Buddy of mine called me for some advice today on which gun to by. I haven't been around much the past few years.

At one time, most considered the old .300 Win Mag to still be superior to the SM even with its belt, does that still hold? This issues with the short mag were availability in the Booneys, lowered magazine capacity, and cycling through the mag.

Are the WSM's here to stay?

Go with the old faithful WM. I've owned two SMs and two WMs and the WMs functioned more reliably, had enough mag length for proper seating, gave better velocities, and functioned flawlessly.

Nothing wrong with a SM if that is your cup of tea, but for me, I like the tried and true real mags.

Good Luck

Reloader

quote:

At one time, most considered the old .300 Win Mag to still be superior to the SM even with its belt, does that still hold?

IMO yes....it still holds.....but for those that heavily favor a short action there isn't much of an option.....the WSMs are quite impressive.....

IMO it boils down to the question.....How much in love with short actions are you?

Yes the .300 WM is superior to the .300 WSM. The .300 WSM has less recoil.
Yes the .300 WSM is here to stay, IMO. But you may not find it in every mom and pop store.

Is your bubby new to hunting and shooting?

I’ve owned, shot, and hunted with both. I sold both and put new barrels on my .308 Win and .30-06.

IMO unless one plans on shooting alot past 350 yards or so there is not alot to be gained by using the magnums.

No, he is stuck on a 300 Mag, originally the WSM. But he called for advice.

He already has a .308 and .30-06, just wants a 300.

I have been moving the other way, doing most of my hunting now with a .243 or 44 mag. Rarely break out the 7RM or the 340WM any more unless it is guided.

I've used both. The 300 WM gets my vote. For one who might be recoil-sensitive, the WSM has less recoil...and less velocity. Truth be told, I've gone to a 308 Win and a 30/40 Krag for my 30's...but I rarely shoot at anything over 200 yards away...I like the hunt/stalk better than the kill!

quote:

Originally posted by ACRecurve:
I've used both. The 300 WM gets my vote. For one who might be recoil-sensitive, the WSM has less recoil...and less velocity. Truth be told, I've gone to a 308 Win and a 30/40 Krag for my 30's...but I rarely shoot at anything over 200 yards away...I like the hunt/stalk better than the kill!

.....me too.....but when hunting the mountains where the only chance at that 6 X 6 elk is 400+ yards I'd far rather have a 200 grain bullet at 2900 FPS....my gosh....these are quite large animals and if one is forced to take a long shot (assuming you can actually make a good shot) I'd like to "whump em" with a lot more energy than a .308.......but the .308 will do the job too..... I'm tending to think a larger caliber may be in order.....

The advantage of the 300 WSM is obvious IF you are looking for a lighter weight rifle.
Otherwise it is a toss up. I own both. The 300 WSM was built with the specific intention of being a semi lightweight rifle without needing a lot of work to make it lighter. I weighed both the long and short action of the M70 and the short saved me 6 ounces.

Of all the latest short magnums, it is my opinion that the 300 WSM will be the ultimate survivor. It is simply a great caliber.

That said, If I was the one choosing b/w it and the 300 WM, I'd go with the belted case. Then, I'd immediately ship it off to a smith and have them put a #3 stainless, 25" barrel on it and true the action, and either pillar bed and putty the factory stock or replace it with a synthetic.

My first bullets of choice would be 180 TTSX or AB.

If I were buying today I would get the WSM, simply because I have the WM and would want something else to play with. My old .300 Winny is a post 64 Model 70 Winchester that shoots one holers for me my son and grandson, when the shooter does his part. It has never been in the hands of a gunsmith. It is set up just like it left the shelf and puts 180 grain North Forks and Nosler Partitions when they need to go at 3100 fps. Good shooting.

6 to 1, half a dozen to another. They're so close in performance your splitting hairs usually of 10-20fps, and that goes both ways. I've seen some factory and reloaded WSM ammo thats faster for the same bullet weight/design.

Honestly, its so close it comes down to which rifle he likes best. Odds are they BOTH will be available in both 300's....but if one is right there in stock and the other caliber has to be ordered lol thats how I'd make my choice.

Or, option 3! If he has a 308 and 30-06, and wants a significant difference in performance, get a 300 Weatherby mag! You can pick up a Howa or Vanguard for under 500$, so price of a Mark V isn't really something to factor in.

Forgot to add, in podunk middle of nowhere, you might not find either, you might find one, maybe not the other. Honestly, if you're not flying somewhere and will be seperated from your luggage, there is no reason to NOT have enough of the proper ammo you will need. Make a list, triple check it when packing, and happy hunting. If you're in any way worried about what some tiny country store may or may not carry, buy a 30-06.

The WSM's were part of the precision shooting,benchrest,long distance magnum,beanfield,lazeroni,ultra-light rifles etc... early to mid nineties fad.The cartridges we had until then were all that was ever needed for hunting and the best of the best.There are many reasons why the WSM's are not a good choice for hunting.

Please explain what makes them a bad choice? A tiny number of people supposedly having feed problems? A few guys saying the accuracy wasn't there and blaming the cartridge automatically? Because they created after the Vietnam war?

They didn't come around til after the 90's, so they were't part of the super mag fad. If what we had in 1999 was all we ever needed...then why did we even need anything from the 80's, or the 70's, or the 60's, or the 50's? Heck the 30-30 and 45-70 did just good enough so we don't even need the 30-06. Black powder and balls did just fine even before that, so we don't need any smokeless cartridges either. And while we're at it, pointy sticks killed more game then any bullets ever will, so we don't even need guns at all!

The 300 Win is a bigger jump from the 30-06 than the WSM. Of course, the Kimber Montana is available in the WSM. The 300 Weatherby is not that uncommon to find ammo for, and its faster, yet. The RUM is out there, too.

To answer the question, I go to a bunch of gun shops, and I see plenty of ammo and brass for the WSM still, so I think it is still viable.

How is it a bigger jump? The numbers are nearly identical, differences (both ways) are by extremely thin hairs. They're basically the same cartridge, but in different platforms. At the most looking at reloading manuals now, is still 100fps difference, and thats comparing different powders, up to and including the heavy weight 200, 220 and 250's.

The 90's and 2000's were full of plenty of garbage.Why do we need the 6mmPPC to shoot like a long range magnum and feed from a short action? Weatherby gave us what was missing.

If cartridge development was purely about what we need, then it could have stopped even years before the 30-06 with the 7x57. Why do people have to put down cartridges because they're new?

We needed our own cartridges for our hunting needs.

And I agree with that, but what puzzles me, is why can't there always be room at the table for more? When did "real" and "usefull" cartridges mean they had to be created 60 years ago?

yes, the .300 wsm and the 270 wsm are here to stay. The future looks good for the 325 wsm. I like the 7mm wsm, but....not sure.

I would go with the .300 Win Mag if buying an older rifle and the .300 wsm if buying new.

i've owned and killed elk and deer with both. i sent them down the road as they didn't seem (to me) to kill any better than my 30-06. however, if i was to want another 300 mag it would be the wsm. with a good 180gr bullet there is nothing on this continent i wouldn't hunt (and most african stuff as well).

quote:

Originally posted by Buliwyf:
I like the 7mm wsm, but....not sure.

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I have always thought that if any of the short actions, be it WSM, RSAUM or RCM had a dismal outlook on the future..it would be the 7mm WSM. Shame too, its probably the only one of any of them that reloaders are able to reach and sometimes pass factory ballistics. I was never fan...but I needed a 7mm of some sort and what do you know, I got a M70 Coyote for a deal that couldn't be passed up! Good thing I reload

I have not owned a 338 WinMag,but so far the 300Win Mag is the best all around North American cartridge in my book.My father once congradulated me on finding the best cartridge and bullet(180TSX) for caribou.