these bullets weighing between, say, 180-200 grains should be good for any game animal on this continent in a .300 Winchester Magnum.

Suitable powders would be anything between IMR 4350 and the new Hodgdon Retumbo, with IMR 4831, Reloder 22 and 25, H4831 and H1000 being the established standouts.

XCaddis
On the lease I hunt on, in the places I usually hunt if I wanted to shoot a deer farther away than 100 yards, I woulsd have to spot the deer and stalk "backwards" I wanted to use a new Blaser in 300 Win Mag to harvest some doe without "blowing them up". I did a little research and came up with the following loads.

For a reduced load in the 300 Win Mag.
180gr. bullet 47grains of IMR3031 [std primers] velocity @ 2380fps.

The load I have used to take a few deer is about 30-06 velocities:
180gr. Sierra Round Nose [makes it easy to tell them from regular loads] 70gr. of IMR4831.
Velocity @ 2800fps. I used this load because it shoots very good in my rifle.

I have also killed a couple of deer with full power loads with the 180 Nosler Partition. If you hit them behind the shoulder you do not tear up too much meat.

I used federal factory 180gr Nosler Partitions to bring down a deer and experienced very little bloodshot meat. Range was about 200yds, and I hit it behind the shoulder, through the lungs. Like I said, very little bloodshot meat...but that translated to very little expansion in this case. My experiences with BarnesX bullets have been very good as well. A 150gr or 165gr Barnes XLC or Triple Shock should take care of a whitetail in short order with very little bloodshot meat...unless you hit the shoulder or other large bone.

RL-22 and a 165gr. Partition, that's all you'll ever need.

N E 450 No2, I'm curious. Where are you that you see deer past 100 yards? Your name about the 450 Nitro Express? Just curious.
XCaddis, unless your only rifle is a 300 magnum, I suggest use a .308Win or you load down to .308 velocities with a 150 grain bullet. Less felt recoil but you'd have to work up a load. Use your manual. This came up on another forum you'd be welcome at. A Canadian forum, you all would be welcome at. Drop by. Your opinions and outlook is valued.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/

To minimize meat damage, I think that was your question, I'd use a 220 gr. Nosler or Woodleigh or I would use a 200 gr. Nosler and slow it down to about 2500 FPS...that is what I do.

I've shot several deer with my "use it for everything" load in a 300WM which is a 200gr partition @ 2900fps. If anything the damage seemed a bit less than say a .270 or 30-06. Inside of 200 yards, a Grand Slam will hardly open at .300WM speeds but with proper shot placement, works well with little bloodshotting.

Not sure what ranges you plan to shoot, but I have always had great success at ranges from 75-400 yds with the 180gr Nosler Partition. Never did a deer even take a step following the hit. I can't say the damage to the meat was minimal, but it wasn't the worst I've seen. In that area, I have to agree with Stonecreek. The FMJ will cause the least amount of damage, but think about what you are doing before you go that route. There's no reason to make that animal suffer if you have the means to avoid it. Besides, unless you need the exercise, I sure as hell wouldn't want to chase a deer all over the countryside.

My Deer load for the 300 Winny is 165Gr.Hornady SPBT over H4831SC.and have not had any problems with Blood damage.

Hope this helps

Doc

I have used the .300 Win. Mag as my only rifle for years. My load has been 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip over 70 grains of IMR 4350. If you hit behind the shoulder you will get great knock down and little actuall meat damage. If you hit meat, well you will have less to eat!! Only missed my mark on one deer of who knows how many and it cost me the tenderloin.
I have found my rifle likes the 180 BT better though so I am switching. If I only had 100-150 yard shots I would not use a .300. I love it but it is not needed at all for that close work. Actually my close shots at deer have been the only ones I have had to trail. I would opt for a .308 for work under 150. This year I used 125 Ballistic tips in my .308 Worked like a charm. But I did make error number two and hit the back and it destroyed the tenderloin as bad as the .300. Some times that happens though.

I have used solids in the 300 H&H on African plainsgame and they worked fine for me but you must break the shoulders for them to be effective, however they are mostly illegal in the USA....therefore you should use a tough bullet that expands only a bit and slow down the velocity to about 2400 or less...I have not found this to bother me in the Whitetail country or the the Mule deer country for that matter out to 350 to 400 yards if you are familiar with your drop chart and have tested it..It is as easy to hold a foot over something as it is 6 inches, albiet the difference is more like 3 inches difference, not a great deal in my books.

Fact: soft bullets and high velocity bloodshoot game no matter where you shoot them it spreads all over the side...a good meat bullet allows you to eat to the hole as old Elmer used to say. I like that.